RBI GOVERNOR SHAKTIKANTA DAS MEETS ARUN JAITLEY AHEAD OF FIRST
BI-MONETARY POLICY FOR FY20
Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das Monday met Finance Minister Arun Jaitely, and is
believed to have discussed the current economic situation, ahead of the first
bi-monthly monetary policy for 2019-20. The meeting of the six-member Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC) to decide on the first bi-monthly policy statement for
2019-20 will be held from April 2 to 4. The policy will be announced on April
4. It was a courtesy meeting, there is a tradition of RBI Governor meeting the
Finance Minister before monetary policy, so it is part of that, Das told. The
bi-monthly policy assumes significance as it will be announced just a week
before the commencement of the seven-phase general elections beginning April
11. According to sources, economic issues were discussed during the meeting.
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NINE-FOLD INCREASE IN DIGITAL PAYMENTS OVER LAST FIVE YEARS:
RBI GOVERNOR
There has been a
multi-fold increase in digital payments over the past years according to Reserve
Bank of India Governor, Shaktikanta Das. Das said, The Reserve Bank has over
the years encouraged greater use of electronic payments so as to achieve a
less-cash society. Retail electronic payments witnessed about nine-fold
increase over the last five years. The NEFT system handled 195 crore
transactions valued at around Rs 172 lakh crore in 2017-18 growing by 4.9 times
in terms of volume and 5.9 times in terms in terms of value over the previous
five years. Similarly, the number of transactions carried out through credit
and debit cards in 2017-18 was 141 crore and 334 crore, respectively. Prepaid
payment instruments (PPIs) recorded a volume of about 346 crore transactions,
valued at Rs 1.4 lakh crore. Thus, the total card payments, in volume terms, stood
at 52 per cent of the total retail payments during the year 2017-18, he added. Das
also said that banks no longer have a monopoly over the payment services. He
said, Affordability, interoperability, and customer awareness and protection
have also been other focus areas. Banks have been the traditional gateway to
payment services. However, with the fast pace of technological changes, this
domain is no longer the monopoly of banks. Non-bank entities are cooperating as
well as competing with banks, either as technology service providers to banks
or by directly providing retail electronic payment services. Das said, Risks
for FinTech products may also arise from cross border legal and regulatory
issues. Data confidentiality and customer protection are major areas that also
need to be addressed.
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RBI GOVERNOR TO MEET HEADS OF PAYMENTS BANKS LATER THIS WEEK
Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said he will be meeting heads of
payments banks later this week to understand their issues and concerns. As many
as seven payments banks have commenced their operations. He also said that
guidelines on regulatory sandbox will be issued in the next two months to
promote FinTech in the country. A sandbox approach means experimenting and
learning before finally adopting a technology or system. This approach helps in
containing the impact of failures.
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NOT ENOUGH FOCUS ON JOBLESSNESS, RAGHURAM RAJAN
Former RBI chief Raghuram
Rajan said today that it was worrying that there was not enough focus in the
country on joblessness he said. Raghuram Rajan also suggested that the
government should introspect on some of its decisions like the controversial
notes ban. Enough time has now passed by for us to look back at demonetisation
and ask what the learning has been from it? Did it work or not? And what were
the positives and negatives. Self-examination is something that every
government must do for better governance and efficiency, said the renowned
economist. On the question of lack of jobs, indicated by the data of the NSSO
(National Sample Survey Office) recently, Mr Rajan said there was a need for
credible data. Given the kind of anxiety that exists, there is a need to convey
to the world that our data is credible. India has had a good record with
credible data and we need to convey that, he said. India's lack of job
creation, he agreed, mirrors the problem in the West. The key issue in India is
lack of jobs, said Mr Rajan. There is a huge hunger for good jobs. Our job
statistics have been poor for a long time. We need to improve collection of
those statistics. We can't rely on the EPFO or other make-do versions. We need
to collect better job data, Mr Rajan said.
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JOB CREATION DIPS 6.9 PC IN JAN TO 11.23 LAKH: ESIC PAYROLL
DATA
Job creation fell by 6.91
per cent in January to 11.23 lakh compared to 12.06 lakh in the same month last
year, according to payroll data of the Employees State Insurance Corporation
(ESIC) released Monday. During September 2017 to January 2019, as many as 2.08
crore new subscribers joined the ESIC scheme, the data showed.
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LIQUIDITY STATUS, FISCAL DEFICIT UNDER CONTROL: GOVERNMENT
As the 2019 fiscal draws to
an end, the government on Monday reiterated that the fiscal deficit and
liquidity positions are well under control Liquidity situation comfortable;
confident of meeting the fiscal targets, said Subhash Chandra Garg. Garg's
statement comes amid concerns over both direct and indirect taxes, particularly
GST revenues, not inching up the targets set for them. While Garg had stated
earlier that government may just touch the revised direct tax target, indirect
taxes may witness a shortfall. However, Ministry sources said both taxes are
heading towards deficits of Rs 70,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore respectively.
The only saving grace is government somehow has managed to exceed the
disinvestment target by collecting Rs 85,000 crore. The total Goods and Services
Tax collection in the current fiscal till February is Rs 10.70 lakh crore. The
government has lowered the GST collection target for the current fiscal to Rs
11.47 lakh crore in the revised estimates, from Rs 13.71 lakh crore. The GST
collection for the 2019-20 fiscal has been budgeted at Rs 13.71 lakh crore. The
government's mop-up target for direct tax collection during the current fiscal
as per the upward revised estimate is pegged at Rs 12 lakh crore. The fiscal
deficit target of 3.4% of GDP will be met. Any additional outgo on account of
subsidies, be it food, oil or fertiliser and extra payout, will be met through
budgetary resources and there may be some pushover to the next fiscal, but
these are are not major, a source said. The yields on the benchmark 10-year
bond is still tracking at 7.4 per cent indicating the market also sees fiscal
control.
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RS 72,000/ YEAR: RAHUL GANDHI PROMISES MINIMUM INCOME
GUARANTEE IF CONGRESS VOTED TO POWER AT CENTRE
Congress president Rahul
Gandhi on Monday announced that if voted to power, his party's government will
give Rs 72,000 to families whose income is less than Rs 12,000 a month. Announcing
what he touted as the world's first such scheme Mr Gandhi said, Congress party
promises that India's 20%, most poor families will get yearly Rs 72,000 in
their bank accounts under minimum basic income guarantee scheme. Five crore
families and 25 crore people will directly benefit from this scheme. All
calculations have been done. There is no such scheme anywhere else in the world
he added. This Minimum Income Guarantee will be the final assault on poverty,
the party announced on its Twitter handle.
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RAHUL GANDHI BLUFFING, HIS INCOME SCHEME FOR POOR MISLEADING:
JAITLEY
Congress president Rahul
Gandhi's promise that his party will give Rs 72,000 to each of India's poorest
families every year if it wins elections is a bluff, said Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley on Monday. You have misled the country on issue of poverty for 50
years. Even after giving that slogan (gareebi hatao or remove poverty) if today
you think that 20% people don't even have an income of Rs 12,000, then the
cross hangs on your neck for letting down poor of the country, said Jaitley. Gandhi,
who faces Prime Minister Narendra Modi in general elections set for April and
May, has said his party’s programme would benefit 250 million of a population
of 1.3 billion We've done all the calculations, we've asked the best
economists, Gandhi said, emphasising that the scheme would be fiscally prudent.
They all backed us on this idea. We are going to implement it. The final
assault on poverty has begun. We will wipe out poverty from the country Jaitley
said Congress governments didn’t have clear policies to remove poverty. Indira
Gandhi did not believe in increased productivity, she did not believe in
generation of wealth, she only believed in redistribution of poverty, he said.
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LIQUIDITY POSITION COMFORTABLE, TO GET FURTHER BOOST OF RS
35,000 CR VIA RUPEE-DOLLAR SWAP: GARG
The finance ministry and
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday said liquidity situation of the
economy is comfortable and it will be boosted further by Rs 35,000 crore
through the rupee-dollar swap window. Liquidity situation is comfortable now,
Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg told. Asked about
the new tool of rupee-dollar swap arrangement by the RBI to infuse liquidity,
Garg said it is a sound move (by the RBI). According to a senior official of
the RBI, the liquidity position in the system is comfortable and the central
bank is constantly monitoring the situation in the system. At the moment, I
don’t think there is any issue with regard to liquidity in the market. If some
people are not getting financing then it is probably because of their balance
sheet problem, the official said. The rupee-dollar swap auction announced by
the RBI, earlier in March, will infuse Rs 35,000 crore in domestic liquidity on
Tuesday, the official said. The auction of USD 5 billion for a tenure of three
years will be conducted on Tuesday.
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CONGRESS' INCOME GUARANTEE PROMISE TO BURST FISCAL DISCIPLINE:
RAJIV KUMAR
Rajiv Kumar Monday said
Congress party President Rahul Gandhi's promise of providing Rs 72,000 annually
to five crore families if voted to power will create strong incentives against
work and burst fiscal discipline. True to its past record of promising the moon
to win elections, Congress President announces a scheme that will burst fiscal
discipline, create strong incentives against work and which will never be
implemented, Kumar said in a tweet. In another tweet, he said the cost of the
minimum income guarantee scheme at 2 per cent of the gross domestic product and
13 per cent of the budget will ensure that real needs of people remain
unsatisfied. Kumar also said the Congress party had promised 'Garibi Hatao' in
1971, 'One Rank One Pension' in 2008, food security in 2013 to win elections,
but could not fulfil any of those. The same unfortunate fate awaits the
populist and opportunistic promise of minimum income guarantee, he added. Meanwhile,
the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) also criticised
the pre-poll announcement by Gandhi in series of tweets, but later deleted them
after it was pointed by a twitter user that they were in violation of the model
code of conduct. EAC-PM had tweeted that in the last five years, a lot of hard
work has gone into striking the right balance between economic growth,
inflation and fiscal discipline. INC's income guarantee scheme (as of
25/03/2019) would either upset this balance or severely cut critical government
spending. Both options dangerous, it said. The proposed income guarantee scheme
fails the economics test, fiscal discipline test and execution test, it added.
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SAD DAY FOR INDIAN AVIATION: SPICEJET CHIEF ON DEVELOPMENTS AT
JET AIRWAYS
SpiceJet chief Ajay Singh
on Monday said it was a sad day for Indian aviation as Naresh Goyal and his
wife Anita Goyal stepping down from the board of Jet Airways. Naresh Goyal is
the Founder and Chairman of Jet Airways, a full-service airline that has been
flying for more than 25 years. Referring to the latest developments, Singh, who
is the Chairman and Managing Director of budget carrier SpiceJet, also said it
was a wake-up call for the country’s policymakers to address structural
challenges that is making domestic airlines uncompetitive. Goyal and his wife
will step down from Jet Airways’ board under a resolution plan piloted by its
lenders.
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DEMONETISATION: CASH IS NOT EVIL
The latest data on
currency in circulation offers fresh evidence that India’s reliance on cash is
not falling. Reserve Bank of India figures show a surge to a record high of ₹21.41
trillion as on 15 March, almost 20% more than the ₹17.97
trillion rustling around in paper form on the eve of demonetisation. This is
roughly in line with the economy’s nominal growth since,
but it does suggest that people cannot be pushed into a digital economy. Not
yet. There is wide mistrust in digital transactions, which are seen as less
secure. Internet is a novelty for most Indians and it’s scary for them to think
of faceless beings having online access to their money. This is a country where
many still need convincing to open bank accounts. Then there are problems of
connectivity, which force cash even into the wallets of the most net-savvy.
Hidden fees don’t help the cause either. All of this makes a cashless society
sound like a utopian dream. The lesson: thrusting change never works. Net
penetration needs to deepen, e-fraud needs to dwindle and e-payments need to be
incentivized. If people still choose not to adopt e-money, nobody should fret.
It’s a matter of free choice.
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MATCHING EVMS WITH VVPATS: SC HITS OUT AT EC
The Supreme Court on
Monday lashed out at the Election Commission for insisting that there was no
need for increasing the sample matching of the EVMs with the corresponding
Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs), saying that no institution could
insulate itself from suggestion for improvement. At present VVPATA is matched
with the corresponding A EVM at one polling booth in each of the assembly
segments of the Lok Sabha constituency. No institution, including judiciary,
can insulate itself from suggestion for improvement, said Ranjan Gogoi sitting
with Justice Deepak Gupta, taking exception to poll panel's Deputy Commissioner
Sudeep Jain resisting the suggestion for increasing the number of sample
matching of VVPATs with corresponding EVMs. If you are so up-to-date with
protocols and processes, Gogoi said, then, why did not Election Commission
introduce VVPAT on its own and brought it only after the court's orders? Reminding
the EC that VVPATs were introduced on the directions of the top court, CJI
Gogoi sought to recall the opposition the court faced from the poll panel on
the necessity of VVPAT. At the outset of the hearing, CJI Gogoi asked Sudeep
Jain: Can you increase the sample matching? We would like to increase it. As
Deputy Election Commissioner sought to refer to the aspersion being cast, CJI
Gogoi said, It is not a question of aspersion, it is a question of
satisfaction. The top court directed the EC to state the basis of its
satisfaction that there was no need for increasing the sample matching of EVMs
with VVPATs. Besides this, the bench asked the Election Commission to spell out
the difficulty if sample tallying was to be increased and the time required in
meeting that. As senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that it would not
take more than five hours, CJI Gogoi told him that they want response from the
EC. Singhvi said that they have undertaken the exercise. The top court had on
March 15 sought the Election Commission's response on a plea by 21 opposition
parties seeking audit of at least 50 per cent of EVMs with corresponding
VVPATs.
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FOOD INFLATION LIKELY TO GO UP TO 2% IN FY20: REPORT
Food inflation in the country
is likely to go up to 2 per cent in fiscal year 2019-20 from the 0.7 per cent
estimated for FY19, a report said on Monday. It can be noted that the low food
prices have been one of the prime factors which has aided the RBI to be more
accommodatory in its rate setting recently. In the report, foreign brokerage
Goldman Sachs attributed the low food prices in the last few months to the
prices of cereals and vegetables which have been low for some time. Deregulation
of markets, which saw de-listing of vegetables from the Agriculture Produce and
Marketing Committee Act (APMC) in 14 states, has helped the vegetable prices,
it said. In the case of cereals, active food management policies have helped,
it said, adding the government released buffer stocks in large quantities and
went in for higher imports on this front. Going forward, the food inflation is
unlikely to shoot up sharply unless there is some shock related to weather
events, it said. Food inflation is likely to remain subdued going forward, it
said, adding average food inflation will go up in the 1.5-2 per cent range in
FY20 from the 0.7 per cent in FY19. The brokerage said the focus has now
shifted to farmers who are protesting against low food prices and demanding
higher returns on their crops. It can be noted that in the last year of the
current regime, there have been multiple marches by farmers, especially the one
in national capital as well as one at the financial capital to voice their
concerns. The government responded first by assuring to double farmer income in
five years, then promised a return of over 150 per cent to farmers and also
announced income support of Rs 6,000 per year for the small and marginalised
farmers.
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PUBLIC TRANSPORT PERMIT MANDATORY FOR ELECTRIC 3W, 4W TO AVAIL
FAME-II SOPS: GOVERNMENT
Starting April 1, electric
three and four wheelers will need a valid permit from government agency stating
that the vehicle will be used only for public transport purposes to avail
incentives under the Rs 10,000-crore FAME India scheme, as per an official
notification. The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric
Vehicles (FAME) scheme in its second phase starting next week, spanning three
years, will support 5 lakh e-rickshaws (e-3W) having ex-factory price of up to
Rs 5 lakh with an incentive of Rs 50,000 each. It will also offer a sop of Rs
1.5 lakh each to 35,000 electric four-wheelers (e-4W) with an ex-factory price
of up to Rs 15 lakh with an aim to boost clean mobility in mass transport. According
to operational guidelines for delivery of demand incentives under FAME-II
notified by the heavy industry ministry, a dealer will have to ensure that the
demand incentive is not passed on to individuals using vehicles for private use
in case of three wheelers and four wheelers. At the time of selling, the dealer
has to collect from the purchaser of e-3W or e-4W, valid permit from respective
government agency stating that vehicle will be used for public transport or for
commercial transport only. In the e-3W, e-4W and e-bus segments, incentives
will be applicable mainly to vehicles used for public transport or those
registered for commercial purposes, it added. However, for e-2W segment,
incentives are also applicable for privately-owned vehicles in addition to
those for public transport or for commercial purposes, it added. Under FAME II,
two-wheelers costing up to Rs 1.5 lakh are eligible for incentive of up to Rs
20,000. A dealer should ensure that only one vehicle per category per person
are allowed to claim demand incentives No individual person can purchase more
than one vehicle of same category and claim incentives under the scheme, the
notification said. It, however, added that there will be no restrictions for
number of vehicles to be purchased by other than individual categories of
buyers. Previously under FAME I, electric vehicles for personal usage were
allowed to avail of the government support. Moreover, both conventional
technology (lead acid battery) and advanced technology batteries were entitled
varying amount of subsidies. Under FAME II the subsidies will be restricted
only to advanced battery technologies. It has been proposed to extend uniform
demand incentive of Rs 10,000 per KWhr for all EVs, including PHEV and strong
hybrids except e-buses. For e-buses the demand incentive will be Rs 20,000 per
KWhr, which is subject to competitive bidding amongst the manufacturers.
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JOB CHANGES IN FOCUS FOR BETTER DATA ON FORMAL EMPLOYMENT
The government plans to
put in place a mechanism to track people who change jobs to get a comprehensive
picture of formal employment in the country and the net employment generated. At
present, the monthly data released by the Employees’ Provident Fund
Organisation (EPFO) captures new additions and also those who exit or rejoin
the system after changing jobs or a gap in employment. However, the reporting
of exits and those rejoining is delayed and is not considered reliable. The
mechanism to count those returning and rejoining is not very strong at present
once in place, it should give more robust figures an official told. Soon, net
employment numbers will also be provided. The monthly payroll data being
released since April 2018, covering the period from September 2017, has some
shortcomings, because of which it is not a clear gauge of new jobs created in
the economy That’s because only firms with 20 or more employees come under the
provident fund net, leaving out a large number of micro, small and medium
enterprises. Moreover, EPFO is not mandatory for those with a salary of more
than Rs 15,000 a month. The increase in subscribers could be also because post
demonetisation and switch to the goods and services tax regime, formalisation
of economy may be happening and the additions may not be new jobs but simply
reclassification of informal jobs as formal employment. The latest data shows
that the number of EPFO subscribers shot up to a 17-month high of more than
896,000 in January. The government has stepped up efforts to broaden the base
to estimate jobs created in the country in the wake of scathing criticism over
the controversial periodic labour force survey report whose leaked draft showed
a whopping 45-year high unemployment in 2017-18. Though some sections of the
government have claimed that Mudra loans can be used to estimate employment,
the official cited earlier said, EPFO and Mudra are establishment approach. They
review people who are present, not those who are not there. The survey and
establishment approach need to be reconciled to provide a more robust data, the
official said. The surveys give one picture of employment and these management
information systems give another picture. Both should ideally converge at some
point of time, he said.
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SC DISMISSES PLEA CHALLENGING CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY 'TRIPLE
TALAQ' ORDINANCE
The Supreme Court Monday
dismissed a plea challenging the constitutional validity of an ordinance which
makes the practice of instant 'triple talaq' a punishable offence. A bench
headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi dismissed a plea of a Kerala-based outfit
and said it will not like to interfere. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights
on Marriage) Ordinance was first notified on September 19 last year, hours
after the Union Cabinet had cleared it.
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JUDGES SAY HC STAY, ABSCONDING ACCUSED REASONS BEHIND CASES
PENDING FOR DECADES
Here’s a firsthand account
from judges of the district and subordinate courts, where more than 2.99 crore
cases are pending why the docket is so heavy, many of them pending for 50-60
years. Of the nearly 25,000 cases for which the judges have so far provided
reasons, accused absconding has been cited as the chief reasons for over 7,000
cases pending in the lower judiciary, some of them pending since 1958. Parties
not recording evidence before the trial courts; stay granted by High Courts
(HCs) and the Supreme Court (SC); absence of important witnesses; parties not
interested; and delay in receiving government documents have been cited as top
six reasons for perpetual delay in disposal of cases. The performance of 24 HCs
is equally noteworthy with more than 56,000 cases pending for over three
decades. The total pendency in all courts across the country, including the HCs
and the apex court, has crossed an all-time high of 3.12 crore. As part of the
newly-introduced court management system, it has been made mandatory for lower
court judges to record reasons for delay in disposal of cases. However, not all
judges have been providing the reasons. The SC and the HC judges have also not
followed the latest reporting mechanism in recording reasons of delay. Repeated
adjournments have become a norm rather than exception in the constitutional
courts, as well. In another case before a senior division civil court judge in
Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, the case is pending since 1958 because of a stay
granted by the HC. Similarly, a 1968 case is shown pending for final order
before a junior division civil judge in Mau, UP because of repeated stay by HC.
The other reasons cited by the subordinate judiciary for delay in disposal
include obstruction in execution (154 cases); records not available (175
cases); SC stay (170 cases); complex litigation (253 cases); district court
stay (116 cases); failed attempts at recovery (841 cases); frequent challenges
to HC (197 cases); heavy pendency in courts (371 cases); and legal
representatives not on record (1,106 cases). Reasons have not been recorded for
a majority of the cases. The e-Courts reform was implemented under the guidance
of Justice Madan B Lokur who recently retired from the apex court but continues
to hold the charge of supervising the ongoing reforms in the judiciary. The CIS
3.0, the third generation software update, has helped the higher judiciary and the
government to monitor performance of each and every judge, how much time they
spend on each case listed before them every day and the record of their
disposal.
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RBI GOVERNOR TO MEET FINTECH FIRMS ON GROWTH HURDLES
RBI Governor Shaktikanta
Das will meet financial technology (fintech) companies this week to understand
the issues affecting the growth of the sector and will issue guidelines on the
regulatory sandbox for the sector in the next two months, Das said on Monday. The
fintech sector comprises of mobile payments, money transfers, loans,
crowdfunding, asset management, among many others. RBI has given nod to seven
purely digital loan companies which are basically NBFCs (non-banking finance
companies) to commence operartions but quite a few of them have not commenced
operations and there are other kinds of licences which have also been given
where operations have not taken off by everyone, while some of them have not
taken off in the expected way, Das said. I will be meeting them later part of
this week and we will have consultations with them to find out what are the
impendiments, if any, and problems, he said. The Governor said the RBI will
come out with the necessary regulatory sandbox for the sector in 2 months, which
would ensure regulatory compliance and security checks for financial
operations. Subhas Chandra Garg said that financial data should not be treated
as sensitive data and the country would miss out on the fintech revolution if
data protections laws are not aligned. India is now the world's second biggest
fintech hub, trailing only the US, with 2,035 startups operating in the sector,
according to the India Fintech Report 2019. Mumbai and Bengaluru are the
leading startup hubs in the country.
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BUILDERS DEMAND RELAXATION IN BANK NORMS
Banks should relax
repayment norms for builders who take up government projects and face delays in
getting the payments, said A. Puhazhendi. Mr. Puhazhendi, told that several
State Governments float tenders for projects even if adequate funds were not
available. This leads to delay in payments, going up to nine months or even
more than a year. There are instances of builders committing suicide in some
States. I have met the bankers in this regard and requested them to relax the
norms and restructure loans, he said. Infrastructure projects were exempted
from Service Tax. With the introduction of Goods and Services Tax, all projects
are covered under it. Only recently, the GST Council announced 5 % composite
scheme for private builders. This should be extended to contractors who take up
infrastructure projects or such projects should be exempted from GST, he added.
With regard to increase in cement prices, Mr. Puhazhendi said the recent 40 %
hike is abnormal and a burning issue. In the southern States, the builders are
already hit by several other problems. The hike in cement prices brings
construction activities to a standstill. In the northern States, the hike is 25
%. But even that affects construction. The increase leads to delay in projects,
in turn attracting penalty under RERA. I met the Central Government ministers
concerned and sought a regulatory authority to control cement prices, he said.
The BAI currently has 175 centres in the country and eight of these were opened
in the last one year, he added.
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SC ASKS EC TO FILE REPLY BY MARCH 28 ON INCREASING VVPAT
SAMPLE SURVEY PER ASSEMBLY SEGMENT
The Supreme Court Monday
directed the Election Commission (EC) to reply by March 28 if it can increase
the number of VVPAT sample survey from one in each assembly segment at present
for the upcoming general and assembly elections. A bench comprising Chief
Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta sought the response of the poll
panel by 4 pm on March 28 and directed it to apprise whether number of Voter
Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) can be increased for the satisfaction of
the electorate The bench indicated that it wanted the number of VVPAT to be
increased, saying it was not the question of 'casting aspersions rather it was
a matter of satisfaction. The bench has now posted for April 1, the plea of 21
opposition leaders, led by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu,
seeking that VVPAT slips of at least 50 per cent voting machines in each
assembly seat be checked randomly in the Lok Sabha elections.
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PM-KISAN SCHEME: ABOUT 4.74 CRORE FARMERS TO GET SECOND
INSTALLMENT FROM NEXT MONTH
About 4.74 crore small and
marginal farmers registered under the PM-Kisan scheme before the Model Code of
Conduct (MCC) for general election came into effect on March 10 will get the
second installment of Rs 2,000 each in their bank accounts, a senior government
official said on Saturday. Of these 4.74 crore beneficiaries, 2.74 crore
farmers have so far received the first installment and the rest will be covered
by month-end, he said. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has allowed the
Union agriculture ministry to transfer the first and second tranche of the
payment to all those beneficiaries registered under the scheme before March 10,
the official added.
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PMSYM SCHEME: GOVERNMENT EYES OVER 1 CRORE ENROLMENTS BY APRIL
END
The government is
expecting to cross 1 crore enrolments by April-end under the Pradhan Mantri
Shram-Yogi Maandhan (PMSYM) Yojna -- a pension scheme for unorganised sector
workers, a senior official has said. The PMSYM scheme provides for a minimum
monthly assured pension of Rs 3,000 for unorganised sector workers from the age
of 60 years. The scheme was launched last month. We have already enrolled 25.36
lakh unorganised sector workers under the PMSYM scheme so far. We are enroling
about one lakh subscribers every day. We are hopeful that we would be able to
enrol a total of one crore subscribers by end of April, 2019, Dinesh Tyagi,
CEO, CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd (CSC SPV) told PTI. The enrolments
under the PMSYM are being carried out by Common Services Centres across the
country, which are run by the CSC SPV. Out of 3.19 crore CSCs in India, 2.99
crore centres spread across 36 states and union territories are enrolling
informal sector workers under the pension scheme launched by the government
last month. The scheme came into effect from February 15, 2019. Tyagi further
said that the enrolment per day under this pension scheme will increase
eventually with rising awareness levels among the targeted informal sector
workers as well as those who engage them for routine works. We are hopeful that
we would be able to enrol five crore workers under this scheme by December this
year.
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MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE TO MEET SIX TIMES DURING 2019-20:
RBI
The Monetary Policy
Committee (MPC), which decides on key interest rates, will meet six times
during the next financial year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said Friday.
The first meeting of the six-member MPC to decide on the first bi-monthly
monetary policy statement for 2019-20 will be held from April 2 to 4. The
policy will be announced on April 4. Shaktikanta Das, the committee also
includes two representatives from the central bank and three external members.
According to the schedule provided by the RBI, the second meeting of the MPC in
the next fiscal will be held on June 3, 4 and 6; third meeting (August 5-7);
fourth meeting (October 1, 3 and 4); fifth meeting (December 3-5) and sixth
meeting (February 4-6, 2020).
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ECONOMIC AFFAIRS SECRETARY S C GARG DEFENDS DATA REVISIONS
AMID ROW
The government sought to
put an end to a controversy about political influence on government data, with
a top finance ministry official saying revisions to economic statistics are a
fact and the revisions themselves are based on facts. It might not appear to be
meeting people’s expectations, for some, Subhash Chandra Garg, the economic
affairs secretary in the finance ministry, said. Garg’s clarification comes a
week after 108 economists from around the world accused Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s administration of deliberately revising or withholding statistics that
show his government in poor light. The issue has become a politically sensitive
one ahead of elections beginning next month, especially with revisions to gross
domestic product data that show economic growth under Modi to be among the
fastest ever. The results are there for everyone to see, Garg said, referring
to the downward revision in the current financial year’s GDP data. It’s not
that any revision that has been done has positive messages all over. Outside
investors have higher degree of confidence in India’s performance, Garg said,
adding: The long term story of India is steady and intact.
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JUSTICE PINAKI CHANDRA GHOSE TAKES OATH AS INDIA'S FIRST
LOKPAL
Former Supreme Court judge
Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose on Saturday took oath as the country's first
Lokpal the anti-corruption ombudsman. President Ram Nath Kovind administered
his oath at a small function in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Justice Ghose was
appointed India's first Lokpal on Tuesday, more than five years after the
Parliament passed the Lokpal Bill.
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GOVT NOT MULLING PENALISING SOCIAL MEDIA EXECS OVER
TRACEABILITY: OFFICIAL
The government is not
considering penalising social media or messaging apps executives for
traceability of messages under the proposed changes to intermediary rules, a
government official told. We have released the intermediary rules about three
months ago, on which we have received comments and counter comments. There has
been nothing further on those from our side, people are free to interpret it in
their own way said an official of the Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology. The proposed amendments by MeitY say that intermediaries will have
to provide information requested by a lawful order by a government or
authorised agency within 72 hours of communication of receiving the request.
The intermediary shall enable tracing out of such originator of information on
its platform as may be required by government agencies who are legally
authorised, the rules have proposed. These changes do not mention arrests or
jail terms for company executives for not following the rules. While it is
easier to trace the origin of messages on a platform such as Twitter or
Facebook, which are more public and open, WhatsApp is a messaging platform and
uses end-to-end encryption, which means even company executives cannot look at
the contents of the messages being exchanged between people or groups on the
platform.
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SOCIAL MEDIA CODE OF ETHICS UNLIKELY TO TAME FAKE NEWS, SAY
ANALYSTS
The voluntary code of
ethics adopted by social media companies like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp,
ShareChat and Google ahead of elections may not do much to curb the menace of
fake news and misinformation, social media analysts, fact checkers and
analytics companies said. The code of ethics is also unlikely to tame fake news
on WhatsApp, considering the absence of traceability on the platform, they
said. Code includes taking down objectionable posts within three hours during
the 48-hour silent period ahead of elections, and bringing transparency in
political advertising. It takes about 60 minutes for a negative post to enter
the ‘viral’ category driven by rapid sharing and comments from followers. For
very disturbing events and graphic content such as the recent shootout at a
mosque in New Zealand, it only took about 12-15 minutes before a large
community of people started watching the live stream. Commercial news outlets
often latch on to breaking news within the hour. Informal sharing of news via
non-traceable channels such as messaging apps is even faster, said Sandeep
Pandey. A 180-minute window is an eternity in this age and any objectionable
content posted to a social media platform would have been seen, shared and
commented upon thousands of times and the damage would have been done by the
time it is taken down, he added. Jency Jacob, a website which works in
partnership with Facebook to fact check stories and tags specific posts
spreading misinformation on the platform, said it is very unclear what the
modalities were going to be to decide whether a news is objectionable or not.
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TWITTER INDIA WELCOMES EC ONBOARD, AIMS TO PROVIDE ACCURATE
INFORMATION TO VOTERS
With Lok Sabha elections
around the corner, conversations and debates on Twitter are on the rise. In a
bid to provide accurate information to the voters, Twitter India welcomes the
Election Commission of India (EC) onboard with its Systematic Voters' Education
and Electoral Participation Program (SVEEP). The program is set up to raise
more voter awareness through the platform. The handle was launched on Holi and
one of their first campaigns on Twitter #DeshKaMahaTyohar is about ensuring no
voter is left behind, said the statement. Umesh Kumar Sinha, said, As we move
closer to the 17th Lok Sabha elections, we are committed to ensuring fair
administration of the electoral process, by equipping India’s voters with
accurate and adequate information to make their choice. Twitter India is also
launching a special election emoji to encourage healthy participation in
election-related discussions. It also aims to motivate more people to go out
and vote. Mahima Kaul, Director, Public Policy and Government at Twitter India
said, India is the world’s largest democracy, and the upcoming election is a
key priority for us at Twitter. Over the past several months, we’ve taken
significant steps to safeguard the integrity of conversations and enhance the
health of our platform. Election-related conversations dominate the platform
today, and we are honored to onboard the Election Commission handle @ECISVEEP
to encourage voter awareness and education. She added that citizens will
receive crucial information directly from the EC on Twitter. In turn they can
engage with and amplify accurate and positive information to their community.
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STATES HAVE CONTAINED FISCAL DEFICIT BUT ALSO SLASHED CAPEX:
SBI
Economists at State Bank
of India (SBI) on Friday said States have managed to contain fiscal deficit at
the aggregate level for FY20, but expressed concerns over compression in
capital expenditure. States have to resort to reducing capital expenditure,
especially mid-way through the year, because of heavy burdens such as loan
waivers, it said. Terming this as the problem of a missing muddle, the
economists said this is causing problems for the markets in its understanding
of the fiscal math. States could be advised to address this peculiar problem of
missing muddle as it provides an inadequate and incorrect signalling device to
market in terms of overall fiscal consolidation, they said in a note.
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TRAI OFFICIAL: NO GOVERNMENT REFERENCE ON 4G AIRWAVE FOR
STATE-RUN TELECOM FIRMS
The telecom regulator has
not received any communication from the government seeking its view on
allotment of 4G airwaves to state-run telecom companies Bharat Sanchar Nigam
Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), a senior official
said. The comments of the senior official at the Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India (Trai) contradicts that of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
which last month said it has referred the 4G spectrum allotment matter to the
regulator, following a decision taken by the Digital Communications Commission
(DCC), the DoT’s highest decision-making body. We have not received any
reference from the department of telecommunications (DoT) for providing
recommendations on the 4G spectrum to BSNL and MTNL, the official told. The
comment further clouds the matter of allotment of 4G spectrum to the
loss-making state-run telcos, which have a cumulative debt of Rs 35,000 crore
and have been seeking approval from the Narendra Modi-government to
commercially launch 4G services to compete with private players such as
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. The official, however, expressed
surprise over recent developments, and added that given the situation, the
regulator would have come out with its suggestions in the earliest possible
manner, if it had been asked to do so.
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DOT ASKS STATE GOVERNMENTS NOT TO DISCONNECT BSNL, MTNL
ELECTRICITY CONNECTIONS
The Department of
Telecommunications has asked state governments not to disconnect electricity
connections of state-owned BSNL and MTNL on account of pending dues as they are
providing strategic services for the upcoming elections, sources said. BSNL has
already cleared 90 per cent of its power dues and is expected to clear the rest
in the next 15-20 days. A letter from the Department of Telecom has been sent
to state chief secretaries requesting them to avoid disruption in MTNL and BSNL
electricity connections because it is providing strategic support to state
machineries for managing elections, an official told. Anupam Shrivastava said,
We have cleared 90 per cent of the dues for electricity connections. Now around
Rs 250 crore is left, which will be cleared in next 15-20 days. There were some
disconnections that took place but all of them have been restored now. P K
Purwar said, MTNL has no pending electricity dues. All payments are up to date
till February-end.
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DOT WRITES TO STATES NOT TO DISCONNECT POWER TO BSNL
INSTALLATIONS
In a grim situation
underlining the hard financial pressure on state operators, the Department of
Telecom (DoT) has requested the state governments not to disconnect electric
connections of BSNL/MTNL telecom installations and more so during the coming
general elections. In letters to the state chief secretaries, the Department
said: BSNL is facing financial stress due to hyper competitive telecom scenario
and there is a slight delay in paying electricity charges to the state
electricity boards. The issue of financial support to BSNL is being handled
separately by the Department of Telecom. Due to this delay, State Electricity
Board is resorting to disconnection of electricity connection at various key
installations providing telecom services to election machinery and many other
important government agencies hampering telecom services. The DoT communication
added: Moreover, most of the BSNL/MTNL installations are providing strategic
telecom services for the election machinery. In view of the situation, please
issue directions to state electricity board of your state not to resort to the
unpleasant action of disconnection of electricity at vital telecom installations
of BSNL across the state at least during the period of current election
process. The Department had released pending dues of Rs 171 crore to
cash-strapped MTNL for paying February salaries to employees.
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EXPECT GOVERNMENT TO SEEK OUR INPUTS ON NDCP IMPLEMENTATION:
TRAI
The Telecom regulator
expects the government to seek its inputs for speedy and effective
implementation of the National Digital Communication Policy (NDCP), TRAI
Chairman R.S. Sharma has said. He also said that TRAI was finalising the
recommendations on the crucial over-the-top (OTT) players and would notify the
regulations soon. The regulator is also in consultation with the industry on
discontinuing printed paper bills. We have ongoing consultations on OTTs and
paper bills. A part of the effort in this fiscal will be in the NDCP. We expect
that the government will request us for inputs on the effective implementation
of the policy, Sharma told IANS. The consultation on OTT is almost final, so we
will be giving recommendations very soon. OTT is a tech related issue. The
current definition of OTT which we are saying and are consulting relates to
similar services being offered by platforms which are being offered by telecom
service providers. That's a very limited part for which the consultation is
happening, the chairman said. The NDCP policy, approved by the government last
year, aims to create four million jobs and draw a whopping $100 billion worth
investments into the telecom sector by 2022, apart from boosting the sector's
contribution to GDP to 8 per cent from current 6 per cent. Experts feel that
NDCP 2018 implementation and execution will be the most critical attributes.
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INDIA RANKS 76TH ON WEF'S GLOBAL ENERGY TRANSITION INDEX;
SWEDEN TOPS LIST
India has moved up two
places to rank 76th on a global energy transition index, which has ranked 115
economies on how well they are able to balance energy security and access with
environmental sustainability and affordability. Sweden remains on the top on
this annual list compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) and is
followed by Switzerland and Norway in the top three, as per its latest report
released on Monday. The WEF said energy systems have globally become less affordable
and less environmentally sustainable than they were five years ago, though
access to energy has improved with less than 1 billion now living without
access to electricity. It said India is amongst the countries with high
pollution levels and has a relatively high CO2 intensity in its energy system.
Despite this, India has made significant strides to improve energy access in
recent years, and currently scores well in the area of regulation and political
commitment towards energy transition, the WEF said. It suggested there was a
ground for optimism regarding India despite the current outdated energy system
not being ready for transition, because an enabling environment is being built
to support future transition. While India has scored low in terms of system
performance (ranking 97 and 86, respectively), it ranks considerably higher
when it comes to readiness (45 and 61, respectively). Overall, India has moved
up two places from 78th last year. China is ranked even lower than India at
82nd position, though it ranks very high at seventh place in the world for
regulation and political commitment. Despite its low ranking, India is the
second best in the BRICS block of emerging economies, with Brazil being the
best at 46th place globally. However, India is the only amongst the five
economies to improve its rank since last year. Among major economies, the UK is
ranked 7th, Singapore 13th, Germany 17th, Japan 18th and the US 27th.
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DELHI TO GET 131 CHARGING STATIONS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES
The capital will get 131
public charging stations for electric vehicles to address the concerns of
potential buyers and to ensure that people have access to recharging facilities
in their vicinity. According to the plan approved by the power ministry and the
Delhi government, 33 such facilities will be set up at Metro stations, 34 at
CNG stations, 24 at Indian Oil petrol pumps, 15 at Bharat Petroleum fuel
stations and nine at Hindustan Petroleum pumps. One each will be set up in the
parking area of T-3 at IGI Airport and Jamia Millia. Sources said the
government wants the facilities to be made operational in three months. The
Centre, in consultation with municipal authorities and the Delhi government,
has decided that the three municipal corporations and Delhi Transco Ltd will be
the nodal agencies for their respective areas. Officials said the facilities
will be operated by the four nodal agencies for three years and they will
charge a fee from users. The government expects private players to set up
similar charging stations at a later stage when the business becomes
financially viable. Officials said the locations of charging stations have been
decided in such a manner that these can even cater to the need of electric
vehicles coming from Noida, Gurgaon and Ghaziabad.
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FINOLEX FAMILY FEUD REACHES BOMBAY HIGH COURT, HEARING ON
APRIL 4
Finolex group’s Chhabria
family feud has worsened with Prakash Chhabria, son of late Prahlad Chhabria,
founder of the Pune-based Rs 15,000 crore Finolex group, has moved the Bombay
High Court questioning the continuance of Deepak Chhabria as executive chairman
of Finolex Cables. Prakash has asked the high court to pass an injunction to
restrain his cousin Deepak from ‘acting as executive chairman of Finolex
Cables’. The matter will be heard on April 4. Prakash, who is the promoter of
Finolex Cables and its largest shareholder, has alleged that in the last AGM
held on September 25, 2018, Deepak didn’t follow the mandate stipulated by the
board resolution passed by promoter entity Orbit Electricals. Prakash said he
has filed an application before the high court, inter-alia seeking to restrain
Deepak from continuing as executive chairman as he has breached the mandate of
the majority shareholders. I will not be able to comment further as the matter
is sub-judice. Trouble started at the AGM on September 25, 2018, where the
re-appointment of Deepak came up. Prakash has alleged that Deepak, as an
authorized representative of Orbit Electricals, was instructed to vote against
his re-appointment, but he did the opposite, thereby allegedly acting contrary
to the instructions.
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SC TO HEAR FRESH PLEA FOR NOT EVICTING FOREST DWELLERS, TO SET
UP AN SIT
The Supreme Court will
hear on Monday a fresh plea seeking a direction to authorities not to evict any
forest dweller and to set up an SIT to look into alleged illegal acquisition of
tribals' land. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjiv
Khanna had on March 5 taken cognisance of the plea filed by Chhattisgarh-based
Tarika Tarangini Larka, seeking a direction to the Centre not to allot
possession of any forest land belonging to tribals to anyone other than
'adivasi' residing in that particular area. The apex court, while dealing with
other similar pending petition, had on February 28 stayed its February 13 order
directing 21 states to evict 11.8 lakh illegal forest dwellers whose claims
over the forest land have been rejected by authorities. In the fresh petition,
filed through lawyer M L Sharma, Larka has alleged that authorities in Tamnar
of Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh have forcibly grabbed a large area of
tribal land and handed it to outsiders and now are trying to oust 'adivasi'
from the area. For this, they adopted simple strategy declaring forest dweller
as non-adivasi to grab their land in the forest and village by rejecting their
claim upon land, the plea has said. The petition has also sought setting up of
a special investigation team (SIT) comprising retired judges of the apex court
to look into the alleged illegal acquisition of land belonging to tribals
throughout the country.
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IMMUNITY SOUGHT FOR PEOPLE HIRED BY IL&FS BOARD
The new board of
Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS) has sought
to extend the immunity granted to it to a host of people involved in the
resolution process as defaults seemed to continue in the group companies. The
Uday Kotak-led board has requested the National Companies Law Appellate
Tribunal to cover the directors it had appointed in the group companies,
financial advisors, resolution advisors and a few employees from any financial,
legal and regulatory liability. The court had, on October 5, passed an order
restraining state and central governments and their agencies, regulatory and
statutory authorities from any civil, criminal, administrative and punitive
action against the newly-appointed board in the discharge of their
responsibilities in the resolution and said that they will not suffer any legal
disability or liability, financial or otherwise, arising out of the case. These
functionaries have been appointed by the newly appointed directors and are
working under the supervision of the newlyappointed directors and so it is
necessary that any immunities that is granted to the newly appointed directors
will be extended, the board said in its application to the NCLAT. IL&FS and
its group companies went under the scanner after failing to repay their dues.
Officials from the goods and services tax department have visited the IL&FS
Transportation Networks Limited office as it failed to pay the GST, while
another group company, Khed Sinnar. As on November 30, 2018, an aggregate
amount of Rs 382 crore remains unpaid. The board has done a liquidity
assessment which reveals that the situation does not allow servicing of debt
obligations to lenders or discharging liabilities.
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NARESH GOYAL TO QUIT AS CHAIRMAN OF DEBT-RIDDEN JET TODAY:
REPORT
Jet Airways Ltd Chairman
Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal are expected to leave the board of the
cash-strapped airline on Monday. Chief Executive Vinay Dube is expected to stay
on board the 25-year-old airline Goyal set up with his wife in 1993, according
to the report. The report also said that Jet's lenders may invoke Goyal's
entire stake in the airline, and start looking for a new buyer in the coming
weeks.
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DEAL OR EXIT? ETIHAD TO TAKE FINAL CALL ON JET AIRWAYS ON 31
MARCH
The board of Etihad
Airways PJSC will meet 31 March to take a final decision on whether the Abu
Dhabi-based carrier should make a fresh investment in Jet Airways (India) Ltd
or exit the ailing airline, two people directly aware of the development said.
Tony Douglas, who met State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar in
Mumbai on 18 March, has sought a term sheet from Indian lenders which require
them to buy Etihad’s 24% stake in Jet Airways if the UAE airline decides to
sell. Alternatively, Etihad will make fresh investments in the Mumbai-based
carrier only after the lenders agree to fulfil specific conditions. Etihad has
laid down certain conditions, which includes removal of the Naresh Goyal group
from the board altogether, one of the two people cited earlier said on
condition of anonymity. The airline has also sought a guarantee from the
lenders for offering more credit to Jet Airways after the equity infusion, the
person added. Etihad hopes that the lenders will be able to address all these
issues before the board meeting later this month, the second person said,
requesting anonymity. Etihad has also sought a ‘put option’ through which it
can sell its entire stake to the lenders (led by SBI) if it is not happy with the
revised resolution plan. Under the put option, the seller gets the right but
not the obligation to sell assets at an agreed price on or before a particular
date. During his meeting with the SBI chief, Douglas offered to sell Etihad’s
24% stake to the state-run lender at ₹150 per share, or about ₹400
crore for the full stake. As a minority shareholder, Etihad is working closely
with Indian lenders, the company and key stakeholders to facilitate a solution
for Jet Airways, a spokesperson for Etihad said.
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JET SUSPENDS FLIGHTS TO 13 FOREIGN DESTINATIONS, SCALES DOWN 7
ROUTES
Jet Airways, on the verge
of going belly-up, has suspended operations on as many as 13 more international
routes till end-April, besides scaling down frequencies on seven other overseas
routes, mostly from Delhi and Mumbai, according to airline sources. The routes
where services have been temporarily withdrawn include Pune-Singapore (seven a
week), which was launched with much fanfare late last December, and Pune-Abu
Dhabi (seven flights a week). Jet Airways has already suspended services on the
Mumbai-Manchester route.
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PMO ADVISES DOT TO HELP BSNL WITH WAGE BILL TILL JUNE
The Prime Ministers'
Office on Friday took stock of the telecom sector's financial position,
including two ailing PSUS, and is learnt to have asked Department of Telecom to
support BSNL, currently going through a huge financial crisis leading to salary
default till a new government takes over in June. The time has been sought as
the PSU may find it hard to get the revenues up and going for meeting a huge
monthly wage bill of Rs 1,200 crore, sources said. Sources said with polls
around, the government does not want 1.76 lakh employees should face any salary
issues The BSNL's VRS scheme amounting to Rs 6,535 crore will be taken up by
the new goverment. The Prime Ministers's Office, according to highly placed
sources, has asked DoT to support and take care of BSNL's wage bill in whatever
ways till July. BSNL has a net loss of Rs 8,000 crore and its revenues have
declined to around Rs 27,000 crore, underlining the tough times ahead in a
market of extremely low data tariffs and free voice calls. The PSU is also
struggling as it does not have LTE 4G servcies for lack of spectrum and now DoT
has referred the matter of its spectrum proposal to TRAI for consultation as
PSUs don't bid for auction to get spectrum.
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HOUSE PANEL PUSH FOR UPWARD REVISION OF CREAMY LAYER CRITERIA
IN OBC QUOTA
The Parliamentary
Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBC) has recommended that the
creamy layer criteria should be subject to an upward revision in view of the
fact that the 27 per cent reserved seats for OBC are never entirely filled. The
parliamentary panel led by BJP MP Ganesh Singh submitted the report on
‘Rationalisation of Creamy Layer in employment for OBCs in services and posts
under the control of Government of India’ to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan
on March 9. The panel has a total of thirteen recommendations Among the most
significant is its recommendation to relax the creamy layer — the upper income
ceiling/ criteria that exempts the relatively well-off members of OBC community
from availing reserved seats in government jobs and higher education
institutions. It has based this recommendation on data received from 78
Ministries/ Departments regarding representation of OBCs in posts and services
of central government. As per the data, OBC representation there is merely 21
per cent with it being the lowest among group A employees — 13 per cent. The
panel has noted, This leads to the inference and also apprehension that when
stringent conditions or restrictions are imposed for determining the creamy
layer, the objective of the government to fill up 27 per cent of the vacancies
by OBCs may not be achieved. Therefore, policy decisions should not prescribe
unusually rigid income limits because such restrictions have the effect of
taking away with one hand what is given with the other. The panel has
recommended a more realistic economic criteria that reflects GDP trend,
inflation, per capita income, rise in cost of living and other factors.
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INOX BANS FILM AFTER RONNIE SCREWVALA TAKES MULTIPLEXES TO
REGULATOR
Inox Leisure has boycotted
producer Ronnie Screwvala’s latest film, Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota, after he
accused the top four multiplexes of cartelising and illegally imposing fees
Screwvala had last week filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of
India (CCI), the fair-trade regulator, alleging that PVR, Inox Leisure,
Cinepolis India and Carnival Cinemas, along with the Multiplex Association of
India (MAI), were in collusion and charging Indian movie makers discriminatory
virtual print fee (VPF). He said Inox, the second largest multiplex chain in
India, refused to show his film till he withdraws the complaint. (Inox)
initially sent us a mail, sharing show timings (of the film) with us, which
they withdrew an hour later. Then their head told us that the Inox management
has taken a call that since I have complained to the CCI, they will not release
our movie unless we withdraw the complaint, Screwvala said. It is important to
note that once a complaint is filed with a regulatory body, it cannot be
withdrawn The producer said that these exhibitors continue their illegal and
mala fide act of imposing VPF, using a standard non-negotiable revenue model
and holding back advance payments that they get from online portals for movies.
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RSS STARTS CAMPAIGNING AGAINST NOTA
On Sunday, Vivek Mujumdar
in Mumbai’s Borivli suburb had unexpected guests: RSS swayamsevaks. To his
surprise, their request, Vivek said, was that his family, neighbours and
friends should cast their votes this Lok Sabha election, but they must not opt
for the Nota (none of the above) option. Just forget there’s a Nota button on
the machine, an RSS worker said. Nota has emerged as a challenge for the
Parivar and RSS is campaigning door-to-door against it. Assembly polls in
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan last December showed that victory
margins of several candidates who won narrowly against BJP nominees were
smaller than the number of Nota votes. In Karnataka and MP, loss of power was
attributed, in part, to Nota as BJP fell short of a majority by a few seats.
RSS spokesperson Arun Kumar said, Nota is nothing but an attempt to dislodge
the faith of people in the democratic process and divert valuable votes from
candidates in the fray. Asked if the campaign was to help BJP, Kumar said, Not
at all. In fact, it will help the candidate most likely to win, irrespective of
party.
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IGI AIRPORT NOW WORLD'S 12TH BUSIEST OVERTAKING HUBS LIKE
FRANKFURT
The capital’s Indira
Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is now the world’s 12th busiest airport —
moving up four places from the 16th spot in 2017 — by overtaking mega hubs like
the Frankfurt, Dallas Forth Worth, Guangzhou and Istanbul Ataturk airports.
According to the preliminary world airport traffic rankings for 2018 released
by Airports Council International (ACI), IGIA was the fastest growing among the
top 20 airports The airport saw 6.9 crore domestic and international flyers in
2018, 10.2% points more than the combined passengers of 2017. In terms of
passenger growth, only Seoul’s Incheon International, at the 16th place in 2018
with 10% point growth, was close to Delhi. The four airports just above Delhi —
Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Shanghai Pudong and Hong Kong —
handled just up to 46 lakh passengers more than IGIA. Had the Delhi airport’s
expansion not been hugely delayed as they are, IGIA may have even made it to
the top 10 last year itself. India being the world’s fastest growing aviation
market and Delhi its busiest airport, IGIA is to grow strongly once the infra
expansion takes place. India became the world’s third-largest aviation market
in terms of passenger throughput, behind the US and China, in 2018. India’s
move towards a more liberalised aviation market and the nation’s strengthening
economic fundamentals have helped it become one of the fastest-growing markets
with its traffic growing rapidly in a relatively short time, according to a
statement by ACI, the global representative of the world’s airports. With the
cost of travel decreasing in many markets, and a burgeoning middle class
growing in emerging markets, passenger traffic growth has remained
irrepressible. ACI’s global medium-term forecasts reveal that the growth in
demand between 2018 and 2023 will grow by almost 30%, said ACI World director
general Angela Gittens said. This means many national governments face the
predicament of demand outstripping available airport infrastructure. India is
likely to be one such country. IGIA has seen slow and delayed infra upgrade
despite being one of the world’s fastest growing airports. The airport
management had almost two years ago unveiled a plan to upgrade terminals 1 and
3 and build the fourth runway, but all are still some years from completion.
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CII TO FRAME NORMS FOR LAKE REVIVAL BY COMPANIES
The Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) is working on a lake-rejuvenation and adoption procedure
for corporates and industry bodies This comes a couple of weeks after five
private companies showed interest in reviving polluted lakes in the city. The
procedural guidelines are being prepared in consultation with lake experts and
the state government. We are focusing on aspects like sequencing of activities,
phase-wise development, action to prevent degradation of water quantity and
quality, etc, Hari Marar, chairman of Water Sustainability Task Force for CII,
told. Government agencies had included a provision to penalise companies if
they miss timelines, something the sponsors and lake activists believed was
oppressive. This time, CII is working on creating standardised DPRs and MoUs.
CII is collaborating with stakeholders to create standardised procedures.
Integrated water management is a critical aspect, which involves looking at
stream of lakes and the entire ecosystem rather than individual lakes and
isolated problems within lakes, Marar, who is also CMD of Bengaluru
International Airport, said.
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SMART CITY PROJECTS ON MODI GOVT'S AGENDA TO WOO MIDDLE CLASS
The Narendra Modi-led NDA
government is all set to showcase the progress of its 100 smart cities
initiative to woo the urban middle class this election season. According to
sources, the Centre would be talking about the work that has been done as well
as the projects that are being planned in these 100 cities. During its
campaigns, the party will explain how cities will get transformed over the next
five years. Many of the brownfield projects are slated to start taking off after
the polls. The smart cities initiative is primarily aimed at the aspirational
middle class. They want things like connected living, smart traffic management
and waste disposal systems, among other things. The government will showcase
how, during their term, they started work on all these projects and in the next
term they will ensure that the initiative gets completed, said a source close
to the government. No cities had done command and control system, bicycle
sharing system, smart water supply, floating solar plants and so many other
things together. These are complex projects and take time. Companies need to be
set up, manpower recruited, and then comes tendering. In limited time we have
tendered over Rs 1.31 trillion worth of projects. So, we can clearly say that
the projects have been given out swiftly and the process has been fast, said
Kunal Kumar, joint secretary and mission director (smart cities), ministry of
housing and urban affairs. According to Kumar, they have tendered more than 62
per cent of the projects and work has been started in 42 per cent of those. In
the 100 cities, 5,269 projects have been chalked out worth over Rs 2.15
trillion. Over the past three years, a host of international firms including
companies such as Alibaba group, Japanese business conglomerate Hitachi,
Finnish communications and information technology company Nokia, Twitter,
Facebook have shown interest in the projects.
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AIRTEL CUTS ISD RATES TO BANGLADESH, NEPAL BY 75%, 40%
RESPECTIVELY FOR PREPAID USERS
Bharti Airtel has sharply
cut international call tariffs to Bangladesh and Nepal for its prepaid
customers to boost consumption on these routes and, in turn, drive overseas
call revenues. International calls to Bangladesh will now be charged at Rs 2.99
a minute from Rs 12 a minute earlier, representing a whopping 75% cut. Calls to
Nepal, in turn, will be priced at Rs 7.99 a minute from Rs 13 a minute earlier,
reflecting a near 40% reduction. These new calling rates will further simplify
tariffs and eliminate the need for special ISD packs to make calls to these
neighbouring countries, Bharti Airtel’s chief operating officer Ajai Puri, said
Monday in a media statement. Airtel’s retail and business customers, he said,
would benefit from these reduced rates, adding that the Sunil Mittal-led telco
is confident this will further drive the consumption of minutes on these
routes.
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FLIPKART HAS $60-100 MILLION TO BACK EARLY-STAGE FIRMS
Flipkart has set up an
internal fund to invest across early-stage startups, in the first such move by
the ecommerce major, according to three people familiar with the matter. The
Walmart-owned etailer plans to back young companies across financial
technology, supply chain, SaaS, among other strategic areas as it looks to get
a foothold in these startups. The fund is estimated to be $60-100 million in
size and will be led by Emily McNeal, the group CFO of Flipkart. The capital
for the fund will come from Flipkart’s balance sheet and will see the etailer
cut cheques of about $2-3 million. While Flipkart has been investing in and
acquiring startups through its Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) team, this
is a more structured approach by the online retailer to take early bets at
lower valuations to leverage technologies for its businesses. The online
retailer will put together an investment committee similar to an investment
fund and bulk up its M&A team which will scout for these opportunities.
Flipkart’s M&A team is being revitalised with fresh talent and new
leadership, said one of the persons quoted above. The preliminary size of the
fund is between $50-60 million, but it could go up depending on their appetite
for investment, said the person mentioned above. They will look to pick up
anywhere between 20-25% stake in these early-stage companies in return, the
person added. McNeal said, Flipkart’s innovations have helped create much of
the ecosystem on which the Indian ecommerce industry has thrived over the past
decade. We are seeing startups today trying to solve unique challenges that
could help bring millions more into the digital fold helping contribute to the
‘Digital India’ programme. With this initiative, we are delighted to support
such innovative early-stage startups that are working on nextgen technology in
and around our ecosystem.
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LOGISTICS FIRM DELHIVERY TURNS UNICORN AS SOFTBANK COURIERS
$413 MILLION
Delhivery has become the
first Indian logistics company to enter the coveted unicorn club (companies
valued over $1 billion) after SoftBank invested $413 million from its Vision
Fund into the company on Sunday. Valuing the delivery firm at close to $2
billion, SoftBank picked a massive 22.4 per cent stake. According to sources in
the company, this stake buy gives SoftBank a seat on the board of Delhivery.
This would help the Japanese major use Delhivery in its grand plans of creating
a bigger logistics network for cab aggregating major Uber as well as Paytm. A
strong logistics player is what SoftBank needed. Uber plans to get into
delivery of groceries as well as start a concierge service. Paytm has been
looking for a partner as well for its e-commerce play. Delhivery can help both
the firms as SoftBank would to an extent call the shots in the company, said a
source close to Delhivery.
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HEALTH MINISTRY COMMEMORATES WORLD TB DAY
The Ministry of Health
& Family Welfare commemorated the World TB Day with a function to mark the
occasion, and reiterated the commitment to eliminating TB in the country by
2025. Ms. Preeti Sudan, Health Secretary presided over the function. She
stressed on the importance of more sensitive and responsive doctors, paramedics,
frontline health workers and community partners, while dealing with TB
patients. The systems of care for TB patients should be patient –centric, and
sympathetic to their wellbeing, she emphasised. She stated that India has been
able to free of Polio, Yaws, MNTE due to the sturdy health systems, especially
at the primary healthcare levels. She stated that partnerships with all
stakeholders hold the key to making India TB-free. Various presentations made
at the event highlighted the key changes introduced in the policy landscape of
TB in the country. India is now closest ever to covering all TB cases with 21.5
lakh new TB patients notified in 2018. With the aim of universal access to free
diagnostics and treatment services, path breaking policy changes have been
introduced. Universal drug susceptibility testing has been rolled out, shorter
and newer treatment regimen has been expanded countrywide. India is moving
towards an injection free regimen. Private sector engagement has been elevated
as one of the highest priorities with strengthened regulatory measures,
collaborative incentives and scale up of successful Patient Provider Support
Agency (PPSA) interventions which led to a 35% increase in TB notification from
the private sector. The Nikshay Poshan Yojana has benefited 15 lakh TB patients
for nutrition support with Rs. 240 cores disbursed as DBT since April 2018. A
comprehensive call centre (1XXX-XX-6666) for information, addressing grievance,
patient linkages and provider relationship has been established. Institutional
system of award for TB free status has been introduced to generate federal
competitiveness, motivate and to bring about proactive actions from States and
Districts. As on date, 15 lakh patients have been initiated in the Fixed Dose Combination
(FDC) regime. TB forums at various levels in the states have been formed to
remove stigma and to create awareness about the symptoms of the disease and the
free treatment available at the government health facilities. 1180 CBNAAT labs
have been made operational throughout the country, along with 4 lakh treatment
support centres at the village level. These efforts have resulted in increase
from 25% to 83% in the treatment success rates (2017-2018), and the TB
prevalence rates have come down from 29% to 4%.
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#METOO IN TECH: 87% WOMEN WOULD OPT OUT OF A FIRM IF SEXUAL
HARASSMENT TAKES PLACE, REVEALS SURVEY
Job site Indeed conducted
a survey of employees across various companies in the technology sector in
India in order to gauge their perception of employers in the wake of public
allegations of misconduct, and found that close to 70% considered changing
their jobs depending on the nature of the scandal, their loyalty to the firm
and how well, or poorly, the employers handled these situations. 8 in 10
respondents said they were more likely to report misbehaviour in the wake of
last year’s public offences, with women (85%) more likely to do so than men
(76%). Close to 80% of respondents said they would be likely to leave their job
if a technology-based issue such as data breach, product failure, etc. occurred
at the company for which they work. 87% of women said they would be likely to
leave their job if a gender-based scandal such as sexual harassment, bias in
hiring, etc. occurred at the company for which they work, with 82% of men in
agreement. 75% of respondents would be likely to quit if issues such as the CEO
or senior leaders expressing political views or contributing to policies
against their own political beliefs occurred at the company for which they
work. Overall, only a little over 10% of respondents said they were less eager
to work in the tech industry as a result of public offences such as data
breaches, sexual harassment exposures, disingenuous privacy practices, and so
on.
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HC SETS ASIDE ELECTION OF AIADMK CANDIDATE A K BOSE
The Madras High Court has
set aside the election of ruling AIADMK candidate AK Bose, who died last year,
in a 2016 by-election, holding that there were violation of norms in affixing
of then party chief Jayalalithaa’s thumb impression on his nomination papers.
The court also came down heavily on the Election Commission observing that it
had acted as the AIADMK’s mouthpiece and the Returning Officer of the constituency
too did not follow the election laws and had accepted the nomination, knowing
full well it was materially defective. Justice P Velmurugan gave the verdict on
Friday allowing the election petition filed by P Saravanan, the losing DMK
candidate in Thiruparankundram constituency. He had challenged the victory of
Bose in the November 2016 assembly by-poll on the ground that the thumb
impression of Jayalalithaa was not genuine. judge said affixing the thumb
impression in Form A and B (by which a party authorises the candidature of its
nominee) was generally not permissible under law. The Election Commission which
had allowed it due to the medical condition of Jayalalithaa should have
specified that the thumb impression be obtained in the presence of an officer
belonging to an administrative service not below the rank of sub divisional
officer, he said. Rapping the EC, the judge said the Commission had instead
permitted attestation of the thumb impression by a medical officer, which is
contrary to the election laws laid down by the Supreme Court. The Election
Commission, being an independent body, it is very unfortunate; it was acting as
mouthpiece of ruling party. Even, in evidence, no one has stated that they have
seen Jayalalitha and no one stated about the treatment, which had been given to
her, the judge said, adding since the former chief minister had died, there was
no proof that she was in a conscious state of mind at that time. At least, if
she was alive, the court could have extracted truth regarding the thumb
impression, he said.
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MORE WOMEN ARE COMING OUT TO VOTE IN GENERAL ELECTIONS
Political parties have
been trying to outdo each other in luring the woman voter for the upcoming Lok
Sabha elections. While the opposition, led by the Congress, has been promising
to introduce the women’s reservation bill, several welfare schemes of the BJP
such as Swachh Bharat, Ujjwala Yojana, Matru Vandana Yojana and the Awaas
Yojana are particularly targeted at women. Women’s rising turnout in elections
and their growing political assertiveness would be an important swing factor in
the upcoming election, brokerage Centrum Broking said in a recent report. The
number of women voters has increased from 47% to 48.13%. As per the Election
Commission’s voter enrollment figures, women constituted more than half the
increase in the number of voters, with 4.35 crore registrations. The 2014 Lok
Sabha election earned the distinction of recording the highest voter turnout
ever at 66.4%. This surpassed the 64% polling witnessed in the 1984 polls, held
in extraordinary circumstances following the assassination of then Prime
Minister Indira Gandhi, and made the 58.2% turnout of 2009 pale in comparison.
Women had a greater share in the credit for highest ever turnout in 2014
election. The surge in female voter turnout over 2009 was higher than the
corresponding rise in male turnout. Nearly 65.63% of the total women electors
in the country voted in 2014 election, as compared to 55.82% in 2009 poll. In
comparison, 67.17% of the male electorate turned up at the polling stations, as
compared to 60.24% in the last general election. Highest women voter turnout in
2014 election was in Lakshadweep at 88.42%. followed by Nagaland (87.49%),
Dadra and Nagar Haveli (85.71%), Tripura (84.37%) and Sikkim (83.88%). As many
as 16 states/UTs recorded higher women turnout this time, as against six
states/UTs in 2009 polls. The states/UTs that had witnessed higher women
participation in the last parliamentary poll were Dadra & Nagar Haveli,
Daman & Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Tripura and Sikkim.
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RELIANCE INDUSTRIES DENIES SIDESTEPPING US SANCTIONS AGAINST
VENEZUELA
Reliance Industries,
operator of the world’s largest oil refining complex, Friday said it has never
sidestepped US sanctions against Venezuela and has completely stopped supplying
fuel to the Latin American nation. Since the imposition of US sanctions,
Reliance has been in continuous communication with the US Department of State
regarding its activities in Venezuela, the company said in a statement.
Reliance has been transparent with US authorities and also has provided
detailed feedback to the US Department of State as they were formulating and
adjusting US policy regarding product shipments to Venezuela, it said. Reliance
not only has complied with US sanctions laws, but also has done its best to
adjust its dealings with Venezuela on a voluntary basis to reflect the ongoing
changes in US policy. The company said it has stopped shipments of diluent
naphtha to Venezuela, and has reduced its purchases of Venezuelan crude oil to
well below its contracted levels. On reports of its refineries in Jamnagar
continuing to send fuel to Venezuela in violation of sanctions, Reliance said a
few transportation fuel shipments to Venezuela, treated as offsets for crude
oil receipts, were committed and in-transit when there were no specific
restrictions to such transactions. They were all fuels refined in India.
Reliance will continue its transactions in full compliance of prevailing
sanctions, it added.
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GOVERNMENT BELIEVES IN THE PRINCIPLE OF FREEDOM IN RESEARCH
The Ministry of Human
Resource Development has not issued any directive to restrict choice of
subjects for research, as has been reported in a section of media since the
Government believes in the principle of freedom in research. Last year, there
was a meeting of Vice Chancellors of 11 Central Universities, which were
lacking in research. In the said meeting they presented a road map to improve
research and also discussed the issue of more research on issues relating to
national priorities. The minutes of the meeting were recorded. The Government
has given impetus to improve and expand research facilities. The Government has
provided Rs 480 crore for Social Science Research Project under Impactful
Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS); Rs 225 Crore for research in
basic sciences; Rs 1000 crore under Impacting Research, Innovation and
Technology (IMPRINT) for technology related research; Rs 450 crore under STRIDE
for research in Humanities; and Rs 480 crore under Scheme for Promotion of
Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) for joint research with foreign
universities in any discipline.
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90% OF RS 38,000-CRORE PLEDGED DEBT NOT ADEQUATELY COVERED:
CRISIL
As much as 90 per cent of
the rated pledged debt of Indian firms are not adequately covered according to
a new report by CRISIL. The rated pledge debt in the mutual fund segment has
transaction cover of less than two times. The RBI has prescribed of a minimum
collateral cover of two times for lending against shares by banks and
non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), but there is no such safeguard for
mutual fund segment. Of the close to Rs. 38,000 crore of rated debt in the
market, about 90 per cent had a transaction cover less than two times, and in
some cases, as low as 1.2 to 1.3 times, the report noted. The findings come at
a time when there have been various cases of sharp corrections in the price of
pledged shares, which led to concerns on how to deal with the problem. These
include cases such as those involving Subhash Chandra’s Zee Telefilms and Anil
Ambani Group firms. The Rs. 38,000 crore of debt accounts for up to 40 per cent
of the total pledged of promoters, the report said, adding 90 per cent of them
are ‘A’ category and above. The report pointed out that data on companies in
the Nifty 500 Index for 2005-18 indicate that at an overall cover of 1.3 times,
in nine out of 10 cases, the market value of such shares could have dropped
below the debt contracted within a month, leading to losses to lenders.
Further, in five out of 10 cases, an overall cover of even 1.8 times could have
fully depleted within a month because of the fall in share price, making
refinancing difficult. The overall cover acts as the first line of defence. It
determines refinancing ability, and provides flexibility to pledge additional
unencumbered shares to maintain the minimum pledge cover requirements and
prevent breach of covenants in any specific transaction, said Gurpreet
Chhatwal. The report also noted that in the case of a breach of covenant,
lenders have just about one month to liquidate pledged shares, and the equity
markets may not have the depth and liquidity to absorb simultaneous liquidation
by multiple lenders.
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LANDLINE, POSPAID USERS TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE FREE PRINTED
PHONE BILLS: TRAI
Landline and postpaid
mobile users will continue to receive printed hard copies of phone bills for
free with the telecom regulator saying an electronic or `e-bill’ cannot be a
default option as it would be an anti-consumer move. The Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (Trai) said time is still not ripe for making an e-bill a
default option, given the demographic structure of India, its literacy rate,
the size of its non-e-literate population, the limitation of senior citizens
and disadvantaged groups and the country’s rural population. But the sector
regulator said telcos can switch to an e-bill only after obtaining an explicit
consent from the consumer. If a customer opts for receipt of the bill through
e-mail instead of a hard copy, the service provider can supply the same after
obtaining explicit consent, Trai said in a media statement Monday. The
regulator said it would be unfair to thrust an e-bill as a default option on
unwilling subscribers, especially those without internet access or incapable of
making an informed choice between a printed and an electronic bill.
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'RAHUL'S MINIMUM INCOME PLAN'S ANNUAL COST RS 3.6 LAKH CR'
Rahul Gandhi's latest
announcement to provide to Rs 72,000 per annum to 5 crore households, if
implemented, is likely to have a major impact on the country's exchequer
costing a huge Rs 3.6 lakh crore per annum, according to economists. While the
Congress chief initially said the minimum income line is Rs 12,000 per annum
and the scheme will benefit individuals earning less than that, he subsequently
clarified that the scheme will supplement the income of the poor if it is less
than Rs 12,000 per month. The minimum income line is Rs 12,000 per month.
Whatever the difference -- say the income is Rs 6,000 -- we will top it up.
Those who earn less than Rs 12,000, we will take their earnings to Rs 12,000,
Gandhi said. Economists are of the opinion that the party should come out with
the details of the scheme, observed that such a scheme would have a significant
pressure on the economy. N.R. Bhanumurthy, said that it could be a scheme
wherein some of the non-functioning welfare schemes are subsumed. Such a plan
may work, he added. Criticising the announcement, economist Surjit Bhalla
tweeted: Is RG's #MinimumIncomeGuarantee a game changer or absurd beyond
compare? The idea is fundamentally flawed and so beyond compare. In defence of
the announced scheme, former Finance Minister and Congress leader P.
Chidambaram said in a tweet: We have consulted economists, this is doable, and
we will adhere to fiscal discipline. Every family in the poorest 20 per cent
will be given an income support of Rs 6,000 a month, he said.
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MAKERS OF BIOPIC ON PM MODI GET NOTICE FOR 'FLOUTING' ELECTION
CONDUCT CODE
The Delhi Chief Electoral
Office on Monday said it was awaiting a reply from the makers of a biopic on
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, scheduled to be released on April 5, after it
felt that the film violated the model code of conduct East Delhi Returning
Officer K Mahesh, had on March 20, suo motu issued notices to the production
house and music company behind the film PM Narendra Modi and two leading
newspapers for publishing advertisements of the film. The returning officer
also suggested that the Election Commission of India (ECI) could form
guidelines for political films released during elections. We are looking into
it. We will send the recommendations to the poll body, Singh said.
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CAN'T ALLOT 'PRESSURE COOKER' SYMBOL TO DHINAKARAN-LED GROUP:
EC TELLS SC
The Election Commission
told the Supreme Court Monday that it can allot a common symbol of pressure
cooker to an individual but not to an unregistered group led by former AIADMK
leader TTV Dhinakaran and V K Sasikala in Tamil Nadu. Dhinakaran told the apex
court that the EC stand would force the candidates of AMMK party led by him to
contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on different symbols A bench of Chief
Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Deepak Gupta asked senior advocate Kapil
Sibal, appearing for Dhinakaran, as to when is the last date of filing
nominations for Lok Sabha polls. Sibal replied that the last date of filing of
nomination is Tuesday itself and if the party is not allotted the symbol its
candidates will have to contest on different symbols. He said that candidates
of rival parties will win by default if a common symbol of 'pressure cooker' is
not given to them. The bench then asked the EC official to apprise it as to why
a common symbol was not given to the AMMK party. The official said that as per
the rules a common symbol cannot be given to the AMMK party which was not a
registered political party. He said the election process has already started
and it would be difficult to allot a common symbol. Where is your reply. You
cannot just read from a piece of paper and say it cannot be given. Where are
the reasons, the bench said. The official replied that court had not asked the
poll panel to file its reply. The bench, which was visibly unsatisfied with the
reply of poll panel official perused the March 15 order and said that court has
issued notice to the EC. We have issued notice, Why did you not file a detailed
reply to their plea. Shall we invite the election commission to file a reply.
You file the affidavit in the course of the day. We will hear the case
tomorrow, the bench said.
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CITIZENSHIP BILL BINDS RIVALS IN 3 NE STATES
Rivals in the battle of
the ballot across Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram seem to be bound by a common
cause — opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. They include
candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has vowed to get the Bill
passed, if voted back to power There are State-specific issues, such as the
elusive settlement to the Naga peace process in Nagaland and bridging the gap
between the hills and plains dwellers of Manipur. But thwarting the Bill is the
overriding issue, most intensely in Mizoram where a regional party went to the
extent — inviting a notice from the Election Commission in the process — of
seeking the right to secede if the Bill is passed. The three States have four
Lok Sabha constituencies among them — two in Manipur and one each in Mizoram
and Nagaland. These seats, represented by those on the country’s fringes,
matter when mainstream political parties or alliances need support to form the
government at the Centre. Except for Nagaland, where the sitting MP belongs to
the BJP’s ruling ally Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP), the
three seats in Manipur and Mizoram are currently held by the Congress. On
paper, the BJP has the edge over the Congress by virtue of ruling Manipur and
Nagaland with regional allies. Though the saffron party has fielded a candidate
from the minority Chakma community in Mizoram, it holds the advantage because
the State is ruled by a partner in its anti-Congress forum, the Mizo National
Front (MNF). The Citizenship Bill is bad news for the indigenous people of
Mizoram, where the presence of illegal migrants is a major issue We cannot let
this happen, MNF candidate C. Lalrosanga, a former Director General of
Doordarshan, told. His prime rival, Lalnhinglova Hmar, too has declared war on
the Bill. An independent candidate backed by the Congress and the regional
Zoram People’s Movement, he is a media professional and football administrator.
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COLD STORAGE CAPACITY EXPANDS, RS 21,000 CRORE INVESTMENT
LINED UP BY 2023
In next 4-5 years Rs
21,000 crore will be invested in setting up or upgrading cold storages to
address the problem of stockpiling of perishable commodities. There has been an
urgent need to upgrade existing cold storage plant and machinery, and
technology. An under-developed food processing value chain is another issue
that needs to be resolved. Currently 68 per cent of the existing cold storage
capacity is used for storing potato and yet farmers are not getting the right
price. The situation in other commodities no better. Crisil Research has
estimated that investment of Rs 16,000-21,000 crore is being lined up in the
sector between 2019 and 2023 for optimising the domestic post-harvest value
chain and to feed the downstream food processing industry. According to Crisil
Research director Hetal Gandhi, fresh investment was expected from private
players while the government typically supported the sector through subsidies. For
instance, the union ministry of food processing offered subsidy at 50 per cent
of the project cost with a cap of Rs 10 crore. Crisil also expects the cold
storage industry to grow at a CAGR of 13-15% over fiscals 2019-23, mainly
driven by rising demand for processed food, fresh fruits & vegetables, seafood
and bio-pharmaceuticals in exports markets. Currently, 95% of the cold storages
are owned by the private sector, 3% by cooperatives and the remaining 2% by the
public sector undertakings. Since, bulk of the capacity is owned by the private
sector, there is greater need for the central and state governments to rise up
to the occasion and support the beleaguered industry.
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SAMSUNG TOPS CONSUMER-FOCUSED BRANDS IN INDIA LIST
Samsung, Tata Motors,
Apple, Hero MotoCorp and Nike are the top-five consumer-focused brands in the
country, according to a study by TRA. The study, titled 'India's Most
Consumer-Focused Brands 2019', measures brands on their increase in buying
propensity index over the previous year. Samsung showed an upward movement of
eight ranks to secure the top position on the list of this year. The South
Korean conglomerate dominates the Indian market by displaying its determined
supremacy through complete consumer focus, thus dominating their mind and
perception, TRA said in a statement. Life Insurance Corporation, LG, HDFC Bank,
Bajaj Pulsar and Vivo took the sixth, seventh, eight, ninth and tenth place,
respectively.
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HYUNDAI SIGNS WAGE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH EMPLOYEES
Hyundai Motor India
Limited (HMIL) on Monday announced the completion of its long term wage
settlement with the company's recognised union, the UUHE (United Union of
Hyundai Employees). The three year wage settlement will be implemented with
retrospective effect from April 2018 and will remain effective until March
2021, said the company. The settlement agreement is only for direct employees. As
per the agreement, the technicians will receive an average salary increase of
Rs 25,200 per month spread over three years. Technicians will receive 55
percent of the increased salary in the first year, 25 percent in the second
year and 20 percent in the third year. This would mean a monthly salary raise
of Rs 13,860 will be given in the first year, Rs 6,300 in the second year and
Rs. 5,040 a month in the third year.
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KARNATAKA GOVERNMENT LETS OFF OLA WITH RS 15 LAKH PENALTY
The Karnataka government
slapped a Rs 15 lakh ($21,754) fine on ride-hailing service Ola on Monday for
running motorcycle taxis without permission and revoked an earlier suspension
on its licence. Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, is considered India's
Silicon Valley and one of its most populated cities where Ola and San
Francisco-based Uber compete for millions of riders. VP Ikkeri, state
commissioner for transport and road safety, said the ban had been lifted after
the fine was imposed on Ola for operating motorcycle taxis without a permit. Despite
the ban, users in Bengaluru reported that they were still able to book a taxi
or an auto-rickshaw through Ola's app over the weekend.
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NITIN GADKARI’S DIG AT PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA
Nitin Gadkari takes a
smart jive at Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Ganga yatra! Hailing the Ganga cleaning
project undertaken by the Narendra Modi government, Union Minister Nitin
Gadkari has said that Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East)
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would not have have been able to drink Ganga water during
UPA tenure. Gadkari also said that if his ministry had not made
Allahabad-Varanasi waterway, how could Priyanka Gandhi have travelled on it?
Gadkari was taking a dig at Priyanka after her visit to the politically crucial
Uttar Pradesh ahead of Lok Sabha elections 2019. In mid-March, Priyanka undertook
a three-day visit to the state for the party’s campaign and offered prayers at
Lette Hanuman temple near Sangam and other temples. She also took a boat-ride
from Allahabad to Varanasi. She also offered prayers on the banks of ‘Sangam’
which is a confluence of the mythical river Saraswati, Ganga and Yamuna. Gadkari
said that the central government has undertaken around 288 projects at a cost
of Rs 26,000 crore. He said that along with Ganga, works have been going on its
tributaries and channels. In Delhi alone, projects of Rs 4,500 crore were being
developed. He revealed that during the Kumbh Mela, the water of river Ganga was
pure and untainted. Gadkari has said that 70 to 80 per cent of the Ganga will
be cleaned by March 2019 and exuded confidence will be totally cleaned by 2020.
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AIR INDIA WITHDRAWS BOARDING PASSES AFTER CRITICISM OVER PM
MODI, GUJARAT CM ON THEM
Air India has decided to
roll back its boarding passes bearing photographs of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani after they came in for criticism. The
airline had earlier said the passes, featuring the photographs which were
third-party advertisements, would be withdrawn if they are found to be in
violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Air India has decided to roll back the
boarding passes of Vibrant Gujarat which had photos of the prime minister and
the Gujarat chief minister, said Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar Former
Punjab DGP Shashi Kant on Monday tweeted a photograph of his boarding pass
issued at the New Delhi airport, questioning how pictures of the two leaders
could be on it. At New Delhi airport on March 25th, 2019. My Air India Boarding
Pass, prominently flashes Narendra Modi, Vibrant Gujrat & Vijay Rupani.
Picture of boarding pass is below. Wonder why we are wasting public money on
this Election Commission, which doesn't see, hear or speak, he tweeted.
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GOA PUT ON A TERROR ALERT AFTER CHRISTCHURCH MOSQUE ATTACK
In the context of possible
Christchurch mosque vengeance reaction, Goa has been put on an alert following
a tip-off from Central Intelligence Agencies, Goa Inspector General of Police
Jaspal Singh confirmed on March 25. This alert is about a possible attack on
Israeli tourists in the Coastal tourist State. Mr. Singh told that though now
there are not many Israeli tourists, two Chabad Houses in North coastal belt
has not been operational while one in Canacona in South Goa has been under
constant vigil, where a few visitors come for prayers. As for instance, IGP
said that at Canacona Chabad House people visit on Saturday and Sunday for
prayers. On March 24 (Sunday) there were around 12 visitors for prayer. Our
guards are deployed and also it is under our constant vigil, said Mr. Singh.
All our Superintendents of Police (SPs) have been briefed and alerted,
Anti-Terror Squad has been put on alert and we have been constantly sharing
inputs with various agencies as well as have alerted our intelligence networks.
Police sources said that the alert has been in the context of a possible
revenge attack by Al Qaeda or Islamic State terrorists for last week's terror
attack at a mosque in New Zealand. The police sources said that the alert had
been issued to several States and Union Territories which have Jewish
structures, sizeable Jewish people or attract Israeli tourists. As per the
alert from Central Intelligence Agencies, we have to keep a close watch to
ensure the security of areas frequented by Israeli tourists as well as prayer
houses, said Mr. Singh.
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GUJARAT: RMC RECOVERS OVER RS 1 CRORE PROPERTY TAX FROM
DEFAULTERS IN ONE DAY
With just a week left for
the current financial year to end, the tax department of Rajkot Municipal
Corporation (RMC) Sunday cracked down on property tax defaulters and recovered
Rs 1.4 crore from them. Civic officials said they have collected a total of Rs
213 crore property tax in 2018-19 so far, and exuded confidence that they would
collect Rs 246 crore in all this financial year. The RMC has sealed more than
600 properties for non-payment of taxes. Teams from the RMC conducted special
drives in east, central and west zones and recovered Rs 1.4 crore by around 5
pm. From the east zone alone, Rs 52 lakh was recovered by 18 teams. In all, we
have collected Rs 1.4 crore during the day. This is one of the highest tax
collections in a single day, save those during demonetisation in 2016-17. As of
today, our aggregate collection is Rs 213 crore, said a top official. The RMC
had initially set a target of collecting Rs 225 crore towards property tax in
the financial year 2018-19.
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MAHARASHTRA COVERS 56% TB PATIENTS UNDER DBT SCHEME
A year after the central
government rolled out direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme for tuberculosis
(TB) patients, aiming to improve their nutrition, Maharashtra has covered 56
per cent of total patients The scheme, however, faces a hurdle when it comes to
the private sector, where doctors do not have patients’ bank account details.
Across Maharashtra, there are 2.26 lakh TB patients of them at least 70,000 get
treated in the private sector. So far, 1.26 lakh patients have been provided
financial aid. The DBT scheme was announced in 2018 as part of government’s aim
to reduce TB rates by 2025. With the disease largely affecting poverty-stricken
people living in poorly ventilated homes, government decided to provide regular
financial aid to patients to allow them to improve their nutrition.
Tuberculosis treatment not only requires drug regime for a year or two, but
also needs patient to have a high nutrition diet. Under the Revised National
Tuberculosis Control Programme, patients notified to government are slated to
receive Rs 500 per month through a cash transfer to their bank accounts. In
tribal areas, an additional amount of Rs 750 is provided to patients to
compensate for travelling to clinics. Each private doctor is paid Rs 1,000 for
notifying a TB patient. We have covered 90 per cent of patients in the public
sector, the problem is reaching out to those in the private sector, said Anup
Kumar Yadava. A patient is first registered online on Nikshay portal, which is
linked to the Public Finance Management System (PFMS). The PFMS facilitates
funds transfer to patients’ bank accounts. Since January, the Maharashtra
government has partnered with PATH to cover 10 urban corporation and 10 rural
areas.
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LIQUIDITY SQUEEZE MAY HELP RESHAPE INDIA'S REAL ESTATE, SAYS
VIKAS OBEROI
Tycoon Vikas Oberoi says a
liquidity squeeze may help to reshape India’s property industry Scarcer
financing, combined with tighter government oversight of the sector in recent
years, may help to clear away some fly-by-night firms and foster consolidation,
according to the chairman of Oberoi Realty Ltd. Defaults last year by IL&FS
group triggered a crisis among shadow lenders, putting the squeeze on borrowers
including home builders. The fallout from the saga may help firms such as
Oberoi, the nation’s third-biggest listed developer, to expand shares of a
fragmented market. The money will now be available to only credible developers,
Oberoi, 49, said. It’s a huge positive. Debt concerns have pushed funding costs
for non-bank lenders to multi-year highs in recent weeks, casting a shadow over
the Indian economy ahead of the nation’s election.
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CHINA DESTROYS 30,000 WORLD MAPS FOR SHOWING ARUNACHAL AS PART
OF INDIA
Customs officials in China
have destroyed 30,000 world maps printed in the country for not mentioning
Arunachal Pradesh and Taiwan as part of its territory according to a media
report. China claims the north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as
part of South Tibet. China routinely objects to Indian leaders visiting
Arunachal Pradesh to highlight its stand. India says the State of Arunachal
Pradesh is its integral and inalienable part and Indian leaders visit Arunachal
Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other parts of the country. The two
countries have so far held 21 rounds of talks to resolve the border dispute
covering 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). China also claims the
estranged island of Taiwan as its part. The maps were meant for export to an
unspecified country, state-run Global Times reported on Tuesday. Almost 30,000
incorrect world maps, showing Taiwan as a separate country and wrong depiction
of the Sino-Indian border, were destroyed by the customs authorities in
Qingdao, it said. What China did in the map market was absolutely legitimate
and necessary, because sovereignty and territorial integrity are the most
important things to a country. Both Taiwan and South Tibet are parts of China's
territory which is sacred and inviolable based on the international law, Liu
Wenzong, said.
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TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES’ $420 MILLION TRADE SECRETS CASE
MOVES TO HIGHER COURT
Tata Consultancy Services’
appeal against the $420-million verdict in a trade secrets suit filed by US
software firm Epic Systems has moved to a federal appeals court after it was
upheld by a lower court. Epic had filed the lawsuit in 2014 against TCS
alleging that the IT services company had stolen its intellectual property. In
2016, Epic won a jury award of $940 million. In 2017, the Wisconsin court judge
lowered the amount of the award to $420 million to comply with caps on punitive
damages in such cases. In January 2018, TCS said it made a $440-million letter
of credit available to US software firm Epic Systems. Last week, the Wisconsin
judge, who initially heard the case and reduced the verdict amount, upheld the
verdict following an initial appeal by TCS. On Friday, TCS filed a notice of
appeal with the Seventh Circuit Court in Chicago, a source with knowledge of
the matter told. We had prepared for this possible development and we filed a
notice of appeal on the same day. We have strengthened our legal team with the
addition of Sidley Austin, the source added. Sidley Austin in a global law firm
with over 2,000 attorneys. The source added that the employees who were responsible
had also violated the Tata Code of Conduct and had been terminated. Appellate
cases can take a year or more as the parties in the case are given time to
present both their sides. TCS believes that the facts and evidence presented in
court do not support the penalty imposed. We have filed an appeal against the
order in the higher court, and are confident of a favourable outcome, Vish
Iyer, global head of legal and corporate affairs at TCS told. We are unwavering
in our commitment to ethics, compliance and stringent IP protection. TCS did
not misuse or derive any benefit from Epic’s documents and will defend its
position vigorously, Iyer added.
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$14 MILLION SETBACK FOR NIKE FOR BLOCKING CROSS-BORDER SALES
OF SOCCER MERCHANDISE
U.S. sportswear maker Nike
was hit with a 12.5 million euro ($14.14 million) fine on Monday for blocking
cross-border sales of soccer merchandise of some of Europe’s best-known clubs,
the latest EU sanction against such restrictions. The European Commission said
Nike’s illegal practices occurred between 2004 to 2017 and related to licensed
merchandise for FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Juventus, Inter Milan, AS Roma
and the French Football Federation. The European Union case focused on Nike’s
role as a licensor for making and distributing licensed merchandise featuring a
soccer club’s brands and not its own trademarks. Nike’s practices included
clauses in contracts prohibiting out-of-territory sales by licensees and
threats to end agreements if licensees ignored the clauses. Its fine was cut by
40 per cent after it cooperated with the EU enforcer.
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