GENERAL UPDATES 01.02.2019

RBI LAUNCHES OMBUDSMAN SCHEME FOR DIGITAL PAYMENTS

The Reserve Bank of India has launched the ombudsman scheme for digital payments the banking regulator announced in a release. It had first spoken about the scheme in the December 5 monetary policy statement promising to create a separate ombudsman for digital payments. As announced the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) launched the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (OSDT) for redressal of complaints against System Participants as defined in the said scheme, said the regulator in a statement. Further the regulator added that the scheme will provide free of cost redressal mechanism to grievances raised by customers for digital transactions undertaken by them through non-banking channels, like mobile wallets or tech enabled payment companies using UPI for settlements. Transactions undertaken through the banking channels will still be managed by the banking ombudsman. Laying out the jurisdiction of the functioning, the RBI said that the new ombudsman will start working from the 21 existing offices of the Banking Ombudsman and work within the existing territorial jurisdictions.
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DATA NOT FINALISED, SAYS NITI AAYOG ABOUT REPORT ON UNEMPLOYMENT RISING

India's unemployment rate hit a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent in 2017, according to a report based on an official survey, which the government said was yet to be approved To compare, the unemployment rate in the country had gone down to 2.2 per cent in 2011-12, according to NSSO data. Rajiv Kumar, who had previously mounted a defence of lowering of UPA-era GDP growth rates, said the report cited by the newspaper is not finalised. It is a draft report. He said the government will release its employment report by March after collating quarter-on-quarter data. He also debunked claims of jobless growth, saying how can a country grow at an average of 7 per cent without employment. Amitabh Kant, who too was present at the conference, said India is creating adequate number of jobs for new entrants, but probably we are not creating high quality jobs. Two members -- including the acting chairman -- of the National Statistical Commission resigned this week, saying the government had not released the job numbers despite the commission's approval. The NSSO report was based on data collected between July 2017 and June 2018 and is the first official survey post-demonetisation. The news report further said that unemployment was higher in urban areas (7.8 per cent) as compared to 5.3 per cent in rural areas of the country.
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PLAYERS READY TO MIGRATE TO NEW TARIFF ORDER FROM FEBRUARY 1, SAYS TRAI

Telecom regulator Trai announced Thursday that all service providers have confirmed their readiness to migrate to the new tariff regime for broadcasting and cable services from Friday, and directed operators to ensure a smooth switchover without any inconvenience to TV viewers. While customer onboarding for cable services stands at about 62 per cent and for DTH at only 30 per cent, TRAI officials asserted that in case of the latter, the nature of the platform itself will ensure that the customer remains protected and does not face any disruption for the period the prepaid payment is valid. The services will continue till the next recharge for such customers. "The multiple system operators have also assured us that they will allow some channels to be available to customers to avoid any inconvenience, and they will also actively pursue customers to exercise their choice,” Trai Secretary S K Gupta said. Trai, which held a meeting with broadcasters, distribution platform operators (DPOs) and other players on Thursday to review their preparations for the migration said all operators have confirmed their preparedness to make the transition to the new framework from February 1. Trai has unveiled the new tariff order and regulatory regime for the broadcast and cable sector, which would pave the way for consumers to opt for channels they wish to view and pay only for them. It had said every channel should be offered a la carte, with a transparent display of rates on electronic programme guide. The Calcutta High Court, modifying its earlier stay order, on Thursday allowed Trai to bring into operation its new tariff regime and regulations for broadcast and cable sector from February 1. The TRAI had earlier planned implementation of the new regime from January 1, but later extended it by a month.
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GOVERNMENT HOLDS ALL PARTY LEADERS MEETING TO DISCUSS IMPORTANT ISSUES TO COME UP DURING INTERIM BUDGET SESSION OF PARLIAMENT 2019

“Government's focus lies on Issues of National Importance and finding solutions to problems of the people. The country expects from all of us to perform our duties as Parliamentarians in a positive manner and we must deliver to the expectations of the people” said Shri Narendra Modi. A host of issues were brought up by the leaders of parties during the meeting. The Prime Minister assured all leaders that issues raised by them would be taken into consideration by the Government and given due importance. The Government has requested all parties, especially the opposition, for their co-operation for the smooth functioning of both Houses of Parliament and is ready for a constructive discussion on every issue of national importance, as permitted under Rules of Procedure. There was a consensus across party lines on ensuring smooth functioning of the Parliament without disruptions and deadlocks to be resolved through constructive discussions in both the Houses. The Session will mainly be devoted to the Financial Business relating to Interim Budget for 2019 and discussion on the Motion of Thanks on President’s Address. However, essential Legislative and other Business will also be taken up during the Session. The Interim Budget for 2019 will be presented to Lok Sabha on Friday, 1stFebruary 2019, at 11.00 A.M. Three Bills to replace Ordinances namely
(i) the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Ordinance, 2019;
(ii) the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019; and
(iii) The Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019are required to be passed during the Interim Budget Session, 2019 itself.

Further, some important pending legislations required to be considered and passed during the Session are the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2018, the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, the Aadhar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2018, the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2019, the Consumer Protection Bill, 2018, the Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2017, the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019, the Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2018, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and the National Medical Commission Bill, 2017.

LIST OF BILLS LIKELY TO BE TAKEN UP DURING

INTERIM BUDGET SESSION, 2019

I – LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS
•    The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2017.
•    The Dentists (Amendment) Bill, 2017
•    The Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2018
•    The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2018
•    The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2018
•    The Dam Safety Bill, 2018
•    The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2018
•    The National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2018
•    The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2018
•    The Trade Union (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The Major Port Authorities Bill, 2016.
•    The National Medical Commission Bill, 2017.
•    The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development (Amendment) Bill, 2018
•    The Lokpal and Lokayuktas and Other Related Law (Amendment) Bill, 2014.
•    The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018
•    The Representation of People (Amendment) Bill, 2018
•    The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2018
•    The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018
•    The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2018
•    The Consumer Protection Bill, 2018
•    The Muslim Women (Protection on Marriage) Bill, 2018(To replace an Ordinance)
•    The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2018(To replace an Ordinance)
•    The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019(To replace an Ordinance)
•    The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2019
•    The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019
•    The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017.
•    The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment) Bill, 2018
•    The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016
•    The Whistle Blowers Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2015
•    The Finance Bill, 2019.
•    The National Commission for Yoga and Naturopathy (NCYN) Bill, 2019
•    The Pharmacy Council of Indian Medicine and Homoeopathy Bill, 2019
•    The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill 2019.
•    The Information Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The Indian Stamp (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2019
•    The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    The National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019
•    National Council of Educational Research and Training Bill, 2019
•    The Cinematograph (Amendment) Bill, 2019

II – FINACIAL BUSINESS
•    Discussion and Voting on Third Batch Supplementary Demands for Grants for the 2018-19 and introduction, consideration and passing of the related Appropriation Bill.
•    Discussion and Voting on Demands for Grants on Account for 2019-20 and introduction, consideration and passing of the related Appropriation Bill.
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DISAPPOINTED WITH GOVT MOVE TO BRING E-COMMERCE POLICY IN HASTE: FLIPKART

US retail giant Walmart-backed Flipkart on Friday said it is disappointed with the Indian government's decision to implement the changes in rules for e-commerce companies with foreign investment in "haste". The Bengaluru-based company added that it remains committed to compliance "despite the significant work that is required to change our supply chains and systems". Effective February 1, online marketplaces - Walmart-backed Flipkart and Amazon - will have to undertake massive restructuring of their operations in India to ensure compliance. We are disappointed that the government has decided to implement the regulation changes at such haste, but we are committed to doing everything we can to be compliant with the new rules," a Flipkart spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that despite the significant work required to change its supply chains and systems, the company remains confident that it will continue to serve its customers and sellers well.
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GDP GROWTH RATE FOR 2017-18 REVISED UPWARDS TO 7.2%

The government Thursday revised upwards the economic growth rate upwards to 7.2 per cent for 2017-18 from the 6.7 per cent estimated earlier. Real GDP or GDP at constant (2011-12) prices for 2017-18 and 2016-17 stand at Rs 131.80 lakh crore and Rs 122.98 lakh crore, respectively, showing growth of 7.2 per cent during 2017-18 and 8.2 per cent during 2016-17, the CSO said. The First Revised Estimates for 2017-18 have been compiled using industry-wise/institution-wise detailed information instead of using the benchmark-indicator method employed at the time of release of Provisional Estimates on 31st May, 2018, said the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The CSO has also released the Second Revised Estimates of National Income, Consumption Expenditure, Saving and Capital Formation for 2016-17. During 2017-18, the growth rates of primary (comprising agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining and quarrying), secondary (comprising manufacturing, electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services, and construction) and tertiary (services) sectors have been estimated as 5 per cent, 6 per cent and 8.1 per cent as against a growth of 6.8 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 8.4 per cent, respectively, in the previous year.
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INDIA'S SHARE IN GLOBAL GDP JUMPED FROM 2.6% IN 2014 TO 3.3% IN 2017: PREZ

President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday said India's contribution to the global economy has increased from 2.6 per cent in 2014 to 3.3 per cent in 2017 on the back of high growth rate during the last four and a half years. He said the country's GDP has been growing at a rate of 7.3 per cent on an average, making India the sixth largest economy in the world. India is playing a significant role in international trade. The President noted that this is an opportune moment for the country to play a decisive role in the fourth industrial revolution. In the last four and a half years, my Government has infused new hope and confidence among the people of the country, enhanced the country's image and has effectively brought in social and economic change, he said. From day one, Kovind said the mission of Modi government based on transparency was to improve the lives of Indian citizens to eradicate their difficulties owing to poor governance, and to make sure that the benefit of public services reach the lowest strata of the society. The main goal of my government is to improve the life of every Indian, he insisted. The President said in order to simplify the processes, the Modi government has started a scheme wherein loans of amounts up to Rs 1 crore are approved within 59 minutes. Citing data from an international agency, he said of all the bank accounts opened in the world from 2014 to 2017, 55 per cent were opened in India alone. As a result of the expansion in direct benefit transfer (DBT) in the last four and a half years, more than Rs 6,05,000 crore have been directly transferred to the bank accounts of beneficiaries, Kovind said adding that because of this about Rs 1,10,000 crore have been saved from falling into wrong hands. The President said, 34 crore bank accounts have been opened in the country under the 'Jan Dhan Yojana' and almost every family is now connected to the banking system. The President also pointed out that the cost of one GB data which was about Rs 250 in 2014 has now reduced to only Rs 10 to 12.
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GOVERNMENT NOT TO EXTEND FEBRUARY 1 DEADLINE ON REVISED NORMS FOR E-TAILERS

The government Thursday said it will not extend the deadline of February 1 for implementing the revised guidelines for e-commerce companies having foreign direct investment. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) said it had received some representations to extend the deadline of February 1, 2019 to comply with the conditions contained in the Press Note 2 of 2018 series on FDI policy in e-commerce. After due consideration, it has been decided, with the approval of the competent authority, not to extend the deadline it said in a statement.
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AIR INDIA TO GET CAPITAL INFUSION TILL DIVESTMENT

The government will continue to give financial support to debt-ridden Air India, subject to stringent riders on efficiency improvement till the national carrier is divested a person privy to the discussions in the government said. A call on its eventual sale and the terms of the transaction will be taken in the second half of fiscal 2020. The government, which is trying to meet a disinvestment target of ?80,000 crore in fiscal 2019, will come out with a preliminary information document on to the sale of the carrier’s subsidiary Air India Air Transport Services Ltd, said the person mentioned above on condition of anonymity. The government is of the view that it has no choice but to provide financial support if it is not to shut the carrier down but this will be subject to achieving stringent efficiency parameters, said this person. Continued financial support has been necessitated after an attempt to sell majority shareholding in the carrier failed last year. The Union budget is likely to indicate token financial infusion to Air India for fiscal year 2020 though this could be revised.
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AT ALL-PARTY MEET, OPPOSITION INSISTS CONTROVERSIAL BILLS SHOULDN’T BE TAKEN UP

Mr. Azad said the Opposition has asked the government to take up only non-controversial bills for passage in Parliament in the Budget Session. We should take up only those bills which are not controversial on which there is total unanimity, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha told reporters after an all-party meeting in New Delhi. Mr. Azad also suggested that it will be difficult for Parliament to function if the government pushes for contentious bills
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MANUFACTURING PMI SURGES TO 53.9 IN JANUARY; FACTORY ORDERS EDGE HIGHER

The country's manufacturing sector activity edged higher in January as companies continued to scale up production and employment, driven by the fastest rise in factory orders since December 2017, a monthly survey said Friday. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index increased from 53.2 in December to 53.9 in January, indicating stronger improvement in the health of the goods producing sector. This is the 18th consecutive month that the manufacturing PMI remained above the 50-point mark. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction. According to the survey, the increase in factory orders was the strongest seen in 13 months. Besides, favourable economic conditions, strengthening demand and sales growth also picked up in January. "The manufacturing industry in January made up for ground lost at the end of 2018, with new business and production expanding at rates not seen for over a year," Pollyanna De Lima, said, adding that it was largely domestic orders that fuelled the accelerations. On the employment front, Indian manufacturing firms added more staff owing to marked growth of new work orders. "Jobs increased for the tenth straight month, albeit only slightly," it noted. "The trend for employment remained encouraging, with job creation evident for the tenth month running. Further confidence in market conditions were shown by a rebound in business sentiment, which reached a five-month high. Firms are planning to increase marketing activity to further benefit from robust demand conditions and hence scale up production volumes," Lima said. The survey noted that inflationary pressures were negligible in the context of historical data.
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CONSUMER PRICE INDEX FOR INDUSTRIAL WORKERS (CPI-IW) - DECEMBER, 2018

The All-India CPI-IW for December, 2018 decreased by 1 point and pegged at 301 (three hundred and one). On 1-month percentage change, it decreased by (-) 0.33 percent between November, 2018 and December, 2018 when compared with the decrease of (-) 0.69 percent for the corresponding months of last year. The maximum downward pressure to the change in current index came from Food group contributing (-) 1.38 percentage points to the total change. The year-on-year inflation measured by monthly CPI-IW stood at 5.24 percent for December, 2018 as compared to 4.86 percent for the previous month and 4.00 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Similarly, the Food inflation stood at (-) 0.96 percent against (-) 1.57 percent of the previous month and 4.32 percent during the corresponding month of the previous year. Among others, 4 points decrease was observed in 3 centres, 3 points in 7 centres, 2 points in 16 centres and 1 point in 13 centres. On the contrary, Salem recorded a maximum increase of 6 points followed by Jalpaiguri (5 points). Among others, 2 points increase was observed in 4 centres and 1 point in 12 centres. Rest of the 15 centres' indices remained stationary.
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TREDS PLATFORM, INVOICEMART, ACHIEVES RS 2,000-CR BUSINESS VOLUME

Invoicemart, a digital invoice discounting platform for MSMEs, has achieved business volumes of over Rs 2,000 crore becoming the first TReDS platform to cross this milestone. It has taken just four months for this Trade Receivable Discounting System (TReDS) platform to double business volumes from Rs 1,000 crore, a milestone it achieved in September 2018. TReDS Ltd. (Invoicemart) said, The Government’s push to support MSMEs through various measures has resulted in many private and public sector corporates registering on our platform. We have seen an increase in the value and volume of transactions on a month-on-month basis; this trend may result in our achieving the initial estimate of 11,000 crore by March 2020. Since its launch in 2017, this platform has processed a record 1.4 lakh invoices, and more than 1,300 MSME sellers and 100 buyers have participated on it.
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ASHOK GEHLOT ANNOUNCES RAISE IN UNEMPLOYMENT ALLOWANCE FOR YOUTH

Ashok Gehlot on Thursday announced to raise the unemployment allowance for the youth of the state from March 1. Girls will get Rs 3,500 and boys Rs 3,000 as unemployment allowance for two years, he said. Gehlot said that the Congress in its election manifesto had promised to raise the unemployment allowance for the youth.
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NO POWER IN THE WORLD CAN STOP CONSTRUCTION OF RAM TEMPLE: GIRIRAJ SINGH

Union Minister Giriraj Singh Thursday said no power in the world can stop the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. He said Lord Ram's identity is linked to the country and those viewing him with a religious lens are doing injustice to the nation. Therefore, the temple will be built 200 per cent, whether they (saints) march on February 21 or on another date. Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati on Wednesday said a ceremony to mark the start of construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya will take place on February 21, even if those gathering there have to face bullets. The date for the planned ceremony, akin to a 'shilanyas', was announced at the end of a three-day congregation of seers at the Kumbh Mela.
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SC TO HEAR PLEAS SEEKING REVIEW OF SABARIMALA VERDICT ON FEB 6

A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court would hear on February 6 a batch of petitions seeking review of its judgment allowing entry of women of all age groups into Kerala's Sabarimala temple. As per a notice uploaded on the apex court's website, the review petitions would be heard by a constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra. On September 28 last year, a five-judge constitution bench, headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in a 4:1 verdict had paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple, saying the ban amounted to gender discrimination. The notion that the judgment under review is revolutionary, one which removes the stigma or the concept of dirt or pollution associated with menstruation, is unfounded, the association has said in its plea.
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ENGINEERING ASPIRANTS TAKE NOTE: IIT-DELHI TO IMPLEMENT 10% UPPER CASTE QUOTA FROM 2019-20, INCREASE SEATS BY 12.5%

The Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) has decided to increase its seats by 12.5 per cent in the academic year 2019-2020, as per the directions of the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The increase in the percentage of seats has been done to accommodate the 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Sections that the Parliament approved earlier this month. The institute will implement the EWS quota for upper castes beginning from the next academic year. The MHRD has directed all central educational institutions to introduce the 10 per cent quota from the new academic session starting in July, and finalise their implementation plan latest by March 31. He also said that the major requirement in terms of funds will be for hostels, as classroom space will not be an issue. Rao added that roughly they have 10,000 students and need to take in 2,500 more students. The large hostels have a capacity of about 800 students. So at least three more hostels are required. But as there is no space for new hostels, so there will need to demolish the 50-year-old hostels, which have about 300 seats and make larger hostels.
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SUBSIDISED LPG PRICE CUT BY RS 1.46; NON-SUBSIDISED RATE REDUCED BY RS 30 A CYLINDER

Domestic cooking gas (LPG) price was cut by Rs 1.46 per cylinder Thursday, the third straight reduction in a month's time due to tax impact on reduced market rate of the fuel. A 14.2-kg subsidised LPG cylinder will now cost Rs 493.53 in the national capital from midnight of Thursday as against Rs 494.99 currently, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), the country's largest fuel retailer, said in a statement. This is the third straight monthly reduction in LPG rate. On December 1, subsidised LPG price was cut by Rs 6.52 per bottle and by Rs 5.91 on January 1. IOC said non-subsidised or market priced LPG rates have been cut by a Rs 30 per cylinder due to fall in price of LPG in international market and strengthening of US dollar-rupee exchange rate. It will now cost Rs 659 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi. The reduction comes on the back of a steep Rs 120.50 cut on January 1 and Rs 133 on December 1. Subsidised cooking gas consumers will get Rs 165.47 per cylinder subsidy in their bank accounts for the month of February, down from Rs 194.01 in January.
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MAHARASHTRA EXTENDS COMPENSATION DEADLINE TO DECEMBER 31 FOR ONION FARMERS

Maharashtra government extended the scope of the compensation that will be given to onion farmers. The state government had announced compensation of Rs 200/quintal for up to maximum 200 quintal per farmer for those farmers who had sold their onion between November 1 to December 15, 2018. Now, farmers who sold onions from December 15 to December 31 will also be eligible to get compensation. The Government Resolution issued said: As onion prices continued to remain subdued even after December 15, elected representatives, farmers and farmers’ organisations had demanded extension of the period of onion incentives to December 31. The minimum onion price at the benchmark Lasalgaon APMC in Nashik was Rs 1.51/kg, while the maximum price was Rs 7/kg on January 30, 2019.
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FRP: DEFAULTING SUGAR MILLS TO FACE ACTION

Following an intense agitation by sugarcane grower farmers demanding Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) arrears, Maharashtra Sugar Commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad announced that stringent action would be taken against defaulting sugar mills. According to the Sugar Commissioner’s Office, 39 mills that have not paid even 25 per cent of FRP will face immediate action while other sugar mill owners will be summoned for an explanation. Once the Sugar Commissioner issues an order to initiate action, District Collectors can seize the sugar stock in mills and auction it in the market to pay dues to farmers. Farmers have suspended their agitation after the State’s assurance. However, action against sugar mills is likely to create a major political conflict as majority of sugar mills in the State are run by political bigwigs across party lines. Sugar mills have not paid FRP worth ?5,300 crore to sugarcane farmers in the State while farmers are demanding FRP in one go, per the Sugar Control Order.
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UP LOWERS ELECTRIFICATION TARGET, CLAIMS ALL HOUSEHOLDS ELECTRIFIED

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh has slashed its household electrification target from 12 million to 7.47 million, saying all households in the state have now been electrified under the Union government’s politically important Saubhagya scheme. Uttar Pradesh is key to the ?16,320 crore Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) to provide all Indian households with electricity. The state returns the largest number of lawmakers to Parliament. As such, the move by the government acquires a political hue, especially in the run-up to the general elections due by April-May. The National Democratic Alliance wants to showcase its success in providing round-the-clock power across the country. Uttar Pradesh is crucial in this aspect as the state accounts for nearly a third of new connections provided to rural and urban households under Saubhagya. The Saubhagya scheme was to provide electricity connections to 40 million Indian homes by March 2019. However, this was aimed to be completed by December 2018, three months ahead of schedule. This target was reduced to 30 million rural and urban households after it was found that some households did not exist, or had already been electrified, according to Union government officials. Now, the target has come down to 24.847 million households. The drop in the number of targeted households is because of a combination of factors, according to Uttar Pradesh Power Corp. Ltd chairman Alok Kumar. These include illegal connections, multiple households staying together in one house and using a single connection (around 1 million such connections), and overlaps such as the same identified connections being provided by the state government before the launch of the Saubhagya scheme in 2017, he said earlier this month. There is a question mark over the Uttar Pradesh government reducing its target of household electrification. There are around 3.5 million ‘unwilling’ households (those whose connections have not been regularized), a Union government official said. There is a huge political-economy behind these connections and hence this new category of ‘unwilling’ consumers, said the official mentioned above. Subsequent to the electrification of all households, the challenge would be to retain the formalization of close to 25% illegal connections, said Sambitosh Mohapatra, partner (advisory, power and utilities), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) India, the programme manager for implementing the scheme in UP. The Yogi Adityanath government has provided electricity connections to 9.4 million households since coming to power in March 2017, with an additional million connections expected to be given, said Kumar. This is not the end. We will keep on providing connections. Both the government of India and the state government are committed to providing connections to the willing customers, Kumar said.
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IT MIGHT GET TOUGHER BEFORE IT GETS BETTER: JET AIRWAYS CEO TELLS EMPLOYEES IN LETTER

The debt-laden Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube has asked company employees to brace for tougher times ahead before things get better for the ailing airline. In a letter written to his employees, Dube also said that the finalisation of the resolution plan is very close. “The airline’s key stakeholders are actively engaged towards finalisation of the Resolution Plan. We are very close, and I ask for your continued patience. Given our ongoing challenges, this is a very tall ask,” Dube wrote in his letter. “We are a part of the country’s economic engine and I believe we will come out of our current set of challenges. It might get tougher before it gets better, and our ascendancy will be gradual,” he added.
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AMAZON PULLS SEVERAL ITEMS FROM INDIA WEBSITE AS NEW E-COMMERCE RULES BITE

E-commerce rules that went into effect in India on Friday caused widespread disruption for Amazon.com, forcing it to take down an array of items from its India website including Echo speakers, batteries and floor cleaners. Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said the products began to disappear from the Amazon India website late on Thursday as it began complying with the revised norms before a midnight deadline. "The company has no choice, they are fulfilling a compliance requirement customers will suffer," said one of the sources. India's new e-commerce investment rules bar online retailers from selling products via vendors in which they have an equity interest, and also from making deals with sellers to sell exclusively on their platforms. By Thursday, numerous items sold by vendors such as Cloudtail, in which Amazon holds an indirect equity stake, were no longer available on the Amazon India site. Clothing from Indian department store chain Shopper's Stop was also no longer available, as Amazon owns 5 percent of the company. The situation in India is "a bit fluid right now," but the country remains a good long-term opportunity, Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky said on a conference call with reporters following its fourth-quarter earnings announcement.
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SWACHH BHARAT MISSION SCALES UP WASTE MANAGEMENT IN RURAL INDIA

Parameswaran Iyer, reiterated the SBMG's continued commitment to SLWM and shared an overview of the various ongoing initiatives of the Ministry He said that the Mission is on track to deliver an Open Defecation Free (ODF) India well before the set deadline of October 2019 and is focusing increasingly on sustaining the ODF outcomes and ODF-plus activities including SLWM. During the course of the workshop, the district representatives prepared action plans and roadmap towards implementing 46 FSM and GOBAR-DHAN projects in their districts in coordination with the technical experts at the central and State levels. The experts on FSM shared various technological and operational models, specific to different geographic terrains and climatic conditions. Innovative Solid Waste Management initiatives from across the country were shared by the States. This included transforming waste into construction bricks and fuel during the harsh winters in Leh district in Jammu and Kashmir. Kerala showcased the “Green Protocol” being implemented in Thiruvananthapuram district using the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) to minimize waste generation. Rajgarh district from Madhya Pradesh presented the experience of successfully implementing the GOBAR-DHAN project.
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PETROTECH-2019, THE 13TH INTERNATIONAL OIL & GAS CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, TO BE ORGANISED FROM 10TH TO 12TH FEBRUARY, 2019

PETROTECH-2019, the 13th International Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition, being organised under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India, is all set to be inaugurated on February 10, 2019. Over 95 Energy Ministers from partner countries have been invited by the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas to participate in the Conference. Thethree-day mega event will showcase the recent market and investor friendly developments that have taken place in the India’s oil and gas sector. It is expected to see participation of over 86 eminent speakers and 7000 delegates from around 70 countries, including technologists, scientists, planners, policy-makers, management experts, entrepreneurs, service-providers and vendors. The PETROTECH 2019 exhibition will focus on development in technologies for exploration & production, process control, refining and pipeline and services, systems, products, oil field hardware, software, analytical instruments, Renewable, R&D, HSE, training and publications of technical literature. Exhibition will remain open to visitors from 1000 hrs to 1800 hrs on 10th & 11th February, and up to 1400 hrs on 12 February 2019.
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STERLITE CASE: TN GOVT ACCUSES VEDANTA OF INDULGING IN QUICK-FIXES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL VIOLATIONS

Tamil Nadu government accused Vedanta in the Supreme Court of indulging in quick-fixes every time an environmental violation regarding the operation of its Sterlite copper plant was pointed out. Vedanta countered that the State was bent on harassing the company for political motives. Arguing before a Bench of Justices Rohinton F. Nariman and Navin Sinha, senior advocate Guru Krishnakumar said the State could not have been expected to be a mute spectator to continued environmental violations by the Sterlite plant. Am I as a regulator supposed to let them keep on doing it? Mr. Krishnakumar asked in court on Thursday. So, you said enough is enough Justice Nariman asked with a smile. Rebutting, senior advocate C.A. Sundaram, for Vedanta, said the company has been a victim of harassment from the State Tamil Nadu government govt gave me a bad name and hung me by it. Pollution reports shown now are dated six months after I had shut down operations. They ignored my appeals for daily maintenance to prevent sulphuric acid leaks for fear of loss of face. It was all political for them, Mr. Sundaram countered. Mr. Sundaram submitted that both times the State had accused the plant of breaking pollution norms and ordered its closure the plant had already been shut down for the purpose of maintenance. I was not operating in those months when the government ordered my closure. If I was already closed for maintenance, how is it that they concluded I was polluting? Mr. Sundaram asked. In Dharmapuri, there are industries in the thousands. TDS rate is high. So what are they (State) going to do? Close it all? I have been harassed for political motives. All this links to the election year of 1996, Mr. Sundaram argued. The Tamil Nadu government has alleged in the Supreme Court that pollution from Vedanta's Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi went up steadily along with increase in production.
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THAILAND E-VISA ON ARRIVAL FEE DIFFERENT TILL APRIL 30, 2019: VFS

The e-visa on arrival (VoA) for Thailand to avoid the long VoA queues at airports there will cost more than the latter. While the standard eVoA will cost Thai Baht (TBH) 2,600 (about Rs 5,900 at Wednesday exchange rate), the regular VoA fees to be paid after landing in Thailand is TBH 2,000 (about Rs 4,540) — a difference of about Rs 1,360 per passenger. The eVoA service will be in place from February 14 under which the official standard travel authorisation from Immigration Bureau of Thailand is received before starting the journey within 24 to 72 hours. In a bid to boost tourism, Thailand had waived VoA fees for tourists from 20 nations, including Indians, from November 15 to January 13. It has extended the waiver of VoA fees for these 20 nationalities up to April 30, 2019, who are going for tourism there for upto 15 days. For this particular VoA fee waiver period, the eVoA fee will be different. A statement from VFS Global on Thursday said: With the extension of Visa On Arrival fee waiver of 2000 THB to travel to Thailand until April 30, 2019, eligible travellers from 21 countries who avail the eVoA (e Visa on Arrival) service will only have to pay the service charge basis the category applied, during this period. Till April 30, 2019, travellers who opt for the Standard Thailand eVisa on Arrival service will have to only pay the service fee of 600 TBH. Express eVisa on Arrival applicants will only have to pay the service fee of 2,500 TBH online. Thailand tied up with VFS to introduce a eVoA for 21 nationalities, that will allow travellers to receive their travel authorisation online pre-departure within 24 to 72 hours of application being submitted and then get a faster immigration service at dedicated immigration counters at major airports in Thailand. The idea: skip long queues for getting the VoA at Thailand’s major airports.














#For Source of Information copy and paste the heading in google.




Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya

CORPORATE UPDATES 01.02.2019

DELHI HC SETS ASIDE ORDER SUMMONING UNITECH OFFICERS FOR FAILING TO RE-PAY DEPOSIT OF 603 CRORE

The Delhi High court has quashed the summon issued to five officers of Unitech Ltd in connection with Unitech’s failure to re-pay deposits of Rs. 603 crore taken from 56,436 investors. The order was pronounced by a Single Judge Bench of Justice RK Gauba in a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the summoning order passed by the Additional Sessions Judge in the complaint filed by the Registrar of Companies (ROC) with respect to Unitech’s failure to pay the said deposits. As per Section 74(1) of the Companies Act 2013, Unitech was obliged to repay the said deposits within the period prescribed. The Act also provides for enlargement of time for discharge of liability to pay by making an application before National Company Law Tribunal under Section 74(2). Any default in payment of the requisite amounts within the statutorily prescribed period or within the extension allowed by the Tribunal attracts penal clause contained in Section 74(3). Upon receiving an application under Section 74(2), the Tribunal on March 11, 2016 permitted the enlargement of time for compliance with the statutory provisions by Unitech. After this, several other extensions were also awarded to the company. However, no payments were made by it. Finally, on July 4, 2016, the tribunal found no good reason to grant any further enlargement of time for compliance and dismissed Unitech’s petition for extension. It also suggested to the ROC take appropriate action against the company under Section 74(3). Subsequently, the ROC filed a criminal complaint before the Court of Sessions. After considering the facts set out in the complaint, the Additional Sessions Court took cognizance on September 20, 2016 and summoned Unitech and five of its officers as accused and answer the charge for the offence under Section 74(3). Meanwhile, Unitech also challenged the order of the Tribunal dismissing its plea for enlargement of time before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal under Section 421 of the Companies Act, 2013. The Appellate Tribunal on September 20, 2016, while entertaining the appeal, directed that no coercive steps shall be taken against Unitech and its officers pursuant to the order the Tribunal. Later, on October 26, 2016, the Appellate Tribunal also stayed the Tribunal’s request to the ROC to take action under Section 74(3). In light of this development, Unitech and its Officers challenged the summoning order before the High Court. Before the High Court, the counsel appearing for ROC highlighted that Unitech’s appeal was ultimately dismissed in January 2017, hence, the summon order could not be challenged Unitech on the other hand maintained that since the period of compliance with the requirement of Section 74(1) stood extended till December 31, 2016 by the NCLAT, there was no occasion for invoking the penal provisions of Section 74(3). Observing that the gravamen of the charge on which the prosecution under Section 74(3) is the Company’s failure to abide by its liability under Section 74(1) or within the extended period, the Court held that the time extended by the tribunal has to be construed along with modifications ordered in appeal by the appellate tribunal. Since the order of the tribunal does not attain finality inasmuch as there is a remedy of appeal available there against, the provision contained in Section 74(2), in so far as it refers to the time allowed by the tribunal will have to be construed as the time allowed by the tribunal alongwith modification in such regard if ordered in appeal by the appellate tribunal. In the present case, since the Appellate Tribunal had entertained the appeal against the Tribunal’s order and also extended the deadline till December 31, 2016, even before the Court took cognizance of the criminal complaint, the Court held that the criminal complaint was rendered premature or infructuous. By virtue of the subsequent order of the appellate tribunal, bottom had gone out of the case of the respondent in the aforementioned criminal complaint case, continuation whereof would undoubtedly be an abuse of the process of the court. The Court thus vacated and set aside the summoning orders passed by the Trial Court against Unitech and its Officers. It has, however, clarified that the ROC is not inhibited from initiating a criminal action in accordance with law in light of subsequent facts. It thus decreed, Nothing in this order however, shall inhibit the respondent/ROC from initiating a criminal action in accordance with law in light of subsequent facts. This observation, of course, is without prejudice to the right of the petitioners and others to raise such defences as may be available to them in law.
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CIRCULAR IMPOSING STAMP DUTY ON MERGERS AND AMALGAMATIONS IN TAMIL NADU CHALLENGED, MADRAS HC ISSUES NOTICE

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has issued notice in a petition challenging a circular issued last year by the Inspector General of Registration, Tamil Nadu, to impose stamp duty on mergers and amalgamations in the state. The petitioner-company had sought to merge two of its sister concerns, Harihar Dwellings Private Limited and Wellshine Investments and Financial Services Limited to streamline its business. To this end, it had also sought the sanction of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in 2018. While this representation seeking approval for amalgamation was pending before the NCLT, Chennai, the Inspector General of Registration in Tamil Nadu issued a circular in November 2018, stating that a scheme for mergers and amalgamations between companies falls under the definition of conveyance under the Stamp Act. Therefore, the circular informed that mergers and amalgamations would henceforth be subject to stamp duty However, the petitioner company points out that neither the Stamp Act, 1899, nor any State amendment applicable in Tamil Nadu provides for including the transfer of properties of Companies under a scheme of amalgamation under the definition of the term conveyance. As far as the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 is concerned, the petitioner notes, Upon a bare reading of the provision [defining the term, conveyance], it is clearly seen that there is no mention of an order passed by the High Court or National Company Law Tribunal, sanctioning a scheme of amalgamation of companies order falling under the ambit of conveyance On the other hand, there is no state amendment implemented in Tamil Nadu which has brought in mergers and amalgamations within the scope of the term conveyance to make it subject to stamp duty, Though the Tamil Nadu Stamp Act, 2013 was enacted by the State legislature, it has not received the assent of the President and hence, as on date, there is no law or statutory backing for imposition of stamp duty on schemes of amalgamation approved either by the High Court or the National Company Law Tribunal under the Companies Act, 1956, which has been superseded by the Companies Act of 2013. Therefore, the petition contends, Thus, it is submitted that for the purposes of levying Stamp Duty in Tamil Nadu, a Court order sanctioning a scheme of merger or amalgamation does not fall under the definition of Conveyance as it is the legislative intent to not include it. The petitioner further argues that the circular in question could also be faulted for wrongly relying on the Supreme Court judgment in Hindustan Lever & Anr vs State of Maharashtra & Anr. This case dealt with the Constitutional validity of a state amendment to the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958. In that case, the Court only looked into whether the state legislature could levy a stamp duty on mergers and amalgamations. However, in the absence of any such state amendment in Tamil Nadu, the petitioner contends that mergers and amalgamations cannot be made subject to stamp duty by the Inspector General of Registration. As noted in the petition, stamp duty is a form of indirect taxation. Therefore, it would also fall afoul of Artice 256 of the Constitution which lays down that taxes cannot be levied except by the authority of law. Additionally, the petitioner also points out that the circular does not take into account mergers and amalgamation between subsidiary companies. Reference in this regard is made to the Delhi High Court judgment in Sandy Estates Ltd. vs. Landbase India Ltd., which laid down that, No stamp duty would be leviable in any case to the transfer of assets between the transferor and the transferee companies when the transferor company is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the transferee company which is the parent company. The absence of any prescribed method of valuation and the lack of rules for computation of stamp duty leviable for mergers and amalgamation is another ground raised to contend that the circular inquisition is absurd and vague. In view of these submissions, the petitioner company has argued. If the circular is implemented it would cause serious financial detriment to companies that are contemplating the initiation of mergers and amalgamations in the future and it would also act as a detriment to effective corporate restructuring. It has, therefore, prayed that the High Court quash the circular as unconstitutional. The case has been posted to be taken up next on February 11.
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INSOLVENCY RESOLUTION PLAN SHOULD BE SHARED WITH ERSTWHILE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CORPORATE DEBTOR, SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court has held that members of the erstwhile/ suspended Board of Directors of a Corporate Debtor, must be given copies of Insolvency Resolution Plan that may be discussed at meetings of the Committee of Creditors (CoC). The judgment was rendered by a Bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman and Navin Sinha in an appeal filed against a decision of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) rejecting prayer to provide all relevant documents including the insolvency resolution plans to members of the suspended Board of Directors of the corporate debtor. The appellant was a member of the suspended Board of Directors of the Corporate Debtor, Ruchi Soya Industries Limited. He was given notice and permission to attend the first meeting of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) but was denied participation in the subsequent meetings. He filed an application in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) challenging this. The NCLT passed an order granting liberty to the appellant to attend CoC meetings but not to insist upon being provided information considered confidential either by the resolution professional or the committee of creditors. Against this order, the appellant filed an appeal before the NCLAT which recognized the appellant’s right to attend and participate in CoC meetings, but denied the appellant’s prayer to access certain documents, most particularly, the resolution plans. This led to the appeal in Supreme Court. Shyam Divan and advocate Arvind Kumar Gupta contended that under Section 24(3), the resolution professional has to give notice of each meeting of the committee of creditors to the members of the suspended Board of Directors. Further, under Regulation 24 of the Regulation framed under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the notice of these meetings shall not only contain an agenda of the meetings but shall also contain copies of all documents relevant to the matters to be discussed and issues to be voted upon at the meeting. This necessarily means that access to the resolution plans and other relevant documents under consideration at these meetings must be supplied together with the notice of the meeting to members of suspended Board of Directors. Abhishek Manu Singhvi and advocate Raunak Dhillon, appearing on behalf of the resolution professional, relied strongly on Section 30(3) of the Code and Regulation 39(2) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulations, 2016 (CIRP Regulations) which made it clear that resolution plans were only to be given to the committee of creditors for its consideration. They further argued that the terms committee and participant are differently defined under the Regulations and that participants are expressly excluded by Regulation 39. They also argued, that if any of the Regulations go beyond the provisions of the Code, they must be struck down as ultra vires, as under Section 30(3) of the Code, the resolution professional is required to present resolution plans only to the committee of creditors. Respondents also placed heavy reliance on Notes on Clauses to Section 24 which according to them made it clear that the erstwhile members of the Board of Directors are participants in these meetings only so that the committee of creditors and the resolution professional may seek information from them. The Court proceeded to trace the statutory scheme laid down by the Code and held that though the erstwhile Board of Directors are not members of the committee of creditors, yet, they have a right to participate in each and every meeting held by the committee of creditors, and also have a right to discuss along with members of the committee of creditors all resolution plans that are presented at such meetings under Section 25(2)(i). In this regard, the Court also referred to the position of the Operational Creditor in the CoC. It cannot be denied that operational creditors, who may participate in such meetings but have no right to vote, are vitally interested in such resolution plans, and must be furnished copies of such plans beforehand if they are to participate effectively in the meeting of the committee of creditors. This is for the reason that under Section 30(2)(b), repayment of their debts is an important part of the resolution plan qua them on which they must comment. So the first important thing to notice is that even though persons such as operational creditors have no right to vote but are only participants in meetings of the committee of creditors, they certainly have a right to be given a copy of the resolution plans before such meetings are held so that they may effectively comment on the same to safeguard their interest, the Court held. The Court stated that a closer look at the Notes on Clause 24 makes it clear that the third sentence of the Notes on Clause 24 is itself problematic and it is difficult to understand the same. First and foremost, it speaks of the resolution professional seeking information. The resolution professional does not seek information at a meeting of the committee of creditors, which is what Section 24 is all about. The resolution professional only seeks information from the erstwhile Board of Directors under Section 29 before preparing an information memorandum, which then includes the financial position of the corporate debtor and information relating to disputes by or against the corporate debtor etc. All this has nothing to do with Section 24 of the Code which deals with meetings of the committee of creditors. Secondly, the resolution professional does not prepare a resolution plan as is mentioned in the Notes on Clause 24; he only prepares an information memorandum which is to be given to the resolution applicants who then submit their resolution plans under Section 30 of the Code. The committee of creditors, in turn, gets information so that they can assess the financial position of the corporate debtor from various sources before they meet. It is, therefore, difficult to understand the Notes on Clause 24. The Court also noted that Regulations also make it clear that members of erstwhile BoD are vitally interested in resolution plans as they affect them. A resolution plan which has been approved or rejected by an order of the Adjudicating Authority, has to be sent to participants which would include members of the erstwhile Board of Directors – vide Regulation 39(5) of the CIRP Regulations. Obviously, such copy can only be sent to participants because they are vitally interested in the outcome of such resolution plan. The Court further noted that every participant is entitled to a notice of every meeting of the committee of creditors. Such notice of meeting must contain an agenda of the meeting, together with the copies of all documents relevant for matters to be discussed and the issues to be voted upon at the meeting by way of Regulation 21(3)(iii). Resolution plans are matters to be discussed at such meetings, and the erstwhile Board of Directors are participants who will discuss these issues. The expression documents is a wide expression which would certainly include resolution plans, the Court ruled. Based on the above, the Court held that the arguments of the respondents that committee and participant are used differently and that resolution plans need not be furnished to the erstwhile members of the Board of Directors, must be rejected. Combined reading of the Code as well as the Regulations leads to the conclusion that members of the erstwhile Board of Directors, being vitally interested in resolution plans that may be discussed at meetings of the committee of creditors, must be given a copy of such plans as part of documents that have to be furnished along with the notice of such meetings. As a result of the aforesaid discussion, the arguments of the respondents that committee and participant are used differently, which would lead to the result that resolution plans need not be furnished to the erstwhile members of the Board of Directors, must be rejected. The Court, therefore, allowed the appeal and set aside the NCLAT judgment
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TRI-COUNTY’S ?67 CR RESOLUTION PLAN FOR BSR GETS NCLT NOD

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the resolution plan submitted by the US-based Tri-County Premier Hearing Services Inc. to acquire debt-ridden Bhilai Scan and Research Pvt. Ltd (BSR) Diagnostics Ltd. On 22 January, a Mumbai bench of NCLT presided over by justices V.P. Singh and Ravikumar Duraiswami approved the American company’s ?67-crore resolution plan for the Chhattisgarh-based diagnostics chain. The resolution plan provides that within 30 business days of the effective date, the company shall appoint a monitoring agency constituting of two representatives of the secured financial creditors, one of resolution applicant (successful bidder) and one of resolution professional (RP) to monitor and supervise the implementation of the resolution plan, the order said. The monitoring agency must have representatives each from Axis Bank, State Bank of India and the RP. The committee of creditors (CoC), which includes State Bank of India and Axis Bank, had approved the resolution plan with 99% voting in favour. The lenders agreed to a 58% haircut while approving the plan on 5 November. The RP received expressions of interest (EoI) from six entities, of which three filed their resolution plans. However, the CoC approved only one resolution plan of Tri-County Premier Hearing Services Inc.
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EMAAR TO APPEAL AGAINST NCLT ORDER TO INITIATE BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS

Realty firm Emaar MGF Land will appeal against an NCLT order to start insolvency proceedings against the company after two homebuyers filed a petition over huge delay in delivery of their housing units, sources said. The appeal will be filed before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), they added. In January 2018, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the proposed demerger scheme of Emaar MGF Land, paving the way for two JV partners to go separate ways. The demerger process got completed in July last year. Admitting the pleas of the two homebuyers of Emaar MGF Land, a two-member bench headed by NCLT President Justice M M Kumar appointed Manoj Kumar Anand as the interim resolution professional (IRP) of the company and directed him to make a public announcement about the bankruptcy proceedings.
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NCLT REJECTS INSOLVENCY APPLICATION FILED BY CORPORATE DEBTOR SUPPRESSING LIQUIDATION ORDER WITH RS 10 LAKH COSTS

In a seemingly unprecedented order, the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai bench rejected an application filed by a corporate debtor under Section 10 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code(IBC) with Rs.10 lakhs costs, on finding that it was filed suppressing winding up order passed against it by the High Court. The suppression was detected almost at the fag end of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process(CIRP), when a resolution plan approved by the Committee of Creditors was submitted before the NCLT for its approval. At this stage, one of the several financial creditors of the applicant informed the bench that the Bombay High Court had passed a liquidation order against the company on January 25, 2017. The application filed by Amar Remedies Ltd for initiating insolvency process against itself did not make any mention of the winding up order. The application filed by Amar Remedies Ltd for initiating insolvency process against itself did not make any mention of the winding up order. On being asked to explain this suppression, the applicant said that one of its creditors had filed a winding up application in the High Court in 2013, which was admitted on August 27, 2014. Later, the company sought reference to Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction(BIFR) under Sick Industrial Companies Act(SICA). On this application getting rejected, it filed appeal before the Appellate Authority for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction(AAIFR). Noting the pendency of proceedings in AAIFR, the High Court adjourned the liquidated proceedings sine die, by order passed on November 15, 2016. The corporate debtor said that the appeal in AAIFR abated when SICA wasrepealed following the enactment of IBC. Therefore, in terms of Section 6 of SICA, the application was filed in NCLT, submitted the applicant. The NCLT however noted that the Bombay High Court had in the meanwhile, taking notice of the abatement of appeal in AAIFR, passed liquidation order against the company on January 25, 2017. Without revealing that, Amar Remedies filed the application under Sec.10 IBC on May 29, 2017. The Tribunal observed that issue was not whether the corporate debtor was eligible to file Section 10 application, but whether it was bound to reveal the fact of liquidation order "Here point in issue is not the right of the corporate applicant for initiation of CIRP. But we are only examining whether the application U/S 10 of the IB Code 2016 is filed after the suppression of material facts known to be material", said the bench of V P Singh(Judicial Member) and Ravikumar Duraiswamy. In this regard, the Tribunal referred to Section 11(d) IBC, which barred an applicant against whom a liquidation order has been passed from initiating CIRP. Reference was made to the January 22 decision of SC in Forech India Ltd vs Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Co.Ltd, where it was observed that Sec.11(d) barred a corporate debtor from filing application under IBC if liquidation order has been passed against it. The Tribunal hence observed in the order passed on January 29 as follows: It is clear that after liquidation order passed in a winding-up petition against the corporate debtor then it is barred from filing a petition under section 10 of the Code. Here the corporate debtor has not only suppressed the material fact that the winding up petition has not only been filed and admitted, but liquidation order has also been passed against the corporate applicant/corporate debtor liquidator has been directed to expedite liquidation proceedings expeditiously. The corporate applicant suppressed this material fact, knowing it to be material, and filed the petition under section 10 and in contravention of Rule 10 of Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules, 2016. The defence of the applicant that the fact of liquidation order was not material as the statutory Form 6 did not ask for such information was rejected by the Tribunal. It found that the applicant's conduct amounted to offence under Section 77(a) of IBC, which deals with filing application with suppression of material facts and directed Registrar of Companies Mumbai to lodge prosecution. The application was rejected with costs of Rs.10 lakhs, which was directed to be deposited in the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.
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RTIL GETS A NEW BIDDER AS CFM ARC EXITS THE RACE

A new investor has evinced interest in joining the fray to bid for debt-ridden RTIL — formerly Reid & Taylor (India) Ltd — while one withdrew from the resolution process. On Thursday, New Delhi-based Indian Gas informed the National Company Law Tribunal’s Mumbai bench of its decision to bid for the beleaguered company, while Gujarat-based CFM Asset Reconstruction (CFM ARC) withdrew from the race. Stating that it has a networth of Rs. 1,500 crore, Indian Gas staked a claim in the entire resolution process. Permitting the New Delhi company to bid for Reid & Taylor, the tribunal asked it to pay a non-refundable amount of Rs. 2 crore by February 5 and prove its net worth by that date. The matter comes up for hearing at NCLT on February 5. The judges Bhaskar Pantulu Mohan and V Nallasenapathy also directed the new bidder to appear before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) tomorrow and explain its bonafides and interest. India Gas was permitted to take part in the resolution process following the exit of CFM ARC. The tribunal also ordered that the deposit amount of Rs. 2 crore be refunded to CFM ARC.
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NCLT ALLOWS GOVT TO ADD USHA ANATHASUBRAMANIAN, 18 OTHERS AS ACCUSED IN PNB SCAM

The National Company Law Tribunal Thursday allowed a government plea to add 19 more respondents including the sacked head of Allahabad Bank Usha Anathasubramanian, in the Rs 14,000-crore Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi scam that hit the state-run lender PNB last year. The new names in the list of the accused that the government wants to add include a former executive directors of Punjab National Bank K Brahmaji Rao and Sanjiv Saran; general manager Nehal Ahad; and Bishubrata Mishra, who was the internal chief auditor at the Brady House branch of PNB, where the scam took place, among others. The ministry also wants to add some more officials of the bank and companies owned by Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi as respondents. Both Modi and Choksi are absconding and refused to come back to the country to face trial. The NCLT bench headed by VP Singh and Ravikumar Duraisamy also restrained these 19 people from alienating their assets until further orders.
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DIRECTORS OF 2 REAL ESTATE FIRMS ARRESTED

Directors of two private real estate firms were arrested on Thursday for non-payment of nearly Rs 4 crore of labour cess dues and those towards the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration said. The directors of IVR Prime IT Sez firm and PME Power Solution India were arrested in the afternoon by revenue officials in Dadri and Sadar tehsils of the district, the administration said. "Recovery certificate (RC) was issued against IVR Prime IT Sez firm by RERA for recovery of outstanding dues worth Rs 3.04 crore. Based on the RC, the action was taken, and the firm's director was arrested after it failed to remit the dues," Anjani Kamar Singh said. Read This - Farmers to get Rs 6,000/yr in 3 installments under Centre funded scheme: FM The revenue officials arrested director of PME Power Solution India for not paying Rs 80.25 lakh in labour cess, SDM Sadar Rajpal Singh said. According to the procedure, the firms were served notices about 15 days ago, asking them to clear their dues or face action, the officials said. "The action is part of a special drive initiated by district magistrate B N Singh to recover all pending dues," Singh said.
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BANK OF INDIA, MAHARASHTRA TO COME OFF CENTRAL BANK WATCHLIST -SOURCE

Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra will be dropped from the Reserve Bank of India's prompt corrective action plan (PCA) for state-owned banks with high levels of bad debt and inadequate capital, a source told Reuters on Thursday. The move follows improvements in their asset quality and capital ratios and a ruling by the RBI on Thursday, said the source. The RBI's board for financial supervision chaired by new governor Shaktikanta Das took the decision at its meeting on Thursday after reviewing the latest quarterly performance of all 11 banks on the PCA list, the source said. A third lender may also be removed from the list pending the outcome of a technical clarification from the bank, the source added. There are 21 listed state-run banks in India that provide about two-third of the total loans. With nearly half of them under a PCA plan and the rest cautious due to a record $150 billion in bad debt, the government has been keen the curbs be relaxed to boost their ability to lend. Bank of India's net non-performing assets fell to 5.87 percent in the October-December quarter from 7.64 percent in July-September. Its capital adequacy ratio improved to 12.47 percent from 10.93 percent. Bank of Maharashtra's net non-performing assets fell to 5.91 percent from 10.61 percent while its capital adequacy improved to 11.05 percent from 9.87 percent.
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SUPREME COURT DIRECTS SAHARA CHIEF SUBRATA ROY TO APPEAR BEFORE IT ON FEBRUARY 28

The Supreme Court Thursday directed Sahara group chief Subrata Roy to appear before it on February 28 for failing to deposit Rs 25,700 crore in the SEBI-Sahara case for returning investors' money. The apex court said six months were given to Sahara by its last order to arrange the amount but what has transpired during the period has not inspired the confidence of the court. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi noted that the group has deposited only Rs 15,000 crore. The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri and S K Kaul, declined to give any further chance to Roy and other directors to comply with its previous orders It said it had decided to proceed with the matter so that the law takes its own course and directed Roy and other directors to appear before it personally on next date of hearing. Roy, who has spent almost two years in jail, has been on parole since May 6, 2017. The parole was granted the first time to enable him attend the funeral of his mother. It has been extended since then. Besides Roy, two other directors -- Ravi Shankar Dubey and Ashok Roy Choudhary -- were arrested for failure of the group's two companies -- Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIRECL) and Sahara Housing Investment Corp Ltd (SHICL) -- to comply with the court's August 31, 2012 order to return over Rs 24,000 crore to their investors
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EXPECT LOAN GROWTH OF 20-25% AHEAD, SAYS INDIABULLS HOUSING FINANCE

Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd posted strong margins in the third quarter as asset quality was stable. Loan growth however tapered off. Gagan Banga, said the company expects loan book growth between 20 percent and 25 percent next year, with a profit after tax estimated to grow by 17 percent to 19 percent. In the aftermath of the IL&FS led liquidity crisis, the company had to focus more on the ALM etc and I think the best thing that has happened to the company after about 40 quarters of steady growth is that within three months, we were able to successfully migrate and very significantly improve the ALM, he added. Banga said that, We may have taken some small developers to National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in terms of a significant exposure going bad etc, we have seen a fair amount of recovery happening. He further mentioned that, The cases that we are trying to pursue in NCLT with the developers - there was some talk in the middle and I had checked around October that we have filed some new cases in NCLT and what we have realised was that those were not fresh cases, those were dates, which were appearing for old cases.
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ESSEL PROMOTERS TO MAKE GOOD SHORTFALL IN COLLATERAL FOR YES BANK LOAN

Essel group promoters plan to make good any shortfall in the collateral for a loan they have taken from YES Bank. The lender, which has an exposure of Rs 3,300 crore to the promoter entities of Essel group, has asked promoters to increase the collateral given to the bank so that it can ring-fence its exposure to the group, said sources. Sources said that the bank claimed the current collateral is not adequate according to Reserve Bank of India guidelines, due to the sharp fall in the share price of Dish TV in the last one year. Yes Bank was holding collateral in the form Dish TV shares owned by Essel group’s promoters. Dish TV on Tuesday said its promoter stake had fallen to 59.1 per cent from 60.83 per cent after pledged shares were invoked on Friday, the day its stock price slipped 33 per cent on reports of an alleged link between the group and a firm, which is being probed by government agencies. Dish TV also said no further pledges had been given to lenders and that there was no default in terms of repayment of loans to them. Payments are being made regularly to lenders and it will be maintained, Goel said. In an open letter last week, Essel group chairman Subhash Chandra had sought more time from the banks and institutions (mainly mutual funds) to repay their loans. Chandra also said the Dish TV and Videocon d2h merger was an error which resulted in a big loss of fortune for both him and his brother, Jawahar.
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SEBI DIRECTS 16 ENTITIES TO DISGORGE RS 3-CR UNLAWFUL GAINS IN POLYTEX INDIA CASE

Sebi on Thursday directed 16 entities to disgorge over Rs 3 crore of 'unlawful gains' made by them while dealing in the scrips of Polytex India Ltd. In its ruling, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has ordered the entities to disgorge the amount, along with an interest of 12 per cent per annum Besides, four individuals have been barred from the securities markets for seven years while one person has been banned for five years. However, the regulator has not put any restriction on the remaining 11 entities as they have already undergone debarment for a period of more than 5 years. These directions come after Sebi found that these entities have violated PFUTP (Prohibition of Fraudulent and Unfair Trade Practices) norms. Sebi noted, artificial volume was created by certain connected entities through large scale trading among themselves, without real change in ownership of shares traded among them, for the purpose of increasing volume of trading or influencing the price. Further, Sebi noted that the entities had made profit in the scrip of Polytex and loss in the scrip of Gemstone. The noticees cannot be allowed to set off the losses suffered in one scrip with any other scrip as the same will amount to adjustment of illegal gains against losses suffered while perpetrating the manipulation in one scrip. Accordingly, Sebi has concluded that all the 16 entities have violated provisions related to PFUTP norms and directed these entities to jointly and severally, disgorge an amount of Rs 3.05 crore along with interest calculated at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from December 17, 2012 onwards, till the date of payment.
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HOMEBUYERS TAKE PENDING CASES TO RERA IN FIRST FACE-TO-FACE MEET

The Greater Noida bench of Uttar Pradesh Real Estate Regulatory Authority (UP-Rera) met a group of 56 homebuyers representing 10 different associations at Noida Authority’s Sector 6 office on Thursday, in its first face-to-face interaction with residents since its formation. From September 4, the panel will start hearing cases in Greater Noida four times a week — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. A separate bench will, however, operate out of Lucknow on Wednesday. In Thursday’s meeting, the full bench of UP-Rera was present, including its full-time chairman Rajive Kumar. As many as 32 issues were raised by homebuyers at the meeting, according to the panel members. Individual cases will be heard in court, but we focused on the generic issues before the bench starts operating from Greater Noida, a senior member of the panel told. The Rera panel will be in discussion with Credai (Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India) on Friday, followed by discussions with Noida, Greater Noida and authorities in the coming days before hearing the cases from September.
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SEBI DIRECTS 16 ENTITIES TO DISGORGE RS 3-CR UNLAWFUL GAINS IN POLYTEX INDIA CASE

Markets watchdog Sebi on Thursday directed 16 entities to disgorge over Rs 3 crore of 'unlawful gains' made by them while dealing in the scrips of Polytex India Ltd. In its ruling, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has ordered the entities to disgorge the amount, along with an interest of 12 per cent per annum
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SEBI BARS MAITREYA PLOTTERS, 2 DIRECTORS FOR 4 YEARS OVER PRIMA-FACIE IN LAND DEAL

Sebi Thursday banned Maitreya Plotters and Structures and two directors from the markets for at least four years and asked them to refund Rs 1,775 crore to investors in three months The directors are Madhusudan Satpalkar and Janardan Arvind Parulekar, as per Sebi order. Besides, the regulator noted that several proceedings have been initiated against the company by different entities and Nasik district court has allowed for the constitution of a committee for payment of the money to the investors. The Sebi in the year 2013 had prima-facie found the schemes for booking or purchase of plot launched by the firm from 2009 to 2013 were deemed to be collective investment scheme (CIS).
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NSE, SGX MAY SIGN OFFSHORE TRADING PACT

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Singapore Exchange may soon call a truce in their longrunning tussle over offshore equity derivatives trading. India’s largest stock exchange is expected to sign an agreement with SGX that will allow all of NSE’s Indiarelated products offered on SGX including Nifty futures to be executed through the NSE International Exchange. The latter is a subsidiary of NSE located in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (Gift City) in Gandhinagar, said two people aware of the development. NSE and SGX have submitted a joint proposal to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) seeking permission to allow such an arrangement, said the people cited above. “After extensive negotiations, both the exchanges have arrived at a mutually acceptable arrangement. However, there are no regulatory precedents in India for such framework,” said one of them. “Sebi is expected to reach out to its counterpart MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) in the next few days to finalise the matter.” The NSE International Exchange will not have any direct dealings with the actual investors. This will also give SGX investors access to other products listed in Gift City that are otherwise not available on SGX. All IFSC Gift trades are exempt from several levies, including capital gains tax, securities transaction tax and stamp duty as an incentive to make it a global hub.
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IRDAI ASKS INSURERS TO PROVIDE FOR IL&FS EXPOSURE, WANTS MIS-SELLING CURBED

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has asked the insurance companies to make provision for their exposure to the beleaguered IL&FS group. They have to make provisions for it as those exposures cannot be written off Shubash Chandra Khuntia said. Moreover, the IRDAI Chairman had earlier cautioned the insurance companies on the risks associated in investing in low-rated debt instruments. Khuntia also expressed the concern over of the regulator over commissions the insurance companies pay to the motor insurance service provider (MISP) as they are higher than what has been stipulated by the insurance regulator. Whenever it is coming to our notice, we are taking action. We have also done some focused inspection of some MISPs, we are watching the market very carefully for some violations, Khuntia said. Khuntia also touched upon the mis-selling aspect of the insurance business and asked the industry players to devote more time for underwriting their products and selling it in a fair manner. He also asked the insurers to speed up the claim settlement process. As the non-life space is highly under-penetrated in India, the chairman expressed hope in the fact that cyber security insurance will be a big opportunity for general insurers to capitalise on in the future.
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MERGER DELAYS IMPACT BUSINESS DECISIONS AT GOVERNMENT INSURANCE FIRMS

According to rough estimates, in the officers grade alone close to 600-900 posts remain vacant over the last one year. At the clerical and subordinate level, the staff shortage is around 12000, say sources in the companies. The impact is already telling about the financial performance of the companies. Also, at least two companies, National Insurance and United India Insurance, significantly lost their market share. While National lost the market share from 10.78 per cent in December 2017 to 8.63 per cent in December 2018, United India Insurance lost it from 11.02 per cent to 9.27 per cent over the time frame. The three insurance companies have posted high losses in Q2 of FY19, as their premium growth came down and provisions rose. Multiple reasons accounted for the losses, including manpower crunch and lack of clarity of merger. Lack of clarity over merger was a reason that the premium came down. Also, the shortage of manpower was a reason that the business suffered. Further, the companies had to make huge provisions over third party motor losses, said a senior official at the public sector general insurance sector. According to a senior official at a private sector general insurance firm, while higher provisioning norms apply both private and public sector firms, the private sector firms have been more prudent in selecting the category mix. For United India Insurance, loss (before tax, as after tax figures not available) in Q2 of FY19 was Rs 868 crore (against a loss of Rs 36 crore before tax in the corresponding period). For National Insurance the loss was Rs 707 crore in Q2 of FY (against a profit of Rs 90 crore in Q2 of FY18). For Oriental India Insurance, the loss was Rs 240 crore in Q2 of FY 19(against a profit of Rs 200 crore in the same period in FY18). As on 31st March 2016, the total staff strength of the four general insurance companies was about 64130, with United India Insurance at 16345, Oriental Insurance at 13923, National Insurance at 15079 and New India Assurance at 18783, according to data available with the Union finance ministry.
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STATE LEVEL BANKERS' COMMITTEE IN TN ASKS BANKS TO MAXIMISE CREDIT FLOW TO MSMES

In tune with the RBI's policy, the State Level Bankers' Committee in Tamil Nadu Thursday urged bankers to streamline credit flow to the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), saying the sector needed more attention SLBC Chairman R Subramania Kumar, in a statement, said there was huge scope for expanding credit to the sector since a large number of MSME units were present in the state. The SLBC is an inter-institutional forum at state-level ensuring co-ordination between government and banks on matters pertaining to banking development and city-headquartered Indian Overseas Bank is the Convenor Bank of the committee in Tamil Nadu. Kumar said, Bankers have to make a realistic assessment of the credit requirement and provide adequate credit on time by making use of automated portals so that the MSMEs need not look outside the Banking system for additional finance The processing time should be reduced, sanctions to be conveyed quickly and time norms as prescribed by RBI should be complied with. This would save the MSME units from getting trapped in high-interest credit cycle Kumar said. The SLBC also urged bankers to extend restructuring facilities to all the eligible MSME units, besides advising the banking industry to assess the issues faced by the sector. Reserve Bank of India had provided special training to nearly 11,000 officers at various commercial banks on lending to micro, small and medium enterprises. This training has been provided to officers working at nearly 3,000 bank branches covering all districts in the country through more than 2,000 special workshops in the last three years.
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BSE TO LAUNCH APP FOR DIRECT ACCESS TO RETAIL INVESTORS IN G-SECS, T-BILLS AUCTION

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) will launch a mobile app on Friday to help retail investors participate directly in the auction of government securities and treasury bills conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The app would enable investors to directly participate in the auction without the involvement of a registered trading member of the BSE, the exchange said. The exchange will also enable trading of treasury bills (T-bills) in the capital market segment from Friday. The trading of T-bills in secondary markets will provide an exit route for investors who have been holding securities in the demat format. Last month, the BSE had launched BSE-Direct, an online bidding platform for retail investors, to participate in non-competitive bidding of government securities (G-secs) and T-bills. The platform offers a user-friendly interface, allows 24x7 bidding and enables collection of bids from investors.
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NSE OPENS DELIVERY CENTRES FOR COMMODITIES IN 3 MORE CITIES

Leading stock exchange NSE on Thursday said it has opened additional delivery centres for commodity derivatives in three more cities of Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi. The centres will facilitate pan-India delivery mechanism, the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) said in a release.
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YES BANK APPOINTS AJAI KUMAR AS INTERIM CEO

Yes Bank Ltd on Thursday named Ajai Kumar as interim chief executive effective February 1, until Ravneet Gill takes charge. Rana Kapoor stepped down as CEO on January 31 after the bank's founder completed his truncated term, the lender said in a statement. Yes Bank hired Gill, the head of Deutsche Bank India, as its new chief executive last week after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) demanded that Kapoor be replaced.
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NOIDA: 2 BUILDERS HELD FOR NOT PAYING LABOUR CESS, RERA DUES

Directors of two private real estate firms were arrested on Thursday for non-payment of nearly Rs 4 crore of labour cess dues and those towards the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration said. The directors of IVR Prime IT Sez firm and PME Power Solution India were arrested in the afternoon by revenue officials in Dadri and Sadar tehsils of the district, the administration said. Recovery certificate (RC) was issued against IVR Prime IT Sez firm by RERA for recovery of outstanding dues worth Rs 3.04 crore. Based on the RC, action was taken and the firm's director was arrested after it failed to remit the dues, Dadri Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Anjani Kamar Singh said. Director of PME Power Solution India was arrested by the revenue officials for not paying Rs 80.25 lakh in labour cess, SDM Sadar Rajpal Singh said. According to officials, when RCs are issued against pending dues to any group or entity, it is given a 15-day notice to clear the dues. Action is initiated only after 15 days.
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ICICI BANK LOAN CASE: HOW INVESTIGATIVE ‘ADVENTURISM’ HURTS EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

The investigating agency should avoid investigative ‘adventurism’ and centralise only on professional investigation, Arun Jaitley had said. The Minister’s damnation makes it loud and clear, not only to the CBI but also to the other agencies of the government, that such an ‘intent’ is ruinous for the ease of doing business something that the Modi government underlines among its successes. Amongst all the parameters, businesses cannot exist and flourish in a state of constant apprehension and dread of the capriciousness of the arms of law and regulatory agencies. This discourages investment and entrepreneurship, which has the cascading effect of low growth and poor job creation. While investigative ‘adventurism’ ravages reputations and incurs financial costs, professional investigation targets real accused, Arun Jaitley further pointed out. Businesses cannot exist and flourish in a state of constant apprehension and dread of the capriciousness of the arms of law and regulatory agencies. This discourages investment and entrepreneurship, which has the cascading effect of low growth and poor job creation, he said. Davar further said that on account of several amendments to the Companies Act, rising compliances, the work of independent directors has become so burdensome that several professionals decline board appointments resulting in a vacuum at the top of most company’s leadership. It’s time the government restrains the arbitrariness and lets the businesses concentrate on business, he said. Best to put in Arun Jaitley’s words: My advice to our investigators – Follow the advice of Arjun in the Mahabharat – Just concentrate on the bulls eye.
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TATA GROUP TO PROVIDE FREE HIGH-SPEED WIFI ON 4,000 RAIL STATIONS

Piyush Goyal-led Railway Ministry has now roped in the Tata Group in a bid to provide free high-speed WiFi facility at more than 4,000 railway stations across the country. According to an IE report, to carry out proof of concept (PoC) of the WiFi project, under which Indian Railways station users will be able to enjoy high-speed internet for free, Tata Trusts had been given eight railway stations between Bengaluru and Mysore, as part of the understanding, before the project is rolled out across the country. Interestingly, at eight stations across the railway network, the PoC process has been a success, the report said. The project will be carried out by Tata Trusts as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Therefore, Indian Railways will not have to shell out anything for this. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal took personal initiative in discussions with Tata Group’s top management to get the company on board. For the Railway Board, this initiative is one of the main priorities as this will be the largest CSR initiative ever on Indian Railways However, to get the project implemented, the Tatas have tied up with a separate agency, the report said. According to the report, nearly 2,000 out of the 8,000-odd railway stations have been left out of the proposed WiFi project since they are halt stations, which do not receive significant footfall. The internet giant, Google has already wired up more than 400 bigger railway stations across the country to take the current figure to 712 railway stations. Also, the PowerGrid Corporation is providing WiFi to 100 railway stations as part of its CSR initiative. The national transporter’s own telecom PSU RailTel has also covered a number of railway stations to implement free Wifi facility.
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FACEBOOK, TWITTER REMOVE ACCOUNTS LINKED TO IRAN, RUSSIA, VENEZUELA

Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. have been sharing notes on fake accounts tied to Iran that have been trying to manipulate political thought around the world, leading to another wave of takedowns by the social-media sites. Facebook said it removed 783 pages, groups and accounts linked to Iran that were attempting to manipulate political discussions about current events, like the Israel-Palestine conflict and the wars in Syria and Yemen. The company said Thursday that the accounts and page administrators typically represented themselves as locals in at least 26 countries, including Iraq, Israel, Afghanistan and the US, but posted messages that repeated the content of Iranian state media. The removals built on activity the companies found last year, with some outside help from security firm FireEye. The industry collaboration has been central to the success of these operations, Facebook said. In September, Twitter disclosed it had suspended 770 accounts potentially based in Iran for violating its policies. Since then, the company has suspended 2,617 additional malicious accounts it believes had origins in Iran, which tweeted 24,000 times about the 2018 US midterm elections. The content included 262 pages, 356 accounts and 3 groups on Facebook, and 162 accounts on Instagram. The groups spent less than $30,000 in Facebook advertising, but 2 million Facebook users followed at least one of their pages. Twitter said it continues to see activity on the service related to the Russian Internet Research Agency, the troll farm that spread divisive information during the 2016 US presidential election. It found 418 additional accounts that appeared to originate in Russia and posted 73,398 tweets related to the midterm elections, with hashtags like #MAGA and #ReleasetheMemo. Twitter said it also suspended 764 accounts in Venezuela before election day and notified law enforcement of the activity.
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INDIA LEADS DAILY USERS GROWTH FOR FACEBOOK IN DECEMBER QUARTER

Facebook saw its base of daily users growing 9 per cent to 1.52 billion in the December quarter, led by growth in markets like India, Indonesia and the Philippines, the social networking giant has said. The daily active users (DAUs) represented about 66 per cent of the 2.32 billion monthly active users (MAUs) in the December 2018 quarter, David Wehner said. He added that MAUs -- users who have used Facebook within the month -- grew by 191 million or 9 per cent compared to last year.




















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Thanks & Regards,
CS Meetesh Shiroya