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August 17, 2017 PTI The Centre today told the Supreme Court that it was in the process of taking a final policy decision, including the framing of a law to regulate the activities of NGOs across the country.  A bench comprising Chief Justice J S Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud considered the statement of Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre, and adjourned the matter for further hearing on August 21.  The bench said that in all probabality, the Centre was going to come out with a legislation on the issue.  The ASG sought some more time to apprise the court about the possible step to be taken by the government to regulate activities of the NGOs.  The court was hearing a PIL filed by lawyer M L Sharma, in his personal capacity, seeking to regulate activities of the NGOs including financial ones.  Earlier, the apex court had asked central government body CAPART to apprise it about the steps taken in pursuance...

Augyust 17, 2017 PTI No lobbying, "allotment" on the basis of merit-cum-performance and enlarging the employment pool to include the private sector are some key initiatives taken by the Centre for top-level recruitments in public sector banks, the personnel ministry has said.  The two big issues that Indian public sector banks grapple with are high non-performing assets (NPAs) and inadequate systemic safeguards, the ministry said in a booklet titled "3 years of sustained HR initiatives: Foundation for a New India", released before Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently.  The central government, it said, has introduced "far reaching changes" in the appointments of top officials to solve many problems faced by nationalised banks.  In a chapter titled "Reforms in banks: performance through leadership", the report said there is now "no lobbying".  The reforms also include "independent professional body for select...

August 18, 2017 IANS Roll-out of 4G technology with an increase in data, entry of new players in the market, introduction of digital wallets and the popularity of smartphones leading to consistent increase in demand for technology are likely to increase job opportunities in the telecom sector by 30 lakh by 2018, a study said here on Thursday.  Emerging technologies such as 5G, M2M and the evolution of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) are expected to create employment avenues for almost 8,70,000 individuals by 2021, revealed a joint study by Assocham-KPMG.  It said the existing manpower in the sector may not be adequate both in number as well as in skill to cater to the upcoming demand.  "There is a need to bridge the gap in skill which on the one hand would require identification of skilled manpower in diverse roles such as infra and cyber security experts, application developers, sales executives, infrastructure technicians, handset tec...

August 18, 2017 Economictimes.com When brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta moved to South Africa from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, it is said their father Shiv Kumar Gupta had told them that Africa would become the next America of the world. More than two decades later, Africa might not have become the next America, the Gupta brothers have become powerful tycoons in the African country, often called 'Zuptas' for their proximity to President Jacob Zuma.  The Guptas have made news recently when Bank of Baroda decided to close accounts of the companies controlled by them to ensure compliance with banking rules, according to a Bloomberg report. The Guptas have been accused by opposition parties and some ruling party officials of influencing cabinet appointments and government contracts by using their proximity to President Zuma. The Guptas, however, have denied the allegations.  Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that a number of companies forming part of the Gup...

August 18, 2017 Pradeesh Chandran, Jay Shankar Vishal Sikka, CEO and managing director of Infosys, has resigned. The Board of Directors of the country's second largest software exporter accepted his resignation “effective immediately,” a statement issued by the company said. Mr. Sikka has been appointed executive vice chairman effective Thursday and will hold office until a permanent chief executive officer and managing director takes charge, which should be no later than March 31, 2018, the statement said. Mr. Sikka will continue to focus on strategic initiatives, key customer relationships and technology development and chief operating officer U. B. Pravin Rao has been appointed interim chief executive officer and managing director reporting to him under the overall supervision and control of the Board, the statement said. Mr. Sikka cited among his reasons for leaving “a continuous stream of distractions and disruptions over the recent months and quarters,...

August 18, 2017 ENS Economic Bureau The government has introduced a new form under the insolvency law to enable a person who has to receive a payment from an insolvent company to seek the claim. This will enable persons such as homebuyers to make claims for undelivered flats on a company undergoing resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). Jaypee Infratech, which is currently under the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, has uploaded the new Form-F on its website. Till now, only financial and operational creditors were permitted to seek claims under the IBC. But Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has amended the regulations whereby claims can be made by creditors other than financial and operational creditors. Such entities should submit proof of their claims to the resolution professional, as per a notification issued by the IBBI. “The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) Regulatio...

August 18, 2017 Ritika Chopra In a pointer to the growing influence of business houses in Indian elections, corporate donations received by political parties in just four years — from 2012-13 to 2015-16 — was 2½ times the funds collected in the seven years between 2004-05 and 2011-12. The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), which analysed details of all donations above Rs 20,000 to five national parties — BJP, Congress, NCP, CPI and CPM — found that corporate donations accounted for 89% of all known donations in these four years. Corporate houses had collectively donated Rs 956.77 crore from 2012-13 to 2015-16, as compared to Rs 378.89 crore (87% of all donations) over four years from 2004-05 to 2011-12. ADR did not include the BSP in this analysis as the party has not disclosed any contributions above Rs 20,000. To put this sharp increase in perspective, there were two Lok Sabha elections and 52 assembly polls held between 2004-05 and 2011-12 as opposed to just one ...

August 18, 2017 The auditor appointment rules specified by the Companies Act has led to different interpretations. At least 10 publicly traded companies have violated these norms by hiring auditors for terms of less than five years, proxy advisory firm Stakeholder Empowerment Services (SES) said in a report.  “In current year till now SES has sampled more than 10 companies which have proposed resolution for appointment of auditors for a term of less than five years, which in opinion of SES is blatant violation of law. SES makes it clear that it is only a representative sample, there could be many more cases like this,” the report said.  According to the Companies Act 2013, an auditor has to be hired for a fixed term of five years and can be reappointed for another term of five years. It further states that this appointment has to be ratified at the annual general meeting (AGM) of shareholders.  After these norms were notified, companies were given a tran...

Aug 18 2017 Swaraj Singh Dhanjal Renewable energy company ReNew Power Ventures Pvt. Ltd has raised around $50 million in debt from Yes Bank Ltd to refinance the debt of one of its wind power projects, said two people aware of the development. “Yes Bank has lent approximately $50 million (Rs321 crore). The money will be used by ReNew to refinance the debt of its Amba wind power project in Madhya Pradesh, which has an installed capacity of around 44 megawatts (MW),” said one of the two people cited above, on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak to reporters. The project has been commissioned recently and is generating cash flows, thus the company decided to refinance the debt of the project, which will help reduce the interest cost being paid by the company, he added. “As part of our cost reduction strategy, we keep exploring multiple alternatives like INR bonds, Masala bonds, bank refinancing, etc., and to this effect, to refinance one of our projects in...

August 18th 2017 Cathal McNaughton/Reuters The organisation said even though New Delhi was not signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it could not send them to a place where they face serious threats. The Human Rights Watch on Thursday urged the Indian government to “abide by its international legal obligations” and not forcibly deport Rohingya Muslim refugees,  to Myanmar, “where they face persecution”. The organisation said the community needed protection from “systematic abuse” by officials and state security forces in Myanmar. “India has a long record of helping vulnerable populations fleeing from neighboring countries, including Sri Lankans, Afghans, and Tibetans,” said HRW South Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly. “Indian authorities should abide by India’s international legal obligations and not forcibly return any Rohingya to Burma without first fairly evaluating their claims as refugees.” HRW refuted Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Riji...

August 18 2017 -  MONEY SHARMA / AFP Kenji Hiramatsu said Tokyo had been watching the impasse closely as the ongoing border crisis could affect the stability of the entire region. Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu on Thursday supported Delhi’s stand of engaging in dialogue through diplomatic channels with China to find a solution to the Doklam standoff, reported The Times of India. He said Japan had been watching the situation very closely as the impasse in the Sikkim sector could affect the stability of the entire region. “As far as India’s role is concerned, we understand that India is involved in this incident based on bilateral agreements with Bhutan,” the Japanese envoy said, according to The Times of India. “External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has made it clear that India will continue to engage with dialogue through diplomatic channels with China to find a mutually acceptable solution. We consider this attitude towards peaceful resolution important.” “As...

Aug 18 2017 - Jaspreet Bindra,  senior vice-president - digital transformation, Mahindra Group. Uber, as it turned out, is a great business model run by a flawed chief executive. Travis Kalanick built the world’s most valuable private company ever and achieved world domination in a relatively short while, only to be fired by his board in June. Ronald (Ron) Johnson, who shone at Apple Inc. as its retail head for over a decade (he created and opened the first Apple stores), made several bad judgements later as the CEO of J. C. Penney Co. Inc., and was summarily dismissed. Closer home, B. Ramalinga Raju used his company’s money and nearly drove his company, Satyam Computer Services Ltd ,(now Tech Mahindra Ltd), to the ground. CEOs have vast, untrammelled powers in today’s organizations, endowed as they are with near-sycophantic employees and pliable boards. The way organization structures are made, everything gets eventually centralized at the top, and the CEO becomes a single...

Aug 18 2017 -PTI Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Thursday said a meeting of its shareholders and creditors has been convened next month to consider the proposed amalgamation of Telenor Communications with it. The company in a filing to BSE said that pursuant to an order of the Special Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), a meeting of equity shareholders and unsecured creditors of Bharti Airtel has been convened on 19 September. The meeting has been convened “for the purpose of considering, and if thought fit, approving with or without modification the proposed scheme of amalgamation between Telenor Communications Pvt. Ltd and Bharti Airtel and their respective shareholders and creditors”, Bharti Airtel said in a regulatory filing. Airtel and Telenor signed the agreement for merger on February 2017 under which Airtel will acquire Telenor India’s running operations in seven circles—Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, UP (East), UP (West) and Assam. The...

Aug 18 2017 - PTI Leading bourses BSE and NSE will suspend trading in the shares of United Breweries (Holdings) Ltd from 8 September while the entire promoter shareholding has been frozen with immediate effect. Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya is a promoter of UBHL. Trading in UBHL would be suspended from 8 September “on account of non-compliance with financial results and non- payment of fine for two consecutive quarters”, NSE said in a communication. These are three months ended 31 December 2016 and 31 March 2017, respectively. In case the company complies with the requirements before 4 September, then the proposed trading suspension would not be imposed. According to the bourse, the suspension would continue from 8 September till the firm complies with the requirements. Similar directions have been issued against another company Net 4 India by the NSE. In a separate communication, the BSE issued such directions to three other companies along with UBHL and Net 4...

Tuesday, 15 Aug -   PTI   Cracking down on misuse of stock market for money laundering, regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said it has stepped up "focused inspection" of suspected brokers and other entities leading to action against hundreds of them. The capital markets watchdog has also enhanced its cooperation with other regulators and agencies in India as well as abroad for investigations. Giving details of the trend in investigation cases in its latest annual report, Sebi said there was a significant increase in the number of cases taken up during 2016-17 mainly due to the references received from the Department of Income Tax in the matter of long term capital gain/short term capital loss in various scrips. In 2016-17, 245 new cases were taken up for investigation and 155 cases were completed, compared to 133 new cases taken up and 123 cases completed in 2015-16. Sebi said it is constantly striving to upgrade its investigative skills...