Ruchika Chitravanshi, Subhayan Chakraborty &Amp; Shreya Nandi

Stories by Ruchika Chitravanshi, Subhayan Chakraborty &Amp; Shreya Nandi

Corporate affairs ministry assessing need to ramp up bench strength of NCLT

Corporate affairs ministry assessing need to ramp up bench strength of NCLT

Rediff.com   22 Aug 2023

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) is contemplating an increase to the existing strength of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) benches to handle the growing case load. The ministry is currently analysing the time taken by each bench to dispose of matters and the total number of cases being handled by each bench. "We need to first determine our requirement, given that the NCLT handles both Company Act and insolvency and bankruptcy matters. "The latter constitutes the majority of the case burden.

Centre pushes for faster admission of corporate insolvency cases at NCLT

Centre pushes for faster admission of corporate insolvency cases at NCLT

Rediff.com   21 Aug 2023

Benches of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) should not get into questioning a company's default once it is established by the creditors, particularly financial creditors, for admission to the corporate insolvency process. This is one of the key themes of the draft guidelines for the NCLT, which are being finalised by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), a senior official said. According to the official, while the company law matters could involve the "principle of natural justice" and justify extended proceedings to hear all parties concerned, the same does not apply to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) proceedings.

Pragati Maidan: A Walk In Time

Pragati Maidan: A Walk In Time

Rediff.com   12 Aug 2023

'A microcosm of India, inclusive and welcoming'. For years, Pragati Maidan was the centre of Delhi's social life.

India's growth trajectory secure: FinMin's monthly economic review

India's growth trajectory secure: FinMin's monthly economic review

Rediff.com   4 Aug 2023

Improved monsoon, solid fiscal performance, and capex push by the public and private sectors augurs well for India's macroeconomic stability and growth, the finance ministry's monthly economic review for June 2023 said. But the report said that while India's domestic fundamentals remain strong, negative cross-border spillovers and adverse global developments could act as a deterrent in achieving the high growth path this financial year. "An improved matching of aggregate supply and aggregate demand in the Indian economy underpins the progress made in the control of domestic inflation and the consequent strengthening of macroeconomic stability," the review said.

Q1 a washout, exporters pin hope on North America for a turnaround

Q1 a washout, exporters pin hope on North America for a turnaround

Rediff.com   3 Aug 2023

After the first quarter was washed out, exporters are now keeping their fingers crossed over a turnaround in outbound shipments to at least North America from September onwards. This comes even as other key destinations such as Europe may take longer to revive in FY24. Slowdown in key economies, as well as geopolitical tensions resulted in sluggish demand for Indian goods.

PLI scheme incentive outgo could be less than Rs 40,000 crore by FY25

PLI scheme incentive outgo could be less than Rs 40,000 crore by FY25

Rediff.com   31 Jul 2023

The total incentive outgo under the ambitious production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme is estimated to be less than Rs. 40,000 crore by the fiscal year 2024-25 (FY25), when it completes the fourth year of implementation, according to the government's internal estimates. This means only a fourth of the allocated Rs 1.97 trillion is expected to be utilised by the end of FY24, indicating that not all the 14 PLI schemes would have taken off fully. While three of the 14 schemes - large-scale electronics manufacturing, bulk drugs, and medical devices - were introduced in 2020, the remaining were launched the following year.

Higher discounts likely to prompt India to buy more crude oil from UAE

Higher discounts likely to prompt India to buy more crude oil from UAE

Rediff.com   27 Jul 2023

Higher discounts on crude oil offered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to wean India away from Russian crude may soon see Indian refiners ramping up purchases from the Gulf nation, officials at multiple refiners said. They also pointed to the recent agreement on trade settlement in national currencies signed between India and the UAE as a reason for this. "While discussions are underway, the UAE has offered discounts on crude, which will be more than that of the current level of Russian discounts.

Govt portal pins 285,000 missing mobile phones, but only 20,771 recovered

Govt portal pins 285,000 missing mobile phones, but only 20,771 recovered

Rediff.com   24 Jul 2023

The Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) of the department of telecommunications (DoT) has traced 285,000 lost or stolen mobile phones and blocked 680,000 devices since being launched. However, recoveries remain relatively low at 20,771 devices. According to government estimates, around 50,000 mobile phones are stolen every month in the country. Launched nationwide on May 16, the CEIR is a part of the DoT's Sanchar Saathi portal. It is the primary government platform aimed at protecting mobile phone users from various frauds such as identity theft, forged KYC, theft of mobile devices and banking frauds.

Oil marketing cos to ride the low crude oil gravy train in Q1

Oil marketing cos to ride the low crude oil gravy train in Q1

Rediff.com   21 Jul 2023

Lower crude oil costs and higher marketing margins are expected to raise the fortunes of oil marketing companies (OMCs) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24), while city gas distribution (CGD) companies could also benefit from lower spot prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, in a break from the past, growth trends are expected to diverge for various segments within the broad energy sector. Analysts expect the earnings from gas production to go down for upstream national oil and gas companies such as Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL) due to the introduction of the new domestic gas pricing regime on April 1. After showing steep losses over the first half of 2022-23 (FY23), the marketing margins of OMCs have steadily recovered in four months.

India poised for more durable growth than ever, says finance ministry

India poised for more durable growth than ever, says finance ministry

Rediff.com   7 Jul 2023

India appears poised to sustain its growth in a more durable way than before with the economy carrying the momentum from FY23 into the current fiscal year, the Annual Economic Review for 2022-23 released by the finance ministry on Thursday said. However, the report cautioned that escalation of geopolitical stress, enhanced volatility in global financial systems, sharp price correction in global stock markets, a high magnitude of El-Nino impact, and modest trade activity and FDI inflows, are factors that could constrain the pace of growth. "Should these developments deepen and dampen growth in the subsequent quarters, the external sector may challenge India's growth outlook for FY24," the finance ministry said.

Why India is worried about EU's draft due diligence law

Why India is worried about EU's draft due diligence law

Rediff.com   6 Jul 2023

It aims at tackling issues such as child labour, mistreatment of workers, and denial of basic wages, among others. There will also be penalties for non-compliance.

Trai to update quality of service parameters soon; to meet telcos next month

Trai to update quality of service parameters soon; to meet telcos next month

Rediff.com   6 Jul 2023

State-level reports every quarter for service quality and artificial intelligence-based solutions may be officially mandated as part of a set of more stringent, updated quality-of-service (QoS) norms by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) soon. The new norms will also factor in user experience for 5G networks, officials informed Business Standard. In February, Trai asked telecommunication (telecom) service providers (TSPs) to submit updates on measures taken to reduce call drops and lags and raise the quality of connection.

Sitharaman holds meet for 'time-bound' completion of Budget schemes

Sitharaman holds meet for 'time-bound' completion of Budget schemes

Rediff.com   5 Jul 2023

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday met top officials of the finance and corporate affairs ministries to review the implementation of various announcements of the Union Budget FY24. "The finance minister underlined the importance of continuous assessment of progress to ensure that various announcements are implemented in a time-bound manner," the finance ministry said in a tweet. Sitharaman also discussed in detail various issues on the digital competition laws with Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the minister of state for entrepreneurship, skill development, electronics and technology.

'Blockchain, algorithmic collusion challenges'

'Blockchain, algorithmic collusion challenges'

Rediff.com   4 Jul 2023

'Global coordination, convergence, market complexities and dynamics and cross-border enforcement compound the existing challenges we face.'

What Will Today's PLI Meeting Decide?

What Will Today's PLI Meeting Decide?

Rediff.com   27 Jun 2023

Centre mulls strategy to ensure powers given to the agencies are not misused.

'Technology' appears 44 times in Modi-Biden statement, up from 5 three years ago

'Technology' appears 44 times in Modi-Biden statement, up from 5 three years ago

Rediff.com   24 Jun 2023

From the seas to the stars, this partnership will now be deepened by the defining role of technology, the statement said.

PM Modi's US visit: India's entry into critical mineral alliance on table

PM Modi's US visit: India's entry into critical mineral alliance on table

Rediff.com   21 Jun 2023

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to the US is expected to see discussion on India's possible entry into a US-led global alliance on critical minerals, officials told Business Standard. In June last year, the US, the European Union, and other G7 partners launched the Minerals Security Partnership to ensure that China did not further strengthen its grip on supplies of critical minerals the world over. Various ministries, including the Ministry of Finance, have communicated to the Ministry of External Affairs to explore the possibility of India joining the partnership, officials said.

Why IBC has has become less bankable for resolution professionals

Why IBC has has become less bankable for resolution professionals

Rediff.com   18 Jun 2023

Larger firms feel that the smaller players have muddied the waters for the IBC process, leading to excessive regulation of resolution Professionals.

'We are not saying everybody has to pay that much'

'We are not saying everybody has to pay that much'

Rediff.com   12 Jun 2023

'If you are going to have only a handful of telecom players on whom the entire dream of Digital India rests, it's important they are financially sustainable.'

Citing National Security, India Bans Chinese Cos

Citing National Security, India Bans Chinese Cos

Rediff.com   8 Jun 2023

The government believes firms which are subject to China's laws could be forced to hand over information to Beijing's security services.