by Editor | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
New Delhi : Parliament on Thursday passed The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill which seeks to empower the government to fix the period of maternity leave and the tax-free gratuity amount with an executive order.
The Bill got Parliament’s approval after it was passed by the Rajya Sabha through a voice vote. It was passed amid a din by the Lok Sabha on March 15.
After the passage of the Bill in Parliament, the government will be able to enhance the ceiling of tax-free gratuity to Rs 20 lakh from the existing Rs 10 lakh for employees under the Payment of Gratuity Act.
Labour Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar moved The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill, 2017, which was passed by a voice vote without any discussion.
“I would urge the chair to pass the Bill without discussion,” said Gangwar while moving the Bill.
The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 allows for the payment of gratuity to employees in any establishment, factory, mine, oil field, plantation, port, railways, company, or shop employing 10 or more workers.
Employees are paid gratuity if they have provided at least five years of continuous service at the time of termination.
This Bill empowers the Central government to notify the period of maternity leave eligible for qualifying as continuous service and determine the amount of gratuity available to employees.
The maximum maternity leave, for the purpose of calculating continuous service under the Act, was based on the maternity leave provided under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.
The maximum maternity leave under the 1961 Act was changed from 12 weeks to 26 weeks by the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017. The Bill removes the reference to 12 weeks and empowers the Central government to notify the maximum maternity leave.
Under the Act, the maximum amount of gratuity payable to an employee cannot exceed Rs 10 lakh. The Bill removes the existing ceiling and states that the ceiling may be notified by the Central government.
—IANS
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | Investing
Washington (IANS) The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, passed by parliament on Wednesday, will improve the ease of doing business in India for both domestic and global investors, the US-India Business Council (USIBC) said in a statement here.
“The Bill is another feather in the cap of the government’s drive to improve the ease of doing business for both domestic and global investors,” said council president Mukesh Aghi.
“The passage of this Bill will establish an entrepreneur-friendly legal bankruptcy framework for speedy, efficient and consistent resolution of insolvencies for companies and individuals,” he said.
The USIBC will welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the guest of honour for its 41st Annual Leadership Summit here on June 7 at the gathering of senior Indian and American leaders from the public and private sectors, the statement added.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday gave its approval to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015, following its passage through the Lok Sabha last week.
The Insolvency Bill proposes to enact a single bankruptcy code and set deadlines for processing insolvency cases, thereby cutting down the time it takes to wind up a company or recover dues from a defaulter. It has proposed a timeline of 180 days, extendable by 90 more days, to resolve bankruptcy cases.
The code will provide a specialised resolution mechanism to deal with bankruptcy situations in banks, insurance companies and financial sector entities.
The code is quite a positive reform for India’s financial sector, especially for state-run banks heavily burdened with stressed assets, as it will give creditors a legal path for recovering their dues in a time-bound way, Japanese financial services firm Nomura said in a report last week.
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | Banking, Corporate, Corporate finance, News
New Delhi:(IANS) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will on Monday table in parliament the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill, the biggest reform proposal after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill, the government said.
“Fin Minister will introduce Insolvency and Bankruptcy Bill in Parliament tomorrow. Next GST, it’s the biggest reform (sic),” tweeted Shaktikanta Das, secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs, on Sunday.
The government intends to bring important legislative measures on structural reforms during the remaining three days left of parliament’s winter session, notwithstanding the setback on the GST Bill, Jaitley had said on Saturday.
The proposed Bankruptcy Code aims to reduce delays in resolution of insolvency cases and improve recoveries of amount lent to companies. The draft bill has proposed a timeline of 180 days, extendable by another 90 days, to resolve cases of bankruptcy.
The new Bankruptcy Code will help India in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking, as per a key criterion set by the multilateral lender.
“Govt remains committed to medium-term fiscal targets,” Shaktikanta Das said in another tweet.
Sharply revising downwards the projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth for this fiscal by one percent to the 7-7.5 percent range, the government on Friday said the decline in nominal GDP growth will create challenges for meeting the current fiscal deficit target of 3.9 percent of GDP.
“Slower than anticipated nominal GDP growth will itself raise the deficit target by 0.2 per cent of GDP,” the finance ministry said in its Mid-year Economic Review tabled in parliament.
“The anticipated shortfall in disinvestment receipts, owing to adverse market conditions for a portfolio that largely comprises commodity stocks, will add to the challenge,” it said.
At an all-party meeting held by Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari on Friday, the opposition, after weeks of confrontation on various issues, agreed to the passage of certain bills in the Rajya Sabha during the last week of the session, but consensus was elusive on the GST bill.
“However, GDP growth has been powered only by private consumption and public investment is a concern. The proposed wage hike for government workers may impact plan for next fiscal,” the report said.
Jaitley, in his February budget, had extended the target deadline for controlling fiscal deficit to three percent, reasoning that insistence on a timetable to contain the deficit would harm growth prospects.
The targets for the next three years have been set at 3.9 percent for 2015-16, 3.5 percent for 2016-17, and 3.0 percent for 2017-18.
India’s fiscal deficit has touched 74 percent of the annual target as on end-October, even as tax revenue is below the half-way mark, as per the latest official estimates of the central government accounts released late last month.
by Editor | May 25, 2021 | News
Mumbai:(IANS) The prevailing logjam in Parliament coupled with prospects of a US rate hike and the decline in oil and gas stocks subdued Indian equity markets on Tuesday leading to a barometer index trading 154 points down during the late-afternoon session.
Initially, both the bellwether indices of the Indian equity markets opened on a negative note following their Asian peers.
Besides, prospects of a US rate hike prompted a selling frenzy among foreign investors and continued weakness in rupee’s value depressed investors.
In addition, oil and gas, energy and power companies stocks fell after a dip in global crude oil prices.
The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) shed 154 points or 0.60 percent during the late-afternoon session.
Similarly, the wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), was also trading in the red. It was lower by 39.15 points or 0.50 percent at 7,726.25 points.
The Sensex of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 25,488.42 points, was trading at 25,391.04 points (at 3.00 p.m.) — down 154.07 points or 0.60 percent from the previous day’s close at 25,530.11 points.
The Sensex so far touched a high of 25,542.47 points and a low of 25,373.01 points during the intra-day trade.
Markets observers elaborated that the investors’ sentiments were subdued due to the logjam in parliament which has dimmed the prospects of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill getting passed during the winter session.
“The parliament’s logjam is a major dampener for the markets as it reduces the chances of the GST bill getting passed this session,” Anand James, co-head, technical research desk with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, told IANS.
“The upcoming US rate hike, continued selling by the foreign investors in the Indian markets and the slump in oil prices which negatively impacted stock prices of oil and gas companies thinned investor participation.”
