Major Business News Stories This Week

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has slashed tariff duty on 200 IT products, over this the body has signed a trade deal of $1.3 trillion.

Reliance Industries’net profit up 4.4 % in the first quarter of 2015-16 at Rs.6,222 crore.

Not a good news from bullion market, as gold price tumbled heavily this week. The gold price in Chennai down to Rs 2,344 per gram on Friday.

TVS Motor Company Ltd reported on Friday that the net profit for the first quarter grown by 24.8% .

Automobile majro Maruti Suzuki launches Premium Showroom range Nexa on Thursday.

Top 10 Indian companies listed in Forbes Asia Fabulous 50 list. While China topped the list with 25 companies in this.

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd, (NSE), leading stock exchange, issued notice to 260 companies for not appointing a woman director, on Wednesday.

Rajya Sabha Select Committee presents Report on Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill on Wednesday.

The Union Cabinet approved interest subvention on crop loans for farmers on Tuesday.

BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa- countries launched New Development Bank in Shanghai on Tuesda.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) appointed Maurice Obstfeld as the IMF’s economic counsellor and director of the research department, on Monday.

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National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for the India’s first integrated National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015. The Policy acknowledges the need for an effective roadmap for promotion of entrepreneurship as the key to a successful skills strategy. The previous National Policy on Skill Development was formulated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment in 2009 and provided for a review after five years to align the policy framework with emerging national and international trends.

The Vision of the Policy is “to create an ecosystem of empowerment by Skilling on a large Scale at Speed with high Standards and to promote a culture of innovation based entrepreneurship which can generate wealth and employment so as to ensure Sustainable livelihoods for all citizens in the country”.

To achieve this Vision, the Policy has four thrust areas. It addresses key obstacles to skilling, including low aspirational value, lack of integration with formal education, lack of focus on outcomes, low quality of training infrastructure and trainers, etc. Further, the Policy seeks to align supply and demand for skills by bridging existing skill gaps, promoting industry engagement, operationalising a quality assurance framework, leverage technology and promoting greater opportunities for apprenticeship training. Equity is also a focus of the Policy, which targets skilling opportunities for socially/geographically marginalised and disadvantaged groups. Skill development and entrepreneurship programmes for women are a specific focus of the Policy. In the entrepreneurship domain, the Policy seeks to educate and equip potential entrepreneurs, both within and outside the formal education system. It also seeks to connect entrepreneurs to mentors, incubators and credit markets, foster innovation and entrepreneurial culture, improve ease of doing business and promote a focus on social entrepreneurship. (PIB)

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Land Acquisition Norms Amended, Welcome Step: Niranjan Hiranandani

Land Acquisition Norms Amended, Welcome Step: Niranjan Hiranandani

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

The Indian Government has taken a welcome step on the issue of land acquisition norms, said Niranjan Hiranandani, MD, Hiranandani Constructions Pvt. Ltd. (HCPL). He was reacting to media reports about the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 29 December having approved certain amendments in the land acquisition norms. These seek to fast-track the purchase process of land, while bringing more projects under the provisions of rehabilitation and compensation of land owners.

“While the amendment has the potential to give a boost to affordable housing, it will also facilitate a scenario where infrastructure projects will be fast-tracked. For ‘Affordable Housing’ to become a reality, it will need time bound land acquisition and creation of infrastructure, which the amendment will facilitate. What is most important is that the amendment does not impact the compensation to farmers, while it ensures time-bound acquisition, it remains ‘Socially Correct’ while also being ‘Business Friendly’,” said Niranjan Hiranandani.

The amendments relate to Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, pointed out Niranjan Hiranandani, adding that while the Act came into effect from January 1, 2014; stakeholders faced difficulties in its implementation. “Among the welcome changes that the amendment brings about relates to faster processing. The Act resulted in a ‘prolonged’ process for land acquisition, and created a situation where the farmer was able to get benefit; nor could the project be completed in time for the benefit of society at large, explained Niranjan Hiranandani.

The amendments allow a fast track process for (i) defence and defence production, (ii) rural infrastructure including electrification, (iii) housing for poor including affordable housing, (iv) industrial corridors and (v) infrastructure projects; including projects taken up under Public Private Partnership mode where ownership of the land continues to be vested with the government. These projects would not need to seek the consent of 80 per cent of the affected landowners.

On the impact this would have on ‘affordable housing’, Niranjan Hiranandani pointed out that while it was clear that compensation to farmers would be high, it was obvious that the government intends to acquire land in areas where land prices are not high; and new infrastructure would be created to develop linkages to such new areas. “So, what we will see is locations which are situated at some distance from the Central Business Districts (CBDs); where new infrastructure will ensure better standards of living plus high speed transport to work places.

If one considers the concept of ‘Smart Cities’, it is obviously new areas where these will be developed – and the amended norms will help facilitate the same. If one looks at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) for instance, the existing local train network has extended the ‘location’ of affordable housing to locations in the Vasai-Virar Region and the Karjat-Panvel Region. Infrastructure development in form of new, high-speed transport options like the Metro and new road links would create a similar situation for locations beyond Panvel and in the periphery of Alibaug; a major infrastructure project like the trans-harbour sea link between Sewree and Nhava would also make affordable housing a reality in these locations,” explained Niranjan Hiranandani.

The positive effect of the amendment, said Niranjan Hiranandani, would be visible as regards infrastructure growth. “The amendments will kick-start hundreds of billions of dollars in stalled projects,” he said. Pointing out that restrictions on buying land was among the barriers holding up projects worth almost US$ 300 billion in various sectors, Niranjan Hiranandani pointed out that about 50 per cent of China's economic growth was not just due to manufacturing; but also a result of the urban housing revolution. “As a result of the amendment, in India too, the multiplier effect on GDP will happen due to volumes in housing unit production, and this will enhance economic growth,” he concluded.

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Cabinet clears Land Acquisition Bill

In a significant development, the Union Cabinet on Monday cleared the much awaited  Land Acquisition Bill. The bill will be tabled in the Parliament on Wednesday. However, the states will enjoy their own laws over the land acquisition.

It was reported Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill and the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill will be useful in checking the forceful and illegal land acquisition in the country. The chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee had opposed the bill but now approved it.

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PM reshuffles his Cabinet: Video

The much awaited cabinet reshuffle was complete on Tuesday by the prime minister. Dr. Singh inducted some new faces into the cabinet, no candidate from the DMK were seen in the cabinet expansion, may be later they will be inducted. He also included, Jairam Ramesh and Dinesh Trivedi to his core team.

Here is a report about the cabinet reshuffle from Times Now News channel that was loaded to Youtube.

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Cabinet approves Crain India and Vedanta Deal

Cabinet approves Cairn Energy to sell its 40 per cent stake in Cairn India to Vedanta on Friday. The deal is going have huge impact on Cairn India.

It is estimated that the profit of Cairn India will hit as it has to pay royalty to the state owned ONGC (subject to conditions also).

The impact of the deal was clearly visible in the stock market on Friday, the company's shares traded as lower of 2 per cent.

On the contrary, the BSE Sensex in its opening trade touched to 19,000 mark following the global cues and ONGC, which will get a big price from Cairn India as royalty.

However, Cairn India is still holding stakes in 10 oil and gas blocks in India, including Rajasthan state's block at Barmer.

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Cabinet okays Bill to raise retirement age of HC judges: Business Line

The Union Cabinet today has approved the proposed legislation paving the way for increasing the retirement age of High Court judges from 62 to 65. Around 630 judges of 21 High Courts in the country would be benefited after it got approval from the Union Cabinet. According to the media reports, the Law Ministry is keen on introducing the legislation in the Parliament during its winter session. Read More :

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