Notifications & Circulars

Press Information Bureau

18.05.2017

Labour and Industrial

EPFO beneficiaries to get payment through electronic or digital fund transfer system

MANU/PIBU/0545/2017

The Ministry of Labour & Employment vide notification dated 4th May 2017 has provided for electronic or digital fund transfer / payment of EPF benefits, pension disbursement and insurance claim. For this purpose, suitable amendments have been made in all the three social security schemes administered by EPFO. Such move is likely to benefit 4.5 crores EPF subscribers and around than 54 lakhs pensioners. Now, payments will be made to the beneficiaries through electronic or digital fund transfer system only ensuring quick transfer of funds, easier tracking and reconciliation thereof.

Tags : EPFO beneficiaries Payment Digital fund transfer system

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Reserve Bank of India

18.05.2017

Banking

Partial Credit Enhancement to Corporate Bonds

MANU/RMIC/0064/2017

1. Please refer to paragraph 21 (a) of the Guidelines on Partial Credit Enhancement to Corporate Bonds by Banks annexed to the circular DBR.BP.BC.No.40/21.04.142/2015-16 dated September 24, 2015, on the capital requirements during the lifetime of the bond in respect of which partial credit enhancement (PCE) is provided by the banks.

2. On a review of the capital requirement for PCE, it has been decided that:

a) To be eligible for PCE from banks, corporate bonds shall be rated by a minimum of two external credit rating agencies at all times;

b) The rating reports, both initial and subsequent, shall disclose both standalone credit rating (i.e., rating without taking into account the effect of PCE) as well as the enhanced credit rating (taking into account the effect of PCE).

c) For the purpose of capital computation in the books of PCE provider, lower of the two standalone credit ratings and the corresponding enhanced credit rating of the same rating agency shall be reckoned.

d) Where the reassessed standalone credit rating at any time during the life of the bond shows improvement over the corresponding rating at the time of bond issuance, the capital requirement may be recalculated on the basis of the reassessed standalone credit rating and the reassessed enhanced credit rating, without reference to the constraints of capital floor and difference in notches.

Tags : Enhancement Credit Corporate Bonds

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Press Information Bureau

18.05.2017

Civil

Separate Department of Disability Affairs to be set up by States

MANU/PIBU/0544/2017

Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment while addressing the "15th National Review Meeting of State Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities on Implementation of Act-1995" stressed for the need that States should create/setup separate Department of Disability Affairs with appointment of full time Independent State Commissioner in accordance with provisions of PwD Act, 1995 for effective implementation of the Act as well as welfare Programmes & Schemes of Education, Training, Skill Development and rehabilitation of the Disabled (Divyangjan) in the society.

He chaired the opening session of the 2-day long National Review Meeting, which was attended by 11 States Commissioners and 15 representatives of the State Commissioners/State Government and representatives from Central Ministries and National Bodies under Ministry of Social Welfare. He stated that there is great need for empowering and strengthening the Divyangjan in the Country by safeguarding their rights and privileges entrusted by the Act. The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has become an important & prominent among all Ministries of the Central Government for making all round efforts for better education, vocational training & rehabilitation of the Divyangjan in society so that could lead a respectable life. The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has set up new milestone & world record in distribution of Aids & Appliances to Divyangjan, launching innovative programmes and schemes for all round development and their Socio-Economic rehabilitation in the society. The Programmes and Schemes of the Ministry have been recognised and appreciated worldwide and has become role model Ministry of Government of India. Highlighting the Provisions of New Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, the Minister added that the categories of Disability have been increased to 21 from the Presently 7 and now the privileges and Rights of Divyangjan have been brought at Par with the developed Countries.

Sh. N. S. Kang, Secretary, DEPwD in his speech stated that the States should consider to create/set up separate Department of Disability Affaire in their respective states and the State Commissioner should act as watchdog for effective implementation of Act, Programmes and Policies for Welfare of Divyangjan in State. He should ensure that 4% reservation is given to Divyangjan in all Programmes & Schemes of the State Government and local bodies. He should take initiative and be instrumental in clearing of backlog of vacancies reserved for PwD through Special Drives and Wider Publicity should be given to new Act in their State.

Dr. Kamlesh Kumar Pandey, Chief Commissioner for PwDs in his address stated that State Commissioners should review the implementation of the Act at State and District level vigoursly. They should organise Mobile Courts and conduct reviews at Districts. They should organise Special Camps for issuing Disability Certificate to all Divyangjan in the State at their doorstep and should mobilise people participation in their programmes. They should also ensure timely conduct of State Coordination, Executive and advisory Committee meetings at regular intervals and promote better & larger avenues for employment and Rehabilitation of Divyangjans. He also added that State should promote Skill Development and training programmes for rehabilitation of Divyangjans in society.

On this occasion the State Commissioners and Central Government Ministries made Power Point Presentations showing various measures being taken by their respective states/ministries for effective implementation of the PwD Act, Programmes and Policies of Govt. of India for welfare of Divyangs. The Prominent Ministries were Panchayati Raj, Deptt. Of Personnel & Training, Deptt. of Revenue and Deptt. of Financial Services. The State Commissioners from J&K, North East States, Union Territories, Himachal, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh also made presentations before the Minister. In the afternoon session today the Chief Commissioner presented the recommendations of the 2 days long meeting towards effective implementation of the Act & Programmes for welfare of Divyangjan. On this occasion Dr. Pandey also informed the State Commissioners about Proposed institution of "Annual Award for Best State Commissioner" from the year 2017-18 onwards for Extra Ordinary performance made by State Commissioner for Welfare of Divyangjans. The 15th National Review Committee made 26 recommendations for effective implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 as well as Programmes & Schemes for the welfare of Divyangjan in the States.

Tags : States Department Separate Disability affairs

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Press Information Bureau

17.05.2017

Civil

Cabinet approves Faculty Exchange Agreement between National Defence College, New Delhi and National Defence College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

MANU/PIBU/0543/2017

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the Faculty Exchange Agreement signed between the National Defence College, New Delhi and National Defence College, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The objective of the Agreement is to institutionalize regular exchange programs and establish sustainable mechanisms between the two National Defence Colleges with an aim to enhancing mutual cooperation in the field of national security, development and strategic studies. Given the geographical and cultural closeness between the two countries, there are many common challenges like countering terrorism that needs joint action. Hence, there is a need for better coordination and cooperation among the armed forces. The exchange of faculty members of the premier institutes will help to bring symmetry in the capacities of the armed forces and contribute to countering and managing common threats and challenges much better. The Agreement establishes the framework for enhanced cooperation in the field of military education concerning strategic and operational studies.

Tags : Approval Agreement Defence college

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Press Information Bureau

17.05.2017

Civil

Cabinet approves Agreement between India and Tajikistan on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters

MANU/PIBU/0537/2017

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing and ratifying, an Agreement between India and Tajikistan on Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters. The Agreement will help in the availability of relevant information for the prevention and investigation of Customs offences. The Agreement is also expected to facilitate trade and ensure efficient clearance of goods traded between the countries.

Background:

The Agreement would provide a legal framework for sharing of information and intelligence between the Customs authorities of the two countries and help in the proper application of Customs laws, prevention and investigation of Customs offences and the facilitation of legitimate trade. The Agreement takes care of Indian Customs' concerns and requirements, particularly in the area of exchange of information on the correctness of the Customs value declared, origin of goods and the tariff classification of the goods traded between the two countries.

Tags : Approval Agreement Custom Matters

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Press Information Bureau

16.05.2017

Direct Taxation

Launch of Operation Clean Portal by Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley

MANU/PIBU/0534/2017

Operation Clean Money Phase I: 18 lakhs persons identified; More than 9.72 lakhs taxpayers submitted online responses for 13.33 lakh accounts involving cash deposits of around Rs 2.89 lakhs crores 5.68 lakhs new cases identified for e-verification process. The Union Minister of Finance, Shri Arun Jaitley, officially launched the Portal of Operation Clean Money in New Delhi today in the presence of senior officers of the Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue and the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

The Operation Clean Money was initiated by the Income Tax Department (ITD) on the 31st January, 2017 with the launch of e-verification of large cash deposits made during 9th November to 30th December 2016. In the first phase, around 18 lakh persons were identified in whose case, cash transactions did not appear in line with the tax payer's profile. There has been an encouraging response to the online verification process and more than 9.72 lakhs taxpayers submitted their response without visiting Income tax office up to 12th May, 2017. These taxpayers have provided response for 13.33 lakhs accounts involving cash deposits of around Rs. 2.89 lakhs crores. The online responses have been assessed and no further action will be taken in cases of satisfactory explanation.

The salient features of the Operation Clean Money Portal launched today are:

1. Providing comprehensive information at one place consisting of Step by Step Guides, Frequently asked Questions, User Guides, Quick Reference Guides and Training Toolkits related to verification process and other issues.

2. Enabling Citizen Engagement for creating a tax compliant society where every Indian takes pride in paying taxes. Citizens would be able to support the Operation Clean Money by taking pledge, contribute by engaging and educating fellow citizens, and share their experiences and provide feedback.

3. Enabling Transparent Tax Administration by sharing status reports (including sanitized cases and explanation of verification issues) and thematic analysis reports (e.g. taxpayer segment analysis of cash deposit data).

The ITD on-boarded two specialised data analytics agencies and a business process management agency to augment departmental capability in analyzing large volumes of cash deposit data, track the compliance status of taxpayers and reporting entities.

1. In Phase II of Operation Clean Money, the high risk cases will be handled by selecting appropriate enforcement action (verification, search, survey, scrutiny). A targeted campaign will be initiated in cases with identified risk issues. The key components of the targeted campaign are:

2. Communication of specific issue through digital channels (Email, SMS etc.) .

3. Providing detailed explanation to create environment of transparency.

4. Sharing investigation findings for specific segments (e.g. Jewellers, petrol pump, traders, property purchasers etc.) .

5. Centralised monitoring and gradual escalation of inadequate response cases for enforcement action.

With the continuous flow of information from various sources including Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT), the ITD is conducting analysis in conjunction with previously available/analysed data. Such incremental data analysis has already led to identification of new cases for e-verification. Furthermore, ITD has also identified 3.71 lakh new accounts relating to 1.58 lakh taxpayers who made partial declaration of accounts/amounts in their earlier responses. In addition to the earlier 18 lakh cases, 5.68 lakh new cases have been identified for e-verification process. The Income Tax Department urges all taxpayers and citizens to actively participate in Operation Clean Money for a common cause of building a proud nation, which runs on the strength of the honest taxpayers.

Tags : Clean money operation Portal Launch

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Press Information Bureau

16.05.2017

Labour and Industrial

Shri Bandaru Dattatreya launches EPFO's Citizens' Charter 2017 and e-court management system Citizens' Charter 2017 to bring transparency and accountability on the part of EPFO

MANU/PIBU/0535/2017

The Minister of State for Labour & Employment(IC), Shri Bandaru Dattatreya launched EPFO's Citizens' Charter 2017 and e-court management system in Bangalore, today. Citizens' Charter 2017 is an attempt to bring transparency and accountability on the part of EPFO and make service delivery system and grievance redressal mechanism more efficient so that it delivers goods and services to its all stakeholders in a time bound manner with a reduced timeline from earlier timeline of 30 days. The timeline in case of claim settlements is 10 days and 15 days in case of grievance redressal management. The citizens' charter has been launched with the vision of social security coverage to all employees as well as implementation of policies for benefit of all stakeholders with adequate support level of social security.

EPFO e-court Management System has been launched which is in tune with the vision of the Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi of digital India. The objective of the project is a transparent and electronic case management system which will cater to aspirations of all stakeholders - the employers, the employees, litigants and CBT. It is a step towards paperless court system wherein court procedure of EPF & MP Act, 1952 and EPFAT will take place in a digital environment.

Further, in order to facilitate easy access to the tribunal, automated messages will be sent to the litigants on their registered mobile numbers on the status of their cases. The stakeholders can also track the individual cases online.

Now the parties can file all their paper / evidence / documents online and all the details alongwith status can be accessed online. Updation is an important part of e-court management system in which digital case record will create a digital database which can be utilized to generate meaningful and accurate reports. This is also an attempt to create paperless court procedure alongwith efficiency and transparency in the system.

Tags : Citizens' Charter E-court Transparency EPFO

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Ministry of Finance

15.05.2017

Narcotics

Amendment in notification number G.S.R. 991(E) dated 20th October, 2016 No. 02/2017-NARCOTICS CONTROL-I

MANU/REVU/0034/2017

In pursuance of rule 8 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Rules, 1985, the Central Government hereby makes following amendment in the Government of India, Ministry of Finance, Department of Revenue, Notification No. 2/2016-Narcotic Control -1 vide G.S.R. 991(E) dated 20th October, 2016 published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part-II, Section 3, Sub-section (i) (hereinafter referred to as the said notification), namely:-

1. In the said notification, No. G.S.R. 991(E) dated 20th October, 2016, the paragraph 5(iv) shall besubstituted, namely:-

(iv) Cultivators whose opium for the crop year 2016-17 is found to be adulterated or classified as 'inferior' by the Government Opium & Alkaloid Works Neemuch or Ghazipur will not be eligible for license in the next crop year 2017-18. The Government Opium & Alkaloid Works Neemuch or Ghazipur will declare the opium to be 'inferior' if the morphine strength of opium is less than 9% on dry basis.

Tags : Notification Amendment

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Press Information Bureau

14.05.2017

Commercial

Implementation of the expanded India-Chile PTA

MANU/PIBU/0520/2017

India and Chile have entered into another milestone in their trade relations as an agreement on expansion of India-Chile PTA which was signed on 6th September, 2016 is finally being implemented on 16th May, 2017. The Union Cabinet had approved the expansion of PTA in April, 2016. The expanded PTA would immensely benefit both sides as a wide array of concessions has been offered by both sides on a number of tariff lines which will facilitate more two way trade.

India and Chile had earlier signed a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) on March 8, 2006 which came into force with effect from August, 2007. The original PTA had a limited number of tariff lines wherein both sides had extended tariff concessions to each other. India's offer list to Chile consisted of only 178 tariff lines whereas Chile's offer list to India contained 296 tariff lines at 8-digit level.

The expanded PTA has a wider coverage wherein Chile has offered concessions to India on 1798 tariff lines with Margin of Preference (MoP) ranging from 30%-100% and India has offered concessions to Chile on 1031 tariff lines at 8-digit level with MoP ranging from 10%-100%. These tariff lines were based on HS 2012 when the negotiations had been concluded. With the implementation of the HS 2017 Nomenclature with effect from 1st January, 2017, both sides have aligned their Annexes on India's Schedule of Tariff Concessions, Chile's Schedule of Tariff Concessions and the Schedule on Rules of Origin as per HS 2017 Nomenclature for issue of Notification. This would facilitate exporters of both sides to take the advantage of tariff concessions as per the expanded PTA immediately which covers around 96% of bilateral trade.

Chile is the fourth largest trading partner of India in LAC region after Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina. India's bilateral trade has grown substantially to reach a level of US$ 3,646.45 million during 2014-15 as compared to US$ 2,655.35 million in 2011-12 as per the Department of Commerce statistics. However, during year 2015-16, bilateral trade declined by (-) 27.60% and stood at US$ 2,639.99 million with exports US$ 679.32 million and imports US$ 1,960.67 million. The decline in bilateral trade was due to extraneous reasons such as fall in prices of crude oil and international commodities. During the last few years, bilateral trade has been in favour of Chile because of import of high volume of copper ore which constitute more than 88% of the imports from Chile.

India's exports to Chile are diverse which consist of transport equipment, drugs and pharmaceuticals, yarn of polyester fibres, tyres and tubes, manufacture of metals, articles of apparel, organic/inorganic and agro chemicals, textiles, readymade garments, plastic goods, leather products, engineering goods, imitation jewellery, sports goods and handicrafts. Major items of Import from Chile are copper ore and concentrates, iodine, copper anodes, copper cathodes, molybdenum ores & concentrates, lithium carbonates & oxide, metal scrap, inorganic chemicals, pulp & waste paper, fruits & nuts excluding cashews, fertilizers and machinery.

Keeping in view that Chile is the founding member of the Pacific Alliance to which India is an Observer Member, implementing the expanded PTA could deepen its engagement with the emerging trade bloc.

Tags : Expansion PTA Agreement

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