Notifications & Circulars
Reserve Bank of India
26.07.2018
Banking
RBI Working Paper No. 4/2018: Economic Activity and its Determinants: A Panel Analysis of Indian States
MANU/RPRL/0070/2018
The Reserve Bank of India today placed on its website today a Working Paper titled "Economic Activity and its Determinants: A Panel Analysis of Indian States" by Garima Wahi and Muneesh Kapur under the Reserve Bank of India Working Paper Series*.
This paper assesses the impact of both monetary and fiscal policy along with other macroeconomic determinants on economic activity using state-level Indian data. Since economic activity can vary across states due to local factors and state government policies, a state-level empirical analysis, by providing more variability in both the dependent variable and the potential explanatory variables, can help better identify the underlying economic relationships. The empirical analysis confirms the role for a countercyclical monetary policy in stabilising economic activity. Bank credit expansion supports economic activity, suggesting the operation of credit channel of transmission in addition to the interest rate channel. Public investment is found to crowd-in economic activity, while other fiscal spending crowds out economic activity. Thus, a prudent fiscal policy, in conjunction with spending oriented towards capital outlays, can boost output.
* The Reserve Bank of India introduced the RBI Working Papers series in March 2011. These papers present research in progress of the staff members of the Reserve Bank and are disseminated to elicit comments and further debate. The views expressed in these papers are those of authors and not of the Reserve Bank of India. Comments and observations may kindly be forwarded to authors. Citation and use of such papers should take into account its provisional character.
Tags : Economic Activity Determinants Panel Analysis
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Press Information Bureau
25.07.2018
Civil
Government takes several policy measures like fixing MSP, imposition of stock holding limits and creation of a buffer stock to check continuous price fall and stabilize sugar prices
MANU/PIBU/1118/2018
Department of Food & Public Distribution deputes officials for making periodic visits to sugar factories for monitoring implementation of policy interventions in sugar sector.
Surplus production of sugar during the current sugar season had resulted in depressed sugar prices which are adversely affecting the realization by the sugar mills from sale of sugar in the open market. Low realization from sale of sugar in the country during 2017-18 sugar season resulted in accumulation of cane price arrears.
In order to check the continuous fall in prices of sugar and stabilize the sugar prices with a view to clear cane price arrears of farmers, the Government has taken several measures like fixing minimum selling price for sale of sugar at factory gate @ Rs. 29 per kg; imposition of stock holding limits on sugar mills and creation of buffer stock of 30 LMT.
With a view to monitor the implementation of imposition of stock holding limits on sugar mills along with implementation of Minimum Selling Price (Control) Order to ensure that sugar is not sold below the minimum selling price of Rs. 29 per kg (Rs.2900/- per quintal) at the factory gate, and to monitor maintenance of Buffer Stock by the sugar mills, the Department of Food & Public Distribution/Directorate of Sugar & Vegetable Oils, has deputed its officials for making periodic visits to the sugar factories to check the stocks, prices at which sugar has been sold by the sugar mills and to check the buffer stock and the quality of sugar kept as buffer by the sugar mills throughout India.
Three teams, each comprising two officials of DFPD/DSVO, were deputed to visit sugar mills of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra, respectively and inspected a total of 18 sugar mills in these states.
As per reports of the visiting inspecting teams, compliance and cooperation, by and large, by all the mills is reported. The Government is hopeful that with the cooperation of sugar mills and the State Governments concerned, various measures taken by the Government will succeed in stabilizing the sugar prices and improving liquidity position of mills enabling them to clear cane price arrears of farmers.
Tags : Policy measures Price fall Check Sugar
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Press Information Bureau
25.07.2018
Labour and Industrial
Providing Safety and Protection to Women Workers in Both Organised and Unorganised Sectors
MANU/PIBU/1119/2018
The Government has provided protective measures especially to women workers in various labour laws like the Factories Act, 1948, the Mines Act, 1952, the Plantation Labour Act, 1951 and the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 wherein the aspects of security, safety, health, restriction of hours of employment are provided. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 also provides for payment of equal remuneration to men and women workers for same work or work of similar nature. Under Minimum wages Act, 1948, the wages for workers in the scheduled employments fixed by the appropriate Governments are equally applicable to both men and women. The Act does not discriminate on the basis of gender and the female workers are entitled for same wages as fixed by the appropriate Governments for their male counterparts engaged in the scheduled employments.
Further, the Government has enacted the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 which mandates to constitute Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) for complaints of sexual harassment.
The Government has prepared a preliminary draft of Labour Code on Occupation Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2018 by simplifying, amalgamating and rationalizing the relevant provisions of the 13 Central Labour Laws relating to safety and health standards, working conditions, welfare provisions for employees, leave & working hours. The comments of stakeholders including general public have been invited on the said draft Code.
To ensure effective implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the Government has developed an online complaint management system titled Sexual Harassment electronic-Box (SHe-Box) with a facility for registering online complaints related to sexual harassment at workplace to all women employees in the country, including all government and private employees. Government has also framed guidelines on prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at workplace by Government servants.
Further, the responsibility to maintain law and order, protection of life and property of the citizens rest primarily with the respective State Governments. Central Government has issued advisories for combating crime against women. This information was given by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
Tags : Protection Women Workers Organised Unorganised Sectors
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Press Information Bureau
24.07.2018
Property
Identification of Benami Properties
MANU/PIBU/1103/2018
Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act 1988 as amended by the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 seeks to prohibit the Benami Transactions irrespective of the method by which the Benami Property is acquired. Such Benami Transactions include transactions in respect of movable as well as immovable properties. As on 30/06/2018, provisional attachments have been made in more than 1600 Benami Transactions involving Benami Properties valued at over Rs. 4,300 crores. The Government of India has taken various steps to identify Benami Properties. The Income-tax Department (ITD) has set-up 24 dedicated Benami Prohibition Units (BPUs) across India. These BPUs are involved in gathering information and matching the same with the data available for identifying the Benami Properties and taking effective action as per the provisions of Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act 1988 as amended by the Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016.
Tags : Benami Properties Identification Steps
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Press Information Bureau
24.07.2018
Capital Market
Split of position of Chairperson and Managing Directors in listed companies
MANU/PIBU/1104/2018
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), based on the recommendations of Kotak Committee on Corporate Governance, has amended the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 splitting the positions of the Chairperson and Managing Director, to start with, for top 500 listed companies on the basis of market capitalization effective from 01.04.2020. The first proviso to section 203(1) of Companies Act, 2013 provides that an individual shall not be appointed/reappointed as the chairperson of a company as well as its MD/CEO at the same time unless the articles of such company provide otherwise or the company does not undertake multiple businesses. The time-frame for implementation is to allow adequate transition time to companies to comply with the new requirement.
Tags : Split Position Chairperson Managing Directors
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Press Information Bureau
23.07.2018
Civil
Inclusion of Tribes in ST List
MANU/PIBU/1092/2018
The Government on 15.06.1999 (further amended on 25.06.2002) has laid down the modalities for deciding the claims for inclusion in, exclusion from and other modifications in Orders specifying Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes lists. As per the modalities, only those proposals which have been recommended and justified by the concerned State Government/ UT Administration and concurred with by the Registrar General of India (RGI) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) are to be considered and legislation amended.
As per the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 (Part XVIII) (in respect to State of Arunachal Pradesh), the list of Scheduled Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh is an open ended list covering all tribes in the State including 16 communities listed therein. Therefore, with regard to the proposal of Government of Arunachal Pradesh regarding inclusion of 'Yobin' community in the list of STs of the State, an advisory has been issued by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs to the State vide letter dated 22.2.2018 to extend benefits / issue caste certificates to 'Yobin' tribe or to any other indigenous tribe.
A proposal has also been received from Government of Arunachal Pradesh for making certain amendments in the list of Scheduled Tribes of the State, including substitution of 'Any Naga Tribes' at Sl.No. 10 of the list of STs by 'Nocte, Tangsa, Tutsa, Wancho' communities. The proposal is under process as per approved modalities.
Tags : Tribes Inclusion ST list
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Press Information Bureau
23.07.2018
Civil
MoU with UK for Improving Public Transport System
MANU/PIBU/1095/2018
The Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with United Kingdom for seeking help in improving overall public transport system in the country. The MoU has been signed between the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Transport for London (TFL), a statutory body established under the Greater London Authority Act, 1999 (UK) to improve public transport in India. The MoU would help mainly in sharing of information and areas of cooperation like improving the public transport system with an augmentation of passenger capacity, passenger services, data analysis, induction of electric vehicles, introduction of technology, ticketing and the provision of passenger information, urban transport planning and policy, institutional organisation of transport, governance and accountability arrangements, project financing, strategy, and procurement methodologies, policy development and assessment of technology strategies, operations procurement and contracting, Infrastructure maintenance strategies, Infrastructure design and delivery etc.
This MoU will help in strengthening the integrated public transport for all. This will help people from all segments of the society to have access to a quality public transport system. Further, will help in introducing innovative practices such as digital payments, standardizing the design of the buses, use of technology for demand projection and route rationalization to enhance efficiency of public transport operations.
Tags : MoU Transport System Improvement
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Press Information Bureau
23.07.2018
Education
Steps taken to improve the quality of higher education
MANU/PIBU/1098/2018
The Ministry has prepared draft Higher Education Commission of India Bill, 2018 to repeal of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1956 and for establishment of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) for promoting the quality of academic instruction, maintenance of academic standards and autonomy of higher educational institutions for free pursuit of knowledge, innovation, incubation, skills and entrepreneurship, and for facilitating access, inclusion and opportunities to all, and providing for comprehensive and holistic growth of higher education and research in a competitive global environment.
There is no proposal under consideration of the Government to scrap the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
The grant disbursal function to Universities and Colleges is now proposed to be located in an entity which works in a transparent, merit-based approach through an ICT enabled platform.
NITI Aayog has recommended for restructuring of the University Grants Commission. Accordingly, the Ministry has prepared draft Higher Education Commission of India Bill, 2018 to repeal of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, 1956 and for establishment of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).
The draft Higher Education Commission of India Bill, 2018 has been put in public domain on 27.06.2018 for seeking comments and suggestions from educationists, stakeholders and general public before 20.07.2018. As on 19.07.2018, the Ministry has received 9,926 suggestions/comments covering Members of Parliament, State Governments, academicians, teacher unions, Chambers of Commerce, students etc. and appropriate changes are being made in the draft Bill based on the public feedback.
The Government has taken several major initiatives in the Higher Education Sector during the last two years. Substantive changes have been made in the basic regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC). With a view to provide autonomy, promote quality and create an enabling environment whereby Higher Educational Institutions can become institutions of global excellence, UGC has taken several initiatives in the form of Regulations i.e. (i) UGC (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M.PHIL./PH.D Degrees) Regulations, 2016, (ii) UGC (Open and Distance Learning) Regulations, 2017; (iii) UGC (Promotion and Maintenance of Standards of Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2016; (iv) UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017; (v) UGC (Categorization of Universities (only) for Grant of Graded Autonomy) Regulations, 2018 and (vi) the UGC (Conferment of Autonomous Status upon Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Autonomous colleges) Regulations, 2018. These regulations are available on the UGC's website at www.ugc.ac.in.
With a view to encourage research and development in the country, UGC is implementing schemes, awards, fellowships, chairs and programmes under which financial assistance is provided to institutions of higher education as well as faculty members working therein to undertake quality research covering areas of knowledge across disciplines. The Government has also undertaken reforms in National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Further, the Government has established an online storehouse of academic awards (degrees, diplomas, certificates, mark-sheets etc.) namely National Academic Depository (NAD) for making available academic awards 24x7 in online mode.
Tags : Higher education Quality Improvement
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Ministry of Finance
23.07.2018
Customs
Procedure to be followed by nominated agencies importing gold/ silver/ platinum under the scheme for 'Export Against Supply by Nominated Agencies'
MANU/CUCR/0023/2018
1. Circular no. 27/2016-Customs dated 10.06.2016 was issued providing for a simplified procedure in view of non-applicability of warehousing provisions to duty free gold/ silver/ platinum obtained by the nominated agencies by virtue of an exemption notification issued in this regard. This procedure was prescribed after reviewing the procedure laid down for duty free import of gold/ silver/ platinum by nominated agencies for supply to exporters vide Circular No. 28/2009-Customs dated 14.10.2009 so as to avoid divergent practices and to streamline the supply of precious metals for exports.
2. Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has represented that problems are being faced in the field as one to one correlation between the gold procured duty free under Notification No. 57/2000-Customs dated 08.05.2000 and corresponding export of jewellery is being insisted upon by the Customs. GJEPC has represented that it was impossible to establish one to one correlation between such procurement and jewellery manufactured and exported out of the same owing to the homogenous nature of precious metals.
3. The matter has been examined. Para 4.34 of Foreign Trade Policy provides the scheme whereby exporter of gold/ silver/ platinum jewellery or articles thereof could obtain gold/ silver/ platinum as an input for export product from nominated agencies, in advance. Correspondingly, Customs Notification No. 57/2000-Customs dated 08.05.2000 provides an exemption from Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on import of gold/ silver/ platinum provided the importer binds himself to export either himself or through other exporters gold/ silver/platinum jewellery including studded articles having gold/ silver/ platinum contained equivalent to the imported gold/ silver/ platinum within a period of 90 days.
4. Neither the provisions of the Foreign Trade Policy nor the said notification and aforementioned circulars refer to the requirement of a one to one correlation between the gold procured and the jewellery exported. The construct of Foreign Trade Policy read with Customs notification clearly provides that the nominated agency must establish that imported duty free gold/ silver/ platinum has been exported through the manufacture of gold/silver/platinum jewellery including studded articles through the maintenance of proper records at the end of the nominated agency as well as that of exporter. There is therefore no requirement of establishing one to one correlation between the consignment of gold/silver/platinum imported and the export of jewellery. However, the nominated agencies/ exporters are required to maintain the accounts of duty free gold and domestically procured duty paid gold in such manner so that duty free gold/ silver/ platinum obtained for the purpose of export of jewellery is clearly accounted for by the export of jewellery /articles.
5. Difficulties, if any, may be brought to the notice of the Board.
Tags : Procedure Gold Import
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