Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

11.09.2019

Media and Communication

Extension of time to receive comments on draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019

MANU/TRAI/0078/2019

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had issued draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019 on 27 August 2019. The last date for receiving written comments from the stakeholders was fixed as 9 September 2019. The stakeholders have sought extension of time for sending their comments on the draft Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable) Services Interconnection (Addressable Systems) (Amendment) Regulations, 2019. In view of this, it has been decided to extend the last date for submission of written comments upto 16 September, 2019. No further requests for extension would be considered.

Tags : Time Extension Comments Receipt Regulations

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Ministry of Commerce and Industry

11.09.2019

Customs

Last date of Import of Pulses for the fiscal year 2019-2020

MANU/DGFT/0148/2019

Reference is invited to final Minutes of the meeting held on 12.06.2019 to review the allocation of quota for Toor, Moong, Urad and Peas. In this minutes, it was inter-alia mentioned that to effectively contain the prices of pulses for the relief of consumers, imports should be effected till 31st October, 2019, i.e. imports should arrive on Indian Ports latest by 31st October, 2019 and the validity period of the allotment will not be enhanced.

Further vide Trade Notice No. 24/2019-20 dated 05.07.2019 application for additional import quota of Pigeon Peas/Toor Dal for the fiscal year 2019-20 was invited and therein it was also mentioned that the successful applicants will have to ensure that the import consignments of Toor Dal reaches the Indian Port on or before 31.10.2019 and request for extension of time will not be entertained. However, this office is now receiving several representations for extension of the date of import of pulses beyond 31.10.2019. The matter has been examined and it has been decided that no relaxation can be granted at this stage and eligible quantity/quota issued to the millers should arrive/land on Indian Port latest by 31st October, 2019. No extension in the last date of import will be granted.

Accordingly, all importers are requested to stick to the date and complete their import by 31.10.2019 and submit a final report of imports made by them by the 07th November, 2019 and RA's will submit a consolidated report to the Headquarters by the 15th of November, 2019.

Tags : Last date Import Pulses

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Press Information Bureau

11.09.2019

Civil

Drought Toolbox launched on Day 10 of the 14th Conference of Parties

MANU/PIBU/1413/2019

The 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which is currently underway at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida dedicated day 10 to the theme of Drought. The success and challenges of the current tools, methodologies and policies supporting drought preparedness, across the globe were discussed in today's Conference at the Rio Pavilion Centre.

Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD, Executive Secretary in his opening remarks at the Drought Preparedness Day said "Drought is a major obstacle to achieving sustainable development goal-15. We need to move faster in our fight against drought. Let us dust this villain, and mitigate climate change". The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The 17 SDGs are integrated-that is, they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. The SDG-15 refers to: Protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

Mr. Rene Castro, Assistant Director-General, Climate, Biodiversity, Land and Water Department, at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Ms. Samia Mkrumah, President of Kwame Nkrumah Pan African Centre, Ghana were amongst the key dignitaries.

This event highlighted the different causes of drought and also saw launch of a toolbox which is a one-stop shop for all actions on drought. The toolbox is a sort of knowledge bank which contains tools that strengthen the ability of countries to anticipate and prepare for drought effectively and mitigate their impacts as well as tools that enable communities to anticipate and find the land management tools that help them to build resilience to drought.

The India Pavilion at UNCCD COP14 also witnessed a panel discussion by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on Agriscapes. Mr. Deepak Kumar Sinha, IGF, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Dr. Vivek Saxena, Country Representative, IUCN India were among the panelists of the session.

In addition, important sessions on issues related to Land Degradation Neutrality, Sustainable Development Goals etc. were conducted. India is the host country of the ongoing UNCCD COP14 which began from 2nd September and will culminate on 13th September 2019.

Tags : Drought Toolbox launch

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Reserve Bank of India

09.09.2019

Banking

RBI releases the Report of the Committee on the Development of Housing Finance Securitisation Market

MANU/RPRL/0165/2019

The Reserve Bank of India had constituted a Committee on the Development of Housing Finance Securitisation Market, on May 29, 2019, with Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Senior Advisor, Bain & Co. as the Chairperson. The Committee was set up in recognition of the role of well-functioning securitisation markets for better management of credit and liquidity risks in the balance-sheets of banks as well as non-bank mortgage originators. The Terms of Reference of the Committee were to review the existing state of mortgage securitisation market in India and make recommendations to address various issues relating to originators/investors as well as market microstructure.

The Committee has since submitted its report to the Governor. The key recommendations of the Committee, guided by the broad perspective of enhancing efficiency and transparency of securitisation transactions, are setting up of a government sponsored intermediary, through the National Housing Bank, to enable market making and standard setting; developing standards for loan origination, loan servicing, loan documentation, and loans to be eligible for securitisation, including standardised formats for data collection and aggregation.

Separation of regulatory guidelines for direct assignment transactions and transactions involving pass through certificates as well as for mortgage backed securities (MBS) and asset backed securities (ABS). Regulatory norms for minimum holding period (MHP) and minimum retention requirement (MRR) for MBS are relaxed. Amendments and/or clarifications for registration and stamp duty requirements and tax guidelines to reduce the transaction costs for securitisation as also to encourage investments in pass-through-securities.

Tags : Report Release Housing Finance Securitisation Market

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Ministry of Finance 

09.09.2019

Direct Taxation

Relaxation of time-Compounding of Offences under Direct Tax Laws-One-time measure

MANU/DTCR/0029/2019

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has been issuing guidelines from time to time for compounding of offences under the Direct Tax Laws, prescribing the eligibility conditions. One of the conditions for filing of Compounding application is that, it should be filed within 12 months from filing of complaint in the court.

Cases have been brought to the notice of CBDT where the taxpayers could not apply for Compounding of the Offence, as the compounding application was filed beyond 12 months, in view of para 8(vii) of the Guidelines for Compounding of Offences under Direct Tax Laws, 2014 dated 23.12.2014 or in view of para 7(ii) of the Guidelines for Compounding of Offences under Direct Tax Laws, 2019 dated 14.06.2019. With a view to mitigate unintended hardship to taxpayers in deserving cases, and to reduce the pendency of existing prosecution cases before the courts, the CBDT in exercise of powers u/s. 119 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) read with explanation below sub-section (3) of section 279 of the Act issues this Circular.

As a one-time measure, the condition that compounding application shall be filed within 12 months, is hereby relaxed, under the following conditions:

i) Such application shall be filed before the Competent Authority i.e. the Pr. CCIT/CCIT/Pr. DGIT/DGIT concerned, on or before 31.12.2019.

ii) Relaxation shall not be available in respect of an offence which is generally/normally not compoundable, in view of Para 8.1 of the Guidelines dated 14.06.2019.

Applications filed before the Competent Authority, on or before 31.12.2019 shall be deemed to be in time in terms of Para 7(ii) of the Guidelines dated 14.06.2019. It is clarified that Para 9.2 of the Guidelines dated 14.06.2019, shall not apply to all such applications made under this one-time measure. The other prescriptions of the Guidelines dated 14.06.2019 including the compounding procedure, compounding charges etc. shall apply to such applications.

For the purposes of this Circular, application can be filed in all such cases where-

a) prosecution proceedings are pending before any court of law for more than 12 months, or

b) any compounding application for an offence filed previously was withdrawn by the applicant solely for the reason that such application was filed beyond 12 months, or

c) any compounding application for an offence had been rejected previously solely for technical reasons.

Tags : Compounding Offences Time Relaxation

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