Lok Sabha passed the
Banking Regulation Amendment Bill. The Minister of Finance, Mr. Arun
Jaitley while replying to the debate stated that after the passage of
the SARFAESI Act, from 2001, NPAs came down from 13% to 2% by 2007.
However, global recession, increasing debts of state discoms resulted in
an increase in stressed assets. He informed the House that the RBI
using the power given to it by the ordinance has filed petitions for 12
cases already. Further, he added that the government is preparing a
draft law for regulating chit funds.
The
Lower House also passed the Punjab Municipal Corporation Law (Extension
to Chandigarh) Amendment Bill. Previously, the central government had
the power to levy Entertainment Tax and Entertainment Duty for
Chandigarh. The Bill transfers these powers from the central government
to the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh. This amendment is
consequent to the GST which subsumes Entertainment Tax within the ambit
of GST, except where it is levied by a panchayat or a municipality.
The
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Amendment) Bill
was also taken up in Lok Sabha. Currently, NABARD may have a capital of
Rs 100 crore. This capital can be further increased to Rs 5,000 crore
by the central government in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI). The Bill allows the central government to increase this capital
to Rs 30,000 crore. The capital may be increased to more than Rs 30,000
crore by the central government in consultation with the RBI, if
necessary. During the debate members spoke on a range of issues related
to the sector like the volatility of the agricultural growth, need for
increase in allocations to irrigation projects and water management,
accessibility to credit, among other things.
Rajya
Sabha took up discussion on India’s foreign policy and engagement with
strategic partners. During the debate, member discussed the outcomes of
the Prime Ministers visits to various countries like Israel, Japan,
among others. Members raised questions regarding India’s assessment and
response to developments in Dokhlam and its overall policy towards
China. Concerns about NSG membership, maritime boundaries, relations
with neighbouring countries were also raised.The houses were sitting at the time of sending this report.
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