Highlights of this Issue
The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 promulgated
Domestic companies can opt for a 22% tax rate, instead of the existing tax rate of 25% or 30%, provided they do not claim certain deductions. New domestic manufacturing companies have a similar option of a 15% tax rate.
The Prohibition of E-Cigarettes Ordinance, 2019 promulgated
The Ordinance prohibits the production, trade, storage, transport, and advertisement of electronic cigarettes. Any person who contravenes these provisions will be imprisoned for up to one year, along with a fine of one lakh rupees.
Current Account Deficit at 2% of GDP during the first quarter of 2019-20
Current Account Deficit in the first quarter (April-June) of 2019-20 decreased to USD 14.3 billion (2% of Gross Domestic Product) from USD 15.8 billion (2.3% of GDP) in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.
Steering Committee on financial technology related issues submits its report
The Committee took note of emerging technologies which act as enablers for financial technology, such as artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology, and recommended measures for promotion of financial technology.
RBI mandates banks to link floating rate loans to MSMEs to external benchmark
This external benchmark can be the repo rate, the 3-month treasury Bill yield, the 6-month treasury Bill yield or any other benchmark market interest rate published by the Financial Benchmarks India private limited.
Draft Code on Social Security, 2019 released for public comments
The draft Social Security Code consolidates eight laws related to social security, including the Employees’ Provident Fund Act, 1952. The Code applies to all workers, including unorganised workers and gig workers.
Draft Bill to prohibit violence against healthcare professionals released
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently released a draft Bill to address incidences of violence against healthcare professionals and damage to the property of clinical establishments.
NCST recommends including Ladakh under Sixth Schedule of the Constitution
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes recommended the inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for the administration of tribal areas.
Committee of Experts appointed to study regulation of non-personal data
The committee will examine various issues relating to non-personal data, and make specific recommendations on the regulation of non-personal data.
Draft amendments to the Aircraft Rules, 1937 released
The draft amendments seek to reduce certain requirements (hours of flight time) for issue of licences to pilots, and permit the use of Wi-Fi on aircrafts as per the specified procedures.
Committee constituted to review Companies Act, 2013 and LLP Act, 2008
The Committee will review offences under the Companies Act, 2013, and examine other issues arising out of the implementation of the 2013 Act as well as the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008.
RBI working group constituted to review agricultural credit submits its report
Recommendations include: (i) increasing capital expenditure by the central and state governments to stimulate demand for investment credit, and (ii) reviewing policies and subsidies to improve the viability of agriculture.
Macroeconomic Development
Gayatri Mann (gayatri@prsindia.org)
India’s Current Account Deficit (CAD) in the first quarter (April-June) of 2019-20 decreased to USD 14.3 billion (2% of Gross Domestic Product) from USD 15.8 billion (2.3% of GDP) in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19. [1] CAD in the previous quarter, i.e. the fourth quarter (January-March) of 2018-19 was USD 4.6 billion (0.7% of GDP). The year-on-year decrease in CAD was primarily due to higher invisible receipts (refers to income from services) of USD 31.9 billion in the first quarter of 2019-20, as compared to USD 29.9 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Foreign exchange reserves increased by USD 14 billion in the first quarter of 2019-20, as compared with USD 11.3 billion in the first quarter of 2018-19.
Table 1 shows India’s balance of payments in the first quarter of 2019-20.
Table 1: Balance of Payments, Q1 2019-20 (USD billion)
Q1 2018-19 |
Q4 2018-19 |
Q1 2019-20 |
|
Current Account |
-15.8 |
-4.6 |
-14.3 |
Capital Account |
4.8 |
19.3 |
27.9 |
Errors and Omissions |
0.3 |
0.4 |
-0.4 |
Change in reserves |
-11.3 |
14.2 |
14.0 |
Sources: Reserve Bank of India; PRS.
Finance
Suyash Tiwari (suyash@prsindia.org)
The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 was promulgated. [2] It amends the Income Tax Act, 1961, and the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019. Key features of the Ordinance include:
For a PRS summary of the Ordinance, see here.
Anurag Vaishnav (anurag@prsindia.org)
The Steering Committee on financial technology related issues (Chair: Mr. Subhash Chandra Garg) submitted its report to the Finance Minister. The Committee was constituted in March 2018 with the objective of making financial technology related regulations more flexible and enhance entrepreneurship. Financial technology refers to technology based businesses that compete against, enable and collaborate with financial institutions. Key observations and recommendations of the Committee include:
For a PRS summary of the report, see here.
Anurag Vaishnav (anurag@prsindia.org)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it mandatory for banks to link all new (a) floating rate personal or retail loans (including housing and auto loans), and (b) floating rate loans to MSMEs, to an external benchmark from October 1, 2019. [3] Floating rate loans are loans with variable interest rates. Currently, the banks’ lending rates are based on either the base rate or the marginal cost of funds based lending rate.
The banks can choose from the following external benchmarks: (i) RBI repo rate (rate at which RBI lends to commercial banks), (ii) 3-month or 6-month treasury bill yield, or any other benchmark market interest rate published by the Financial Benchmarks India Private Limited. Banks are not allowed to lend below the benchmark rate.
Banks are required to adopt a uniform external benchmark within a loan category. However, they are free to decide the spread over the external benchmark. The spread is a range of interest rate above the benchmark rate, as per the risk premium. Further, banks are free to offer such external benchmark linked loans to other types of borrowers as well. The banks have to reset the interest rate under the external benchmark at least once in three months.
Borrowers with existing floating rate loans, who are eligible to prepay without pre-payment charges, will be eligible to switch to external benchmark without any charge or fees (except reasonable administrative/legal costs). The rate charged to these borrowers after switching will be the same as the rate charged for a new loan with the same specifics (category, tenor, amount) at the time of origination of the loan.
Note that the RBI had constituted an Internal Study Group to review the working of marginal cost of funds based lending rate in 2017. [4] In its report, the Group had observed that internal benchmarks such as the base rate and marginal cost of funds-based lending rate have not delivered effective transmission of monetary policy. The Group recommended switching to an external benchmark in a time-bound manner.
Anurag Vaishnav (anurag@prsindia.org)
The Committee on the development of Housing Finance Securitisation market (Chair: Dr. Harsh Vardhan) submitted its report. [5] The Committee was constituted in May 2019. [6] It aimed to review the existing state of mortgage backed securitisation in India.
The Committee noted that housing finance companies (HFCs) play a major role in providing credit for home loans to economically weaker sections. However, home loans suffer from a structural asset liability management challenge for the lenders due to mismatch in the maturity period of home loans (typically, long term maturity) and funding sources for HFCs (typically, short term maturity). To overcome this, HFCs raise funds by pooling the home loans to issue securities backed by these loans. This is known as securitisation.
Currently, securitisation is done through: (i) the direct assignment (DA) method, or (ii) the pass through certificates (PTC) method. Both involve pooling of loans and selling them to a third party, thereby transferring the credit risk. However, in case of securitisation through PTC, the pooled loans are sold through an intermediary, set up as a special purpose vehicle. The Committee observed that the growth in securitisation market has been dominated by DA transactions (PTC transactions were just a quarter of total transactions in 2019). The Committee noted that securitisation done through the DA route involves customised, bilateral transactions which keeps the details of transaction (such as valuation, pool performance, prepayment) in private domain. This inhibits other participants (such as mutual funds, insurance and pension funds) from participating. Further, these transactions have very little standardisation.
Another major challenge associated with securitisation is the added transaction cost which arises from legal and regulatory requirements, uncertainty in taxation, and accounting standards. In view of these challenges, the Committee made these recommendations:
For a PRS summary of the report, see here.
Task Force on development of Secondary Market for Corporate Loans submits its report
Anurag Vaishnav (anurag@prsindia.org)
The Task Force on Development of Secondary Market for Corporate (Chair: Mr. TN Manoharan) submitted its report. [7] The Committee was constituted in May 2019. [8] Secondary market for corporate loans refers to marketplace where these loans can be traded. The Task Force noted that an active secondary market will deliver significant benefits to both banks and borrowers, and lead to additional credit creation in economy. It would help banks in capital optimisation, liquidity and risk management. It would benefit borrowers by providing them with lower cost of capital and greater credit availability.
The Task Force observed that the securitisation market (which involves pooling securities and trading them in secondary markets) is limited primarily to retail segment with no major development in the corporate loan market. It also identified several factors which impede the growth of secondary markets, such as lack of standardisation, insufficient active participants and regulatory restrictions. Key recommendations of the Task Force include:
Anurag Vaishnav (anurag@prsindia.org)
The Internal Working Group of the RBI constituted to review the current liquidity management framework submitted its report. [9]
Liquidity management aims to ensure that there is adequate liquidity in the system so that sufficient credit is provided to all productive sectors of the economy. The objective of the framework is to ensure that the target inter-bank rate is close to the policy rate (i.e., the repo rate). The target inter-bank rate is usually the rate at which reserves are borrowed or lent among banks, also referred as, the call money market rate. Liquidity here refers to RBI’s liquidity, which is the total reserves that banks are required to maintain with RBI.
In its report, the Working Group made the following recommendations for proposed liquidity framework:
Comments on the report of the Working Group are invited till October 31, 2019. [10]
Anurag Vaishnav (anurag@prsindia.org)
The Reserve Bank of India has increased the limit for classification of export credit under priority sector lending from Rs 25 crore per borrower to Rs 40 crore per borrower. [11] Further, the existing criteria of units having turnover of up to Rs 100 crore is removed. As per the current norms, export credit by domestic banks can be classified as priority sector only for units with turnover of up to Rs 100 crore.
Under priority sector lending, banks (domestic banks and foreign banks with 20 branches and above) are required to devote 40% of net bank credit for certain priority sector areas. [12] These include agriculture, MSMEs, export credit, education, housing, social infrastructure and renewable energy.
Anurag Vaishnav (anurag@prsindia.org)
The Insurance and Regulatory Development Authority of India has constituted a working group (Chair: Mr. Anurag Rastogi). The working group is to examine whether to establish a system of linking motor insurance premium with traffic violations, in order to change driver behaviour and reduce road accidents. [13]
The terms and reference of the working group include: (i) recommending the methodology and implementation framework for linking insurance premium with traffic violations, (ii) studying international practices in this regard, (iii) evaluating the current system of traffic violations implemented by states and evolve standard point system, and (iv) suggesting details of carrying out an immediate pilot project at the national capital territory of Delhi.
The working group is expected to submit its report in eight weeks.
Anurag Vaishnav (anurag@prsindia.org)
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has constituted a working group (Chair: Mr. Ishaat Hussain) on Social Stock Exchanges. [14] The working group will examine and make recommendations with respect to possible structures and mechanisms, to facilitate raising of funds by social enterprises and voluntary organisations.
Note that the Finance Minister, in the Budget Speech 2019-20, had proposed to initiate steps towards creating a social stock exchange for listing social enterprises and voluntary organisations. [15]
For more details, please see the summary here.
Suyash Tiwari (suyash@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Finance has constituted a task force to draw up a national infrastructure pipeline of projects costing more than Rs 100 crore for each of the financial years from 2019-20 to 2024-25. [16] The pipeline is being developed in order to adequately prepare projects for implementation of plan of Rs 100 lakh crore investment in infrastructure over next five years.
The terms of reference of the task force include: (i) identifying technically feasible and economically viable projects that can be initiated in 2019-20, (ii) listing projects that can be included in the pipeline for each of the remaining years (2020-21 to 2024-25), (iii) guiding Ministries in identifying appropriate sources of financing, and (iv) suggesting measures for monitoring of projects for their timely implementation within the estimated cost. The task force will also enable marketing of projects which require private investment.
The task force is required to submit its report on the pipeline for 2019-20 by October 31, 2019 and on the indicative pipeline for 2020-21 to 2024-25 by December 31, 2019.
Health and Family Welfare
Gayatri Mann (gayatri@prsindia.org
The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage, and Advertisement) Ordinance, 2019 was promulgated. [17] The Ordinance prohibits the production, trade, storage, transport, and advertisement of electronic cigarettes.
For a PRS summary of the Bill, see here. For further details on the Ordinance, please refer to our blog here.
Law and Justice
Roshni Sinha (roshni@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Labour and Employment released the draft Code on Social Security, 2019. [19] Public comments on the draft are invited till October 25, 2019.
Social security refers to measures to ensure access to health care and provision of income security to workers. The draft Code consolidates eight laws related to social security, including: (i) the Employees’ Provident Fund Act, 1952, (ii) the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, and (iii) the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008. Key features of the draft Code include:
For earlier versions of the draft Code, see the PRS Monthly Policy Review: March 2017 here and April 2018 here.
Corporate Affairs
Roshni Sinha (roshni@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has constituted a Company Law Committee to review offences under the Companies Act, 2013, and to examine issues arising out of the implementation of the 2013 Act and the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008. [20] The Terms of Reference include: (i) analysing whether offences under the 2013 Act can be re-categorised as civil defaults, (ii) proposing measures to de-clog the National Company Law Tribunal, and (iii) examining issues arising out of the implementation of the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008.
The Committee will be chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, and ten other members, including members from the industry. It will have a tenure of one year.
Home Affairs
Roshni Sinha (roshni@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued amendments to the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964. [21] Under the Citizenship (Registration of Citizenship and National Identity Card) Rules, 2003, a National Register of Indian Citizens (NRC) in Assam is being prepared. [22] Any person whose name has been excluded or incorrectly included in the NRC can register a complaint with the Local Registrar of Citizen Registration. Appeals against decisions of the Registrar can be made to the Tribunals constituted under the 1964 Order, within 120 days. Certain amendments have been notified to the 1964 Order with regard the NRC claims process. Key amendments include:
The Ministry of Home Affairs notified amendments to the Rules under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2017. [23] The Act regulates the acceptance of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by certain individuals and organisations. Key amendments to the Rules include:
Agriculture
Suyash Tiwari (suyash@prsindia.org)
A Working Group constituted by the RBI to review agricultural credit released its report. [24] Key observations and recommendations include:
For a PRS report summary, please see here.
The Ministry of Finance has exempted traders and commission agents operating under Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) from levy of two percent tax on cash withdrawals exceeding one crore rupees. [25] The Income Tax Act requires banks and post offices to deduct this tax from cash withdrawals in excess of one crore rupees in a financial year. [26] The Act allows the central government to exempt certain persons or class of persons from levy of this tax after consultation with the RBI.
Traders and commission agents who are registered under any law relating to APMC in their respective state are eligible for exemption. Further, the trader or commission agent availing this exemption is required to certify to the bank or post office that the excess cash withdrawals are for the purpose of making payments to farmers for purchase of agriculture produce.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare released the first advance estimates of production of foodgrains and commercial crops for the Kharif season 2019-20. [27] Table 2 gives a comparison of the first advance estimates for Kharif 2019-20 with the estimates for Kharif 2018-19. Following are some of the highlights:
Table 2: First advance estimates of production in Kharif 2019-20 (million tonnes)
Crop |
4th advance estimates Kharif 2018-19 |
1st advance estimates Kharif 2019-20 |
% change over 2018-19 |
Foodgrains (A+B) |
141.7 |
140.6 |
-0.8% |
A. Cereals |
133.1 |
132.4 |
-0.6% |
Rice |
102.1 |
100.4 |
-1.7% |
Coarse Cereals |
31.0 |
32.0 |
3.3% |
B. Pulses |
8.6 |
8.2 |
-4.2% |
Tur |
3.6 |
3.5 |
-1.4% |
Urad |
2.6 |
2.4 |
-5.1% |
Moong |
1.8 |
1.4 |
-22.8% |
Oilseeds |
21.3 |
22.4 |
5.2% |
Soyabean |
13.8 |
13.5 |
-2.0% |
Groundnut |
5.4 |
6.3 |
17.7% |
Cotton* |
28.7 |
32.3 |
12.4% |
Sugarcane |
400.2 |
377.8 |
-5.6% |
*million bales of 170 kg each.
Sources: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare; PRS.
Communications
Saket Surya (saket@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has constituted a Committee of Experts (Chair: Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder of Infosys) to deliberate on a data governance framework for non-personal data. [28] The Srikrishna Committee on data protection distinguished between personal data (which can be attributed to an individual) and community data (aggregated from multiple persons without specific individual attribution). Community data may include e-commerce data, AI training data and derived data. The Committee will deliberate on a framework for such non-personal data.
The terms of reference of the Committee include: (i) studying issues relating to non-personal data, and (ii) making specific recommendations on regulation of non-personal data.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a consultation paper on reforms in the guidelines for transfer and merger of telecom licenses. [29] The consultation paper seeks to modify the Guidelines for Mergers and Acquisitions, 2014 issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). DoT can place certain conditions on merger and transfer under the above guidelines. In the past, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal has granted stay on some of these conditions. This has caused delays in mergers and transfers being finalised. The objective of this consultation is to simplify and fast-track approvals for the mergers and transfers of the telecom licenses.
The consultation paper has sought views on changes in transfer related provisions in telecom licenses. The paper also seeks to add a provision for mandatory access to Mobile Virtual Network Operators in the guidelines. A Mobile Virtual Network Operators is an enterprise that does not have an allocation of spectrum but can provide wireless services to customers by sharing the spectrum of the telecom service providers. This is to ensure that the larger entities with spectrum licenses do not engage in anti-competitive behaviour. Comments on the paper are invited till October 18, 2019.
TRAI has invited consultation on review of interconnection usage charges. [30] Interconnection between two public telecom networks allows consumers of one service provider to communicate with consumers of the other service provider. Interconnection usage charge is the cost that a mobile operator pays to another operator for carrying through a call. If a customer of mobile operator A calls a customer of operator B and the call is completed, then A will pay an interconnection usage charge to B for facilitating the call. Currently, these charges for wireless to wireless domestic call is Rs 0.06 per minute. The charges for wireless to wireline, wireline to wireline and wireline to wireless domestic calls are zero.
In 2017, TRAI had prescribed zero interconnection usage charges for all types of domestic calls, to be effective from January 1, 2020. The consultation invites comments till October 18, 2019 on the revision of the applicable date for zero charges.
Tribal Affairs
Anya Bharat Ram ( anya@prsindia.org)
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has recommended the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. The Sixth Schedule provides for the administration of tribal areas in specific states, all in the North-East.
The Commission noted that the newly created Union Territory of Ladakh is predominantly a tribal region, with a total tribal population of approximately 97%. Further, it observed that prior to creation of the Union Territory, people in Ladakh had certain agrarian rights including land rights, which restricted the purchase of land in Ladakh by people from the rest of the country. Additionally, the Commission stated that Ladakh has several distinct cultural heritages, which need to be preserved and promoted.
In this context, the Commission recommended the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, which will allow; (i) democratic devolution of powers, (ii) preservation and promotion of culture, (iii) protection of agrarian and land rights, and (iv) enhanced transfer of funds for the development of Ladakh. [31]
Science and Technology
Anurag Vaishnav (anurag@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Science and Technology has released the draft Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) policy for public consultation. [32] The policy defines SSR as the ethical obligation of knowledge workers in fields of science and technology to voluntarily share their knowledge and resources with the larger community. It defines knowledge worker as anyone involved in areas of human, social, medical, mathematical, computer/data sciences or associated technologies. SSR will include activities such as teaching, mentoring, skill development training and workshops, setting up exhibitions, demonstrating scientific and technological solutions to local problems.
The objective of the policy is to harness the voluntary potential in the scientific community to strengthen the link between society and science. The policy directs that all central and state government ministries should plan and strategise their SSR as per their mandate. Further, every knowledge worker would be liable for at least 10 person-days of SSR per year. An SSR monitoring system should be present in each institution to assess institutional projects and individual activities, and every knowledge institution should publish an annual SSR report. The policy aims to provide necessary budgetary support to SSR activities and projects, in order to incentivise them.
Comments on the draft Policy are invited by October 8, 2019.
Civil Aviation
Prachee Mishra (prachee@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Civil Aviation released draft rules, amending the Aircraft Rules, 1937, seeking to amend the requirements for issue of licences to pilots, and permitting the use of Wi-Fi on aircrafts. [33],[34] These draft rules include:
Licensing requirements: Currently, to obtain an Airline Transport Pilot’s licence, an applicant must have satisfactorily completed as a pilot of an aeroplane at least 1,500 of flight time. Of this, at least 150 hours must have been in the preceding 12 months. The draft rules remove this additional requirement.
Currently, the rules also require that to obtain such licence, at least 500 hours of flight time must have been completed as pilot-in-command or as co-pilot. Of this, at least 200 hours must be cross-country flight time. The draft rules reduce this minimum time requirement to 250 hours, and 100 hours respectively. Further, the applicant must have completed at least 1,000 hours of total cross-country flight time. The draft rules reduce this time requirement to at least 500 hours of total cross-country flight time.
Use of Wi-Fi: Currently, the Aircraft Rules, 1937 prohibit the operation of any portable electronic device on an aircraft in flight (with certain exceptions such as pacemakers). The Pilot-in-Command may permit the use of cellular phone by passengers after a flight has landed. The draft rules add that the pilot may also permit the use of mobile communication and internet services through Wi-Fi on board an aircraft as per the specified procedures. Such aircraft must have been certified by the Director General for such services.
Railways
Prachee Mishra (prachee@prsindia.org)
Freight incentives: The Ministry of Railways announced several measures for the freight services on Railways. [35] These include:
Passenger fares: The Ministry also announced rationalisation of fare structure and composition for the Humsafar trains. [36] This includes: (i) doing away with the variable fare system for these trains, (ii) reducing the base fare, and (iii) reducing tatkal charges.
Power
Saket Surya (saket@prsindia.org)
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) released draft regulations for the sharing of revenue derived from utilisation of transmission assets for other businesses. [37] This will apply to the inter-state transmission licensees whose transmission charges are determined by CERC. Comments on the draft regulations are invited till October 31, 2019.
A transmission licensee intending to undertake other business for optimum utilisation of its assets will be required to give prior intimation to CERC. The licensee will be required to furnish various information about the proposed business including: (i) nature of the business, (ii) capital investment in the business, (iii) cost and revenue model of the business, and (iv) impact on the inter-state transmission of electricity.
The licensee will be required to share such revenue with its long-term customers. A long-term customer is one who has the right to use the inter-state transmission system for a period between 12 and 25 years. [38] The revenue will be shared in the following manner:
The shared revenue will be utilised towards the reduction of transmission charges payable by the long-term customers.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy released draft guidelines for the development of decentralised solar power plants. [39] These guidelines will apply for the procurement of solar power by distribution companies (DISCOMs) from decentralised solar power plants in rural areas. This seeks to promote the use of solar energy, and ensure the availability of affordable and reliable solar power in rural areas. Comments on the draft guidelines are invited till October 11, 2019. The salient features of the guidelines are as follows:
If there is a shortfall in the minimum generation requirement, the generator will be liable to pay compensation to the DISCOM, as per the power purchase agreement. All such solar power plants must comply with grid regulations.
Skill Development
Gayatri Mann (gayatri@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship released amendments to the Apprenticeship Rules, 1992. [40] These rules were notified under the Apprenticeship Act, 1961. The Act provides for the regulation and control of training of apprentices. Key changes in the amendments are as follows:
Table 3: Stipend payable to apprentices
Category |
Minimum amount of stipend (in Rs per month) |
School pass-out (class five –nine) |
5,000 |
School pass-out (class 10) |
6,000 |
School pass-out (class 12) |
7,000 |
National/ State certificate holder |
7,000 |
Vocational certificate holder |
7,000 |
Technician |
8,000 |
Graduate |
9,000 |
Information and Broadcasting
Saket Surya (saket@prsindia.org)
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued Accessibility Standards for television programmes for persons with hearing impairment (whether broadcast through traditional hardware or through Internet platforms). [41] This is in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. The key features of the Accessibility Standards are as follows:
Modes for access
Sub-titles are usually created as translations for people who do not speak the language of the medium. Captions are the text version of the spoken language of the medium. Open captions are part of the video itself and cannot be turned off whereas closed captions can be turned on or off by a viewer.
Exemptions
The Standards will be implemented in a phased manner. By 2025, the Standards aim to ensure that at least 50% of the content from general entertainment channel, movie-based channel and news channels will provide access service. The Standards will be reviewed every two years.
External Affairs
Anya Bharat Ram (anya@prsindia.org)
President visits Slovenia
The President, Mr. Ram Nath Kovind, visited Slovenia. The countries signed eights agreements in various areas including: (i) scientific and technological cooperation, (ii) culture, arts, education, sports, and mass media, and (iii) commerce and industry. [42]
President of Mongolia visits India
The President of Mongolia, Mr. Khaltmaagiin Battulga, visited India. The countries signed four agreements in the following areas: (i) cultural exchange, (ii) disaster management, (iii) space exploration, and (iv) animal health. [43]
Commercial documents signed during Prime Minister’s visit to Russia
The Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, visited Russia. During his visit, various Indian and Russian entities signed 35 agreements in various areas including: (i) mining, (ii) skill development, and (iii) crop protection. [44]
Prime Minister addresses the United Nations General Assembly
The Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi, addressed the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. [45] In his address, he mentioned India’s commitment towards eliminating single use plastic, providing water to every household, and eliminating tuberculosis within a period of five years. In the global context, he focused on the challenges of terrorism and climate change.
At the UNGA, the Prime Minister met leaders from the Caribbean community and common market (CARICOM) group. [46] The meeting was attended by leaders from Barbados, Dominica, and Jamaica, amongst others. During the meeting, PM Modi announced a 14 million dollar grant for community development projects in the CARICOM and another 150 million dollar line of credit for climate change related projects.
[1] “Developments in India’s Balance of Payments during the First Quarter (April-June) of 2019-20”, Reserve Bank of India, September 30, 2019, https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/PressRelease/PDFs/PR8229289277C97B54780AA910493FCF7E448.PDF.
[2] The Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, No. 15 of 2019, Gazette of India, Ministry of Law and Justice, September 20, 2019, http://www.egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2019/212631.pdf.
[3] ‘External Benchmark Based Lending, Notifications, Reserve Bank of India, September 4, 2019, https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/notification/PDFs/NOTI53B238D8EB8CD847E7AE8031090F4DCE00.PDF.
[4] ‘Report of the Internal Study Group to Review the Working of the Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate System’, Reserve Bank of India, September 2017, https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs//PublicationReport/Pdfs/MCLRCFF20B31A4A24D0487D8659079CF392B.PDF.
[5] ‘Report of the Committee on the development of Housing Finance Securitisation Market’, Reports, Reserve Bank of India, September 9, 2019, https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/PublicationReport/Pdfs/HOUSINGFINANCESECURITISATION42BEC7A160F34B56A6893ECB71223D65.PDF.
[6] ‘Reserve Bank of India Constitutes Committee on the Development of Housing Finance Securitisation Market’, Press Releases, Reserve Bank of India, May 29, 2019, https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx?prid=47156.
[7] ‘Report of the Task Force on the Development of Secondary Market for Corporate Loans, Reports, Reserve Bank of India, September 3, 2019, https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/PublicationReport/Pdfs/DSMCLOANSBB7C3EDF738D4038B734E909AC054D68.PDF.
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