1. 10 States Seek to Have Their Own Land Laws
Ten big states, most of those ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance partners, on Wednesday sought to unshackle themselves from the logjam over amendments to the contentious land acquisition bill, 2013, by proposing to bring their own laws for boosting infrastructure development.
At a NITI Aayog meeting to discuss the Land Bill (the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Bill, 2015), which Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired, several chief ministers stressed that land was needed for development and to create jobs.
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2. Govt Asks for E-Comm Comments in 15 Days
The Centre and states have moved a step closer to resolving the nagging questions over regulation and taxation of the flourishing e-commerce industry. At a meeting with her counterparts in states convened by Union commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday, states were asked to give suggestions within 15 days to bring clarity on all the sticky issues and also on a proposal to allow foreign investment in business-to-consumer (B2C) e-tailing and in multi-brand retail trade (MBRT).
Currently, foreign investment is banned in B2C e-commerce and 100% FDI is permitted in business-to-business (B2B) or wholesale e-commerce.
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3. Petrol, Diesel Prices Cut by Rs 2, but AAP Inserts VAT Spanner in Delhi
Petrol and diesel prices were today cut by Rs 2 per litre, excluding local levies, in the second reduction of rates this month by oil companies, but petrol will actually become costlier in the national capital due to an increase in VAT rate effected by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government here. The decrease in diesel prices would also be less in Delhi due to a hike in Value Added Tax (VAT) by Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government.
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4. Gold Imports Dip Almost 37 pct to USD 1.96 bn in June
Gold imports dipped by almost 37% to USD 1.96 billion in June, a development which will help in keeping the current account deficit (CAD) in check. Imports of the precious metal stood at USD 3.12 billion in the same month of 2014. In May this year, the imports were worth USD 2.42 billion. The decline in gold imports helped in narrowing the trade deficit to USD 10.82 billion in June as against USD 11.76 billion in the same month last year.
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5. Bharti in Talks to Buy Idea & Vodafone Towers for $1.6 bn
Cash-rich Bharti Infratel is in advanced talks with British telecom major Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group’s Idea Cellular to buy out their telecom towers at a valuation of up to $1.6 billion (Rs 10,080 crore).
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, India’s top three cellular service providers, jointly own stakes in unlisted telecom tower company Indus Towers, apart from having their own tower arms. Banking sources said Vodafone might sell 11,000-12,000 towers and Idea Cellular 9,000 to Bharti Infratel.
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6. India Launches Mission to Skill 400 Million by 2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched his government’s ambitious scheme – the National Skill Development Mission to train 400 million Indians by 2022.
The government also launched the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), skill loan scheme and the national policy for skill development and entrepreneurship 2015 on World Youth Skill Day. Under the skill loan scheme, youth can avail credit between Rs 5,000 and Rs 150,000 to attend skill-related training programme.
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7. SC Asks Government to Review its Market-Based Drug Pricing policy Within Six Months
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the government to review its market-based drug pricing policy within six months, endorsing a non-governmental organisation’s charge that the earlier cost-based pricing was better and the new one only legitimises profiteering and pushes drugs out of reach of the poor.
All India Drug Action Network, the NGO, had flagged several concerns about the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) of 2013. These included the fact that the DPCO had left out several life-saving medicines from the order, changed the pricing formula and left out drugs required in national health programmes to check diseases such as malaria, TB and HIV.
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8. Sebi Needs to Go Beyond the Recent Guidelines to Give More Fillip to Startups
Sebi chairman UK Sinha spent several weeks meeting entrepreneurs before the regulator recently announced a new set of relaxed norms for startups to list on a proposed Institutional Trading Platform (ITP). This, Sebi hopes, will help India compete better with global markets.
India has 3,100 startups, according to Indian Software Product Industry Roundtable (iSPIRIT), a grouping of software product companies, which interacted with Sebi to push for the new platform. This is set to multiply to more than 11,000 in just the next five years.
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9. Boeing Inks Pact to ‘Make in India’ With Tatas
Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) and US-based aircraft maker Boeing on Wednesday signed a strategic framework agreement here to collaborate in the sphere of aerospace and defence manufacturing as well as explore the potential of developing integrated systems, including unmanned aerial vehicles.
Though Boeing has been procuring components from 18 suppliers in India, the latest deal will actually see it ‘Make in India’ along with the Tatas. For the first time, Boeing will develop high-end aerospace and defence sector technology in India, which can cater to the global markets.
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