Posts
Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry |
Weekly E-News Letter |
Issue No. 1/2015-16 |
Trade & Industry |
India to become first country to make non-financial audit mandatory for companies India will become the first country to make non-financial audit mandatory for companies of certain class. The audit, also known as secretarial audit, will ensure that all listed companies and public limited companies with paid-up capital of at least Rs 50 crore or public companies with a turnover of at least Rs 250 crore comply with all sections of Companies Act 2013. 'New textiles policy aims at 35 million jobs, foreign investment' "The new national textiles policy which aims at creating 35 million new jobs by attracting foreign investments, will be announced in July after Cabinet approval" according to Textiles Secretary, Shri S K Panda. An expert panel had submitted the draft of the new policy, which aims at addressing concerns over lack of enough skilled workforce and labour reforms besides attracting investments and providing a roadmap for the textile and clothing industry. The ministry has also sought Rs 12,000 crore for the TUF scheme. M&A deals value to rise 71% in 2015 to USD 30 billion Total value of completed merger and acquisition (M&A) deals is expected to increase by 71% to USD 30.3 billion during this year, according to a report by global law firm Baker & McKenzie. "Our forecast shows the total value of completed M&A deals rising from USD 17.7 billion in 2014 to USD 30.3 billion in 2015, before peaking at USD 48.1 billion in 2018," the report said. All security clearances in 4-6 weeks: Home Ministry's new ease of business policy Union Home Secretary has approved a new 'security clearance policy' last week which aims at disposing off all security clearance matters forwarded by fellow ministries within 4-6 weeks instead of two-three months taken at present. The main change to the system is that the Ministry will seek a self-declaration from the private players seeking security clearance that their promoters or those on board of directors are not facing any charges of serious crimes like murder, money laundering, alleged terror links, major financial frauds/scams, using fake passports or links with foreign intelligence or security agencies. Gujarat to announce new tourism policy within a month The Gujarat government plans to announce its new tourism policy with a focus on eco-tourism within a month, according to Gujarat Finance and Tourism Minister Saurabh Patel. He said that the policy would focus on developing eco-tourism destinations in Gujarat, besides promotion of wildlife tourism. NRI deposits in Gujarat cross Rs 50K crore mark Economic uncertainty, steep fall in the rupee, and attractive interest rates offered to NRIs by Indian banks made NRI deposits in Gujarat swell by 115% over the past three years. The deposits breached the mark of Rs 50,000 crore in 2014-15.NRI deposits rose to Rs 54,574 crore in 2014-15 from Rs 25,400 crore in 2011-12, an increase of Rs 29,174 crore. |
Economic & Financial |
Emerging markets are expected to grow faster than developed economies, and India is likely to become the third largest economy by 2030 in the world after China and the United States, according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Read MoreCore sector output rebounds in May, posts fastest growth in 6 months Core sector growth recovered to a six-month high in May on the back of a significant jump in government spending on infrastructure space, adding to increasing evidence that the country's industrial sector is looking up despite the global headwinds. Data released by Commerce and Industry Ministry showed core sector index — which measures the output of eight key infrastructure-related industries of coal, crude oil, electricity, natural gas, refinery products, fertilizers, steel and cement — rose 4.4% in May, its fastest since November 2014 and higher than 3.9% growth recorded in the same month last year. India’s external debt at USD 475 billion as of end March '15 India's external debt rose 6.6% during the financial year ending March 2015 to USD 475.8 billion, according to Reserve Bank of India. The rise in external debt was largely due to the rise in commercial borrowings and NRI deposits. The increase in the magnitude of external debt was partly offset by the valuation gains resulting from the appreciation of the US dollar vis-a-vis Indian rupee and other major currencies. Weak demand dampens Indian factory activity in June Order books at Indian factories filled up at the slowest pace since September last year, dampening overall manufacturing activity and putting companies off from hiring staff, according to a business survey by Markit. The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 51.3 in June from 52.6 in May but stayed above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction for the 20th month. |
International News |
Talks between India and the European Union for a free-trade agreement, which had snagged two years ago on tariff and visa-related issues, could resume in August, according to commerce secretary Rajeev Kher. Greek debt crisis to impact engineering exports from IndiaThe economic crisis in Greece will impact engineering exports from India as European Union is the largest destination for such shipments, engineering exporters' body EEPC India has said. |
New Projects |
Honda to set up plant in Gujarat After Tata Motors, Ford India and Maruti Suzuki, Japanese auto giant Honda is inching towards setting up its new plant in Gujarat. The Indian subsidiary of Japan-based car maker is all set to sign a state support agreement (SSA) with Gujarat government in next three to four weeks. The company intends to build a car manufacturing plant at Vithalapur, around 80-km from Ahmedabad. Seven more airports including Ahmedabad to be declared entry points for e-visa Seven more airports, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constituency Varanasi and Ahmedabad in his home state, will soon be declared as entry points along with the existing nine where citizens from eligible countries can land with an e-tourist visa. Besides these two, Jaipur, Amritsar, Gaya, Lucknow and Trichy will be declared as entry points as government is expecting rush of Chinese tourists to India when the e-tourist visa facility will be finally rolled out to the citizens of the neighboring country. The existing nine airports where one can land with an e-tourist visa are Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. Suzlon plans India’s first offshore wind mill project in Gujarat Wind turbine maker Suzlon group, which had recently sold its German arm Senvion to pare debt in January, is in the process of increasing its production capacity at its wind park in Kutch, They have completed installation of 1,100 mw windmills at the Kutch Park and the rest would be completed in two years. Once the installation is complete, the park would become world’s largest wind mill park having capacity of 2,000 mw production at single location. |
Science & Technology |
Real-time traffic updates available in 12 more Indian cities including Surat: Google This latest update to Google Maps makes traffic information available for all national highways and expressways in India. Google Maps is constantly working on making a tool more comprehensive for Indians. The new real-time traffic information for 12 cities and all national highways will help drivers across the country find the best routes to their destinations with the fewest delays. This traffic feature is available on both mobile and desktop versions of Google Maps. It helps a person to see real-time traffic conditions across a total of 34 cities in India. Net Neutrality: Department of Telecom pushes for disallowing telecom companies’ zero rating plans The telecom department's much-awaited report on 'net neutrality' is said to have recommended disallowing the controversial zero rating plans of telcos while proposing that throttling and any sort of prioritization of Internet traffic should be banned by the government. There should be no paid prioritization which creates discrimination and no degradation of traffic on the internet on the basis of applications, content, services or even the end user. Cabinet clears setting up of online national agriculture market Government approved the setting up of an online national agriculture market that will provide more options to farmers for selling their produce. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The proposal on the creation of a National Agriculture Market has been approved by the Cabinet. Currently, farmers are restricted to selling their produce at mandis or market committees only. Digital India Week could provide investment boost The Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY), which is implementing the government’s ambitious Digital India programme, is expecting commitments of investments to the tune of Rs. 2 lakh crore from domestic and foreign firms at the launch of ‘Digital India Week’ by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While Taiwanese firm Delta Electronics is likely to announce the setting up of an electronics manufacturing facility at an investment of half-a-billion dollars, the home-grown mobile phone maker Lava will commit Rs.1,200 crore for opening a factory. Rainwater could help Indians save money: NASA data The study is based on precipitation data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), a joint mission between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which provided observations of rainfall over the tropics and subtropics from 1997 to 2015.India has severe problems getting potable water to all of its residents,” said Dan Stout, research assistant in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Utah. Rainwater harvesting is not a new concept, but researchers said it is a largely untapped resource in India. |
Environment |
Greenhouse gases: India fourth biggest emitter, but lags far behind top three World Resources Institute (WRI) — a global research organization — has come out with its latest analyses of the country-wise emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases. It shows India despite being the fourth largest carbon emitter continues to be far behind the other three top big emitters in terms of per capita emission. 80% of India’s surface water may be polluted, report by international body says An alarming 80% of India's surface water is polluted, as per latest assessment by WaterAid. The report, based on latest data from the Ministry of Urban Development (2013), census 2011 and CPCB, estimates that 75-80% of water pollution by volume is from domestic sewerage, while untreated sewerage flowing into water bodies including rivers have almost doubled in recent years. Researchers develop eco-friendly oil spill solution Researchers have developed an eco-friendly biodegradable green "herding" agent that can be used to clean up light crude oil spills on water. Derived from the plant-based small molecule phytol abundant in the marine environment, the new substance would potentially replace chemical herders currently in use. GPCB to monitor service stations engaged in tanker cleaning In order to reduce pollution in rivers and water bodies situated near industrial belts across the state, GPCB has decided to keep a close watch on activities of service stations involved in cleaning chemical tankers. To stop illegal activities, GPCB has issued a fresh set of guidelines, which makes it compulsory for these service stations to maintain round-the-clock CCTV footage of their operations for at least one week and produce it whenever asked by officials. Apart from maintaining the offline data of CCTV footage, GPCB has also directed these service stations to uplink the CCTV cameras with the respective regional offices of GPCB, so that officials can watch the activities through real time display. |
Transport |
Gujarat CM hands over Rs.13-crore cheque for road resurfacing in 13 towns Gujarat Government’s Water Supply and Sewerage Board has Rs.306.16-crore plan to lay underground gutter line and road resurfacing in 100 towns in the state. The towns are Mandvi, Morbi, Bhuj, Bareja, Padra, Karjan, Harij, Sihor, Savarkundla, Lunavada, Gariadhar, Kapadwanj and Dehgam. The government has so far paid Rs.56.57-crore to 38 Nagarpalika. |
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Dr. Vijay Pithadia, FIETE, PhD, MBA Director, PhD Guided: 5, Author of 6 Books, Google Scholar Citations - 536, h-index - 8, M: +91 9898422655 UGC/Scopus/Web of Science Publication: 30, Referred/Peer Reviewed Publication: 63, Chapters Published In Books: 12, Full Papers Published in Conference Proceedings: 21, Patent Published: 3, Invited Lectures and Chairmanship etc.: 41, Conference Organized: 4, AICTE faculty ID: 1-24647366683