NGT slaps Rs 100 cr fine on Meghalaya

The National Green Tribunal on January 4 imposed a Rs 100 crore fine on the Meghalaya government for failing to curb illegal coal mining. A report by a high-level committee found that a majority of mines in the state were operating without a lease or licence. The NGT imposed the fine on the state government as a “deterrent” and for its “inaction” to curb illegal mining in the state. At least 15 miners are trapped in the 370 foot-deep illegal coal mine in Lumthari village of East Jaintia Hills district since December 13 and all efforts to pump the water out of flooded mine have been in vain. The owner of the illegal rat-hole mine Krip Chullet was arrested on December 14.

LS passes Bill to amend Aadhaar Act

The Lok Sabha on January 4 passed a Bill to amend the Aadhaar Act and two related laws, which will allow individuals to offer voluntarily biometric ID as a means of identity verification for obtaining services such as opening bank account and procuring a phone connection. The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill proposes changes in the Aadhaar Act, Indian Telegraph Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act to comply with a Supreme Court judgment pronounced on September 26, in which it upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar with certain restrictions and changes. The compulsory use of Aadhaar-based KYC for mobile connections and bank accounts was prohibited by the apex court.

ED attaches Choksi’s factory in Thailand

The Enforcement Directorate on January 4 attached a factory in Thailand worth over Rs 13 crore owned by absconding jeweller Mehul Choksi in connection with the alleged Rs 13,500 crore PNB fraud case. The ED said it has issued a provisional order for attachment of the factory owned by Abbeycrest (Thailand) Ltd, a unit of Gitanjali group. ED sleuths will soon get letters rogatories issued for legal formalisation of the attachment of the foreign-based asset. Choksi, his nephew and diamond jeweller Nirav Modi, and others are being probed under various criminal laws after the fraud came to light. Both Choksi and Modi are absconding since the case was registered.

Govt amalgamates three regional rural banks

The Centre has amalgamated three regional rural banks (RRBs) - Punjab Gramin Bank, Malwa Gramin Bank and Sutlej Gramin Bank - into a single RRB with effect from January 1. In a filing to the BSE, Punjab and Sind Bank said the Centre felt that in the interest of the banks and the areas served by them, they should be amalgamated into a single RRB. “The Central government has amalgamated the said regional rural banks in to a single one with effect on and from January 1,” the filing said. The sponsor banks of the RRBs are National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Government of Punjab and Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India and Punjab and Sind Bank, it added.

Karnataka hikes tax on petrol and diesel

The Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka on January 4 increased tax rates on petrol and diesel to 32 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively, citing adverse impact on the state revenue collection due to continuous fall in the prices of crude oil in the international market. Prior to the revision, the tax rates on petrol and diesel were 28.75 per cent and 17.73 per cent, respectively. The revised rates for petrol and diesel are Rs 70.84 per litre and Rs 64.66 per litre, respectively. The revision has been made due to continuous fall in the prices of crude oil, which has resulted in the base price of both fuels plummeting, causing adverse impact on the state’s revenue collection, the chief minister’s office said in a statement.

4,677 PMBJP Kendras functional across India

As many as 4,677 Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) Kendras were functional across the country by the end of 2018, providing quality generic medicines at affordable prices to the patients, Parliament was informed on January 4. Unbranded generic medicines worth Rs 417 crore have been sold through PMBJP Kendras from inception of the scheme, said Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh Mandaviya. The product basket of the scheme covers more than 800 medicines and 154 surgicals and consumables covering 23 major therapeutic groups such as anti-infectives, anti-diabetics, cardiovasculars, anti-cancers, gastrointestinal medicines among others.

Fertiliser subsidy arrear touches Rs 23,284 cr

The fertiliser subsidy arrear touched Rs 23,284 crore till December, the government informed the Rajya Sabha. Minister of State for Fertilisers Rao Inderjit Singh said the government is releasing subsidy to fertiliser companies on a regular basis subject to the availability of budget. Placing the data before the Rajya Sabha, he said Rs 23,283.66 crore fertiliser subsidy was pending till December. Out of which, about Rs 11,293 crore subsidy is on domestic urea and Rs 2,341.16 crore on imported urea, while Rs 5,963 crore on imported phosphate and potassium fertilisers. The Budget Estimate for fertiliser subsidy was Rs 73,439.85 crore for the current fiscal.

LS passes Companies (Amendment) Bill

To improve ease of doing business, the Lok Sabha on January 4 passed the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2018, designed to reduce the National Company Law Tribunal’s burden in volume of insolvency cases, as well as prescribe strong action against non-compliant companies. The Bill was passed with a voice vote with amendments moved by Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P.P. Chaudhary. The Bill was introduced in a bid to declog special courts and the NCLT, he said. It will also improve ease of doing business, he added. The Bill was necessitated as the Companies (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, was promulgated on November 2, 2018. It amends several provisions in the Companies Act, 2013, relating to penalties, among others.

Govt removes price cap on new drugs

In a move that is likely to hike prices of a range of imported essential medicines, the government has exempted new drugs patented under the Indian Patent Act from the price control order for five years from the date of their marketing. These include orphan drugs that are used for treating rare medical conditions. The Drugs (Prices Control) Amendment Order, 2019, by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers exempts “a manufacturer producing a new drug patented under the Indian Patent Act, 1970 (39 of 1970), for a period of five years from the date of commencement of its commercial marketing by the manufacturer in the country”, a notification said. The DPCO fixes the prices of scheduled formulations and monitors the maximum retail price of all drugs, including non-scheduled formulations.

Forex reserves up $116.4 mn to $393.404 bn

India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $116.4 million to $393.404 billion in the week to December 28, on account of rise in foreign currency assets, according to RBI data. In the previous week, the reserves had increased by $167.2 million to $393.287 billion. In the reporting week, foreign currency assets, a major component of the overall reserves, rose by $106.3 million to $368.077 billion. Expressed in US dollars, foreign currency assets include the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US currencies such as the euro, pound and yen held in the reserves. The reserves had touched a record high of $426.028 billion in the week to April 13, 2018. Since then, the forex kitty has been on a slide and is now down by over $31 billion.

Govt targets Rs 11.16 tn in indirect taxes

The government is targeting to mop up Rs 11.16 lakh crore as indirect tax collection from the levy of Central and Integrated GST and compensation cess in 2018-19, Parliament was informed on January 4. During April-November of the ongoing fiscal, the total net indirect tax collection (inclusive of CGST, IGST and GST-Compensation Cess) is Rs 6,12,653.47 crore, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. “The Budget Estimate for indirect taxes revenue (inclusive of CGST, IGST and GST-Compensation Cess) for 2018-19 has been fixed at Rs 11.16 lakh crore,” Shukla said.

India on track to meet NDC targets

The carbon stock for 2017 has been estimated at 7,083 million tonnes and there is an increase of 39 million tonnes when compared to the estimates of the previous assessment, the government informed the Lok Sabha on January 4. Minister of State for Environment Mahesh Sharma said in India is committed to creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030 as per the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the 2015 Paris Agreement. He said the average annual increase of carbon stock has been worked out to be around 35 million tonnes and at this rate India would reach around 1.9 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent by 2030. He said India is on track to meet the NDC targets.

Edible nutrient pod wins Infosys challenge

An edible, cheap, water-soluble nutrient pod capable of supplementing 50 mid-day meals has won the 2018 Infosys’ nutrition challenge aimed at resolving the malnutrition problem. A five-member team won the innovation challenge for the effective distribution of the nutrient pod to Anganwadi centres for its use in mid-day meals. The pod is capable of supplementing 50 mid-day meals and is simple to use. The team used this existing product idea and created a smart application and delivery mechanism so that it reaches the target audience directly through the wide network of Anganwadis. It can be used as a supplement for mid-day meals and provides one-third of the daily recommended dietary allowance doses of iron, zinc, omega-3, folate and calcium.

Three Nobel laureates bury time capsule

A time capsule with 100 items representing a cross-section of today’s technology and India’s scientific prowess was buried at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara by three Nobel laureates on the occasion of the 106th Indian Science Congress. The capsule will remain buried for the next 100 years. It contained items like replicas of Mangalyaan, Brahmos missile, KalamSat and Tejas fighter jet, which represent India’s scientific achievements. The capsule was buried by three Nobel laureates - Israeli biochemist Avram Hershko, American physicist F. Duncan M. Haldane and German-American biochemist Thomas Christian Sudhof.

Xi orders military to be combat-ready

Chinese President Xi Jinping ordered the People’s Liberation Army to enhance its combat readiness to make sure it is always ready for a battle, saying risks and challenges are on the rise as the world is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century. Xi told a meeting of the Central Military Commission, the military’s overall high command, that “the world is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century, and China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development”. His call for battle preparedness came as acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan told the US forces that he sees China as a key priority.

China’s population set to peak at 1.44 bn

China’s population is set to reach a peak of 1.442 billion in 2029 and start a long period of “unstoppable” decline in 2030, government scholars said in a report. The world’s most populous country must now draw up policies to try to cope with a declining labour force and a rapidly ageing population, according to Green Book of Population and Labour  published by the China Academy of Social Sciences. China’s population is expected to fall back to 1.36 billion by the middle of the century, which could mean a decline in the workforce of as much as 200 million. If fertility rates remain unchanged, the population could fall to 1.17 billion by 2065.

Massive data leak targets Merkel & Co

Private data stolen from hundreds of German politicians, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, have been published online, the government said on January 4, in a stunning breach of cybersecurity. The information, which comprised home addresses, mobile phone numbers, letters, invoices and copies of identity documents, was first released via Twitter in December but its spread gathered pace this week. It was not immediately clear whether the officials were targeted by hackers or the victims of an internal leak of the data, some of which dates back to 2017. Among those affected were members of the Bundestag lower house of Parliament and the European Parliament as well as regional and local assemblies.

Newsmakers

Self-styled ‘Tuna King’ Kiyoshi Kimura bought a 278-kg bluefin tuna for a record $3.1 million at an auction in Tokyo. He spent more than twice the previous record of $1.4 million, which he paid in 2013. Bluefin tuna are an endangered species, as per the WWF.

Gaurav Bhatia resigned as Sotheby’s managing director for India, weeks after he went on a “leave of absence” following allegations of sexual misconduct, the auction house said. He had went on leave ahead of the auction house’s inaugural sale in Mumbai.

A special court in Mumbai has declared absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya a fugitive economic offender (FEO). He is the first to be declared EFO under the provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, which came into existence last August.