Enforcement of Radiation Protection Rules

It is true that a large number of X-ray facilities have not obtained the necessary regulatory authorisation including those in Madhya Pradesh, inspite of periodical advertisements and display on the website of Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) about the regulatory requirements of obtaining authorisation from AERB.There are a large number of diagnostic X-ray units/facilities spread across the country and there is an accelerated growth in their numbers. However, the radiation risk/hazard involved in such facilities is generally very low.

AERB has signed MoUs with 11 States (Kerala, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh) of which Directorate of Radiation Safety (DRS) in Kerala and in Mizoram are already functioning.

 AERB has taken a series of measures to bring such units under radiation safety certification of AERB, which are detailed below:

i.    AERB has enhanced regulatory control on manufacturer/supplier by issuance of Licence/Authorisation. It is also mandatory for these stakeholders to guide their customers to obtain AERB license to operate their X-ray equipment. AERB safety code provides the regulations for users in X-ray diagnostic practice.
ii      AERB has launched an electronic web-based e-governance system (e-Licensing of  radiation applications, e-LORA) to enable easy filing of applications and faster receipt of AERB Licence/ Registration for operation. As on June 30th 2014, the number of X-ray equipment for which Licensing has been initiated is 7630.
iii.    Periodic advertisements are put out in the print media, as well as on AERB website, for users to buy AERB design approved (type approved) equipment and to obtain the requisite Licence/Registration for operation, from AERB.
iv.    For establishing a more effective regulatory set-up for X-ray units, AERB has been pursuing with State Governments for formation of state level Directorates of Radiation Safety (DRS) under the Health & Family Welfare Department of the respective State Governments.
v.      AERB has established Regional Regulatory Centers (RRC) at different locations in the country for decentralization of regulatory functions.
vi       AERB regularly routinely promotes/participates in conferences/public awareness programmes organized by associations such as Indian Radiological Imaging Association (IRIA), Society of Indian Radiographers (SIR), Association of Medical Physicists of India(AMPI) etc., which helps in dissemination of radiation safety and regulatory information.

New tourism brand for Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli

Following is the text of speech of Minister of Tourism and Culture Shri Shripad Yesso Naik at a function in New Delhi on 6th August, 2014 on the occasion of release of new tourism brand for the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli:

“I am happy to be present here today for launching the new tourism brand for the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, as well as the release of the Vision 2020 publication for Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India is promoting India as a brand across the world. Our “Incredible India” campaign has been highly successful. However, for maximizing our tourism potential, the Government’s effort needs to be supplemented by each State Government and Union Territory Administration. Many States and Union Territories are already well known for their tourism potential, and have also been proactive in promoting their destinations across the nation as well as at international level but there are others that are now trying to make a beginning.

Both Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli share their rich history with Goa. While Goa is already world-famous as a tourist destination, very few people know that Daman and Diu are also endowed with excellent beaches and rich Portuguese heritage. Dadra & Nagar Haveli, on the other hand, has lovely forests, lakes and gardens which make it an enviable destination to spend time with nature. Unfortunately, people of India are still not aware about the tourist attractions in these UTs.

In this backdrop, the attempt by the Union Territories of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli to promote tourism by establishing a new brand image is highly commendable and welcome step.

I am especially delighted to note the forward looking approach of the UT Administration by conceiving, designing and publishing its vision for Dadra & Nagar Haveli. Though promotional campaigns may be outstanding, they need to be backed by quality infrastructure to make every tourist satisfied with his overall experience. I am, therefore, happy that both Union Territories have invested a lot in connectivity, basic infrastructure and tourism and have drawn a long term strategy before taking the important step of creating and launching their tourism campaign.” 

Ban on Import of Products By EU

The Export of dairy products (milk and milk products) for human consumption and certain fruits and vegetables have been affected due to non compliance with EU requirements. Recently, European Union has prohibited import of five groups of fruits and vegetables namely Colocasia Schott, Mangifera L., Momordica L., Solanum melongena L. and Trichosanthes L. from India with effect from 26th April 2014 till 31st December 2015 for interception of harmful organisms. These issues are taken up bilaterally with EU for the resolution.


The Government of India is presently negotiating a bilateral Broadbased Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) with European Union, covering a number of tracks ranging from Trade in Goods to Services. 

India Deploys its First Sub-Surface Ocean Moored Observatory in the Arctic

A major milestone in India’s scientific endeavors in the Arctic region has been achieved on the 23rd July, 2014 when a team of scientists from the ESSO-National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR) and the ESSO-National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) successfully deployed IndARC, the country’s first multi-sensor moored observatory in the Kongsfjorden fjord of the Arctic, roughly half way between Norway and the North Pole. This moored observatory, designed and developed by ESSO-NIOT and ESSO-NCAOR with ESSO-Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) was deployed from the Norwegian Polar Institute`s research vessel R.V. Lance during its annual MOSJ-ICE cruise to the Kongsfjorden area. The observatory is presently anchored (78°57´ N 12°01´E), about 1100 km away from the North Pole at a depth of 192 m and has an array of ten state-of-the-art oceanographic sensors strategically positioned at discrete depths in the water column. These sensors are programmed to collect real-time data on seawater temperature, salinity, current and other vital parameters of the fjord.

The Kongsfjorden is an established reference site for the Arctic marine studies. The Kongsfjorden has been considered as a natural laboratory for studying the Arctic climate variability, as it receives varying climatic signals from the Arcitc/Atlantic in the course of an annual seasonal cycle. ESSO-NCAOR has been continuously monitoring the Kongsfjorden since 2010 for understanding response of the fjord to climate variability at different time scales. The temperature and salinity profiles of the fjord, water column nutrients and diversity of biota are being monitored at close spatio-temporal scales throughout the spring-summer-fall seasons. There exists a great need to know on how the fjord system is influenced by, or responds to exchanges with the water on the shelf and in the deep sea outside during an entire annual seasonal cycle. In particular, there is a need for continuous observations of the water transport into the interior part of the fjord. One of the major constraints in such a study has been the difficulty in reaching the location during the harsh Arctic winter and obtaining near-surface data. The IndARC observatory is an attempt to overcome this lacuna and collect continuous data from depths very close to the water surface as well as at different discrete depths. The data acquired would be of vital importance to the Indian climate researchers as well as to the international fraternity. In addition to providing for an increased understanding of the response of the Arctic to climatic variabilities, the data would also provide a good handle in our understanding of the Arctic processes and their influence on the Indian monsoon system through climate modelling studies.

The deployment of the country’s first polar mooring is a testimony to the capabilities of the ESSO in designing, developing and installing underwater observatories. The technical and logistics support extended by the Norwegian Polar Institute, is a good example of the increasing scientific and technical co-operation between India and Norway in addressing the global climate change. 

In large public firms, same individual can hold Chairman and MD posts: Ministry

Large public companies can now appoint an individual as Chairperson as well as Managing Director or Chief Executive Officer at the same time.

This dispensation will be available for public companies with a paid-up capital of Rs. 100 crore or more and an annual turnover of Rs. 1,000 crore or more, the Corporate Affairs Ministry has said.

It will only be available for companies engaged in multiple businesses and have appointed a CEO for each such business, an executive order issued by the Ministry said.

This would mean that large public companies with multiple businesses would not be governed by the new company law requirement of having different individuals for the positions of Chairperson, Managing Director or CEO.

The new company law – which came into effect from April 1– had stipulated that a company cannot appoint an individual to the post of Chairman as well as Managing Director at the same time.

However, this stipulation did not apply if the Articles of Association of a company explicitly provided for such an appointment.

Also, it will not apply if the company concerned does not have multiple businesses.

The new law also specified that this requirement will not be applicable for certain class of companies to be specified.

The Ministry has now specified the class of companies that will be exempt from the requirement.

“The Ministry’s latest move could be considered a corporate-friendly measure,” SN Ananthasubramanian, a practicing Company Secretary, told BusinessLine .

Lalit Kumar, Partner, J Sagar Associates, a law firm, said the move will bring relief only to large public companies. “Since the thresholds are very high, only large public companies will get the benefit of this exemption,” Kumar said.

It is very common in the public sector to appoint the same person as Chairman and Managing Director, at the same time.

But critics argued that such an approach does not recognise the distinct roles that these posts carried.

Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Government to Launch A New Program of Financial Inclusion

The Union Finance Minster Shri Arun Jaitley said that the Government is going to launch a new program of Financial Inclusion in Mission Mode which will provide households with facilities of savings, credit, remittances, insurance and pension among others. He said that this is a marked shift from earlier effort where only opening of account was the focus of the financial inclusion drive. The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley was speaking after holding a meeting with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Financial Institutions(FIs) here today.

The meeting was attended among others by Shri G.S. Sandhu, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India, Ms. Snehlata Shrivastva, Additional Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Public Sector Banks and Financial Institutions and senior officers of Ministry of Finance.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley further said that this time the Government is targeting the individual households rather than the village. He said that there are 7.5 crore households in the country who do not have bank account so far. The Finance Minister said that the Government is targeting that every village should get a banking facility within a reasonable distance and that every household should have at least one bank account within the time frame of one year. This is a big challenge and there are several difficulties like lack of connectivity and infrastructure facilities etc, the Minister added.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that in our country where we have very low levels of financial literacy, it is essential that people understand the importance of availing financial services which will enable them to participate in the growth story. Therefore, financial literacy will receive a special emphasis in this new programme of financial inclusion, the Minister added.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that technology has made rapid strides in recent times and, therefore, the Government must use technology, especially mobile based services in a big way to achieve the desired results. The Government has integrated provisions of access to banking facilities, account opening, financial literacy, credit availment, micro insurance and pension, the Minister added.

The Financial Inclusion Mission has two phases starting from 15thAugust this year. The first phase will get over by 14thAugust, 2015 and the second Phase by 14thAugust, 2018. Most of the activities will be done in Phase – I and insurance and pension would be covered in Phase – II.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that the primary method of branchless banking has been that of the Business Correspondents. It is therefore important to ensure that the Business Correspondents have a viable business model and for this purpose Government has decided to encourage transfer of subsidies directly to bank accounts of the beneficiaries.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley added that the previous efforts did not involve the State Government and District administration. He said that this time the State Governments have been requested to achieve this ambitious task. There would be State level and District level Committees to monitor the progress under the plan, the Minister stated.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley said that there was no pull factor in the earlier campaign where people could demand access of banking facilities in their villages. He added that under the Mission, there would be awareness generation amongst the people so that they can ask for opening of their bank accounts by the banks and the business correspondents.

The Finance Minister Shri Jaitley stated that in the past, the Know Your Customer (KYC) process was very cumbersome. This has now been eased and the e-KYC facility has been introduced in the banks.

Comparison between Old Financial Inclusion Programme and New Programme

Old Program	New Program
Village based approach for  villages where population greater than  2000 (Limited Geography)	Households in all villages
Only Rural	Both Rural and Urban
Mobile BC	Fixed Point BC in each SSA comprising of 3 to 4 villages. This visit other villages in the SSA on fixed days.
Focus on opening of Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts (BSBDA)	Focus on Financial Literacy, opening of BSBDA Account, Convergence with other subsidy schemes& Micro Insurance/Pension, RuPay Debit Card, USSD Scheme, Kisan Credit Card
Monitoring by banks	Monitoring Mechanism at Centre, State, District level. Active participation of state and district emphasized.
Operation of Accounts offline; separate server.	Accounts on line ‘on CBS of banks. Provision of RuPay Card to each account holder giving him freedom to operate anywhere

           

 Besides above, the following decisions were also taken in today’s meeting of the CEOs of Public Sector Banks and Financial Institutions which was chaired by the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley.

• New emphasis on fixed point Business Correspondents (BCs) like
• Common Service Centres (CSCs)
• Gramin Dak Sewak
• PDS shops
• NBFCs
• Banks to explore the possibilities of installing ATMs in rural areas under the RBI subsidy scheme.
• Convergence with the efforts of UIDAI to enroll beneficiaries for Aadhar number during account opening
• Convergence with the efforts of other programmes for SHGs/JLGs
• e-KYC to be used for opening of accounts in the camps where Aadhaar number is available
• Financial Literacy material would be standardized by IBA
• Logo / tagline of the plan to be used on all correspondence material for one year
• Overdraft facilities would be after satisfactory operation.
• Grievance redressal cell at State level by State Level Banker’s Committee(SLBC)
• In order to ensure viability of BCs Banks would start a financing scheme
• Banks would take Micro ATMs which are Aadhar enabled
• All passbook based KCCs to be enabled on RuPay card
• Mobile wallet cash points also to be used as BCs
• Monitoring mechanism strengthened
• State Governments requested to depute an officer to SLBC for monitoring purpose

Centre eases rules for trees on private land

In a bid to liberalise the “permit raj” governing agro-forestry, the Union environment ministry has issued guidelines to simplify the rules for growing, felling and transportation of trees grown on private lands.

The guidelines, issued on July 11, allow farmers and other tree growers to dispose and transport short-rotation timber species grown on their own property and not available in neighbouring forests, with permission from village-level bodies. The present regulation on felling of timber and transit permits varies from state to state, which discouraged farmers and tree planters from growing trees on their own land.

This is expected to begin the process of easing the existing set of rules that govern management of fast-growing species such as poplar and bamboo. For high-value species, such as teak, the new guidelines do advise a regulated environment but are a bit more open than before.

NEW GREEN NORMS

    The new guidelines, issued on July 11, allow farmers and other tree growers to dispose and transport short-rotation timber species grown on their own property and not available in neighbouring forests, with permission from village-level bodies

    This is expected to begin the process of easing the existing set of rules that govern management of fast-growing species such as poplar and bamboo

As forests are in the Constitution’s concurrent list, the Centre can issue guidelines but not go beyond; however, these have usually been replicated by states in the past. "The guidelines will create an atmosphere of confidence for the states to look towards more sustainable use of forest products, rather than have a blanket ban in mind," the official said.

"We will convince the state governments to adopt forest passbook-type schemes, so that high-value trees like sandalwood, teak, etc, are encouraged to be grown on non-forest land," said a government official, on condition of anonymity. He said a system where trees grown on farms or private lands could be registered and traded would help meet the demand for better wood.

As the regulatory mechanism is not uniform across states, there is a need for a simple and uniform mechanism to regulate the transit rules of forest produce within a state and across states, the guidelines say.

States, the official added, would be pushed to create a system where, on an annual basis, they provide a list of trees before the growing season so that farmers are allowed to grow these with the confidence that it would be easy to sell, without cumbersome procedures.

After states such as Kerala found difficulty in getting permission to cut trees on private land and transport timber outside a forest area under the present provisions, the Union government had constituted a committee in June 2011 to study the current regime, headed by a former additional director-general of forests, A K Bansal.

The new guidelines are based on the recommendation of this committee. The aim is to benefit farmers, tribals, private land owners, landowning agencies, financial institutions, industries and others who control or own lands other than forest land, to encourage tree plantation.

The idea is primarily to encourage agro forestry, meeting the input needs of forest-based industries. The committee had noted that states which had the least restrictions on tree felling and transit had "succeeded in large-scale agro-forestry and farm forestry".

The guidelines asked for forest officers to dispose of permissions to cut and transit trees in a "transparent and time-bound process". To encourage inter-state movement of timber derived from agro forestry plantations on private land, the ministry has mooted the idea of a regional coordination committee of the states concerned, to look into the issues and facilitate easy movement.

"Interstate movement of timber derived from agro forestry plantations or trees from non-forest lands needs to be facilitated for benefiting tree growers to get the best market price," the environment ministry said.

At present there are various tree species which are exempted in some states but banned in adjoining ones. Hence, the guidelines look to bring a coordination mechanism among neighbouring states and uniformity in transit rules.

"The produce/timber obtained from non-forest lands, which is to be transported from a state to other states, may be covered under an appropriate mechanism through mutual consultation such as a nationally valid permit for such consignments," the document said.

The ministry has asked states to simplify procedures to encourage people to take up agro forestry and relax rules for felling trees and transit of forest produce.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com

Anti-competitive practices top complaints against realty players

Anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominance top the list of complaints filed by consumers against real estate players with the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

As much as 150 cases have so far come to the fair trade regulator pertaining to the same, say sources.

While competition lawyers say the practice is on the rise due to rising consumer rights awareness, real estate players say such cases stem largely from consumer dissatisfaction.

Some of the key real estate players taken to the regulator are DLF, BPTP, Ansal, Eldeco, DDA, Jai Prakash Associates, Supertech, Hiranadani and Omaxe.

In the past six months alone, the CCI has dismissed over 10 complaints against real estate companies. In some cases, it has also ordered a Director-General probe.

Execution delay

While ‘biased’ builder-buyer agreement topped the list of complaints, delay in execution and delivery came a close second.

A DLF official said such complaints largely stem from dissatisfaction of consumers rather than biased buyer-seller agreements. Incidentally, DLF was once imposed a penalty of Rs. 630 crore by the CCI for anti-competitive practice. “Till now, the real estate market was biased in favour of the realtors. There was no effective redress mechanism for the aggrieved consumers. With the DLF matter, the CCI has demonstrated that it has the power and the willingness to provide relief to the consumers. Consequently, more and more consumers are approaching it to redress their alleged grievances,” says Gautam Shahi, senior associate at J Sagar Associates.

Escrow account

While an escrow account is mandatory for most real estate players before starting a project, only a handful of them actually open such an account.

The CCI is still working on the model framework for commercial agreements between real estate developers and property buyers. The regulator expects the framework to be a benchmark for the industry. But Shahi says agreement may have limited impact on the real estate market.

Collective dominance

“The real estate market in India is characterised by ‘collective dominance’, with almost all realtors incorporating biased abusive clauses in their builder-buyer agreements. However, the CCI’s model agreement can be enforced only on a single dominant player in any relevant market,” he said.

“This is because the Competition Act, 2002, as interpreted by the CCI and COMPAT (Competition Appellate Tribunal), does not recognise the concept of ‘collective dominance’ which is widely accepted in other jurisdictions. One may see a significant change in the real estate environment if the concept of ‘collective dominance’ is either incorporated into the Competition Act, 2002 by an amendment, or read into it by interpretation,” he added.

Source : http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

India allows local shipping firms to operate ships with foreign flags

India has allowed domestic shipping lines to operate foreign flag vessels, shedding a key restriction that would help the sector attract more investment and tap more foreign business.

So far, Indian operators weren't allowed to own foreign flag vessels — at most, they could charter these for specified periods. Also, they could not employ foreigners on Indian flag-bearing ships. Most companies, therefore, floated a foreign subsidiary that had a big downside as the entire benefit of the activity would go to the foreign country.

The restriction has been removed. It would be a big boost to the industry," a senior shipping ministry official told ET. The flag signifies that a particular state has exclusive jurisdiction and control over the vessel.

However, the ownership can be in a third country. The Indian National Shipowners Association had lobbied the government for easing the rule,highlighting how it was strangulating the sector's growth.

A foreign arm essentially means additional cost for Indian operators as they have to comply with regulations in the other country. A number of shipping lines have set up their arms in Singapore to ply vessels with foreign flags.

Usually, ships are registered in jurisdictions such as Panama, Singapore, the Marshall Islands and St Kitts, popularly called the 'flags of convenience'. A ship has to follow the rules of the jurisdiction it has registered with.

Since some jurisdictions have lax regulations, they are preferred by ship owners. India is known to have stringent regulations for ships registered here. "This will give shipping lines lot of flexibility," the official said.

Essentially, removing the restriction would mean Indian companies will be able to register ships in these jurisdictions and yet operate them out of India. This will bring them on par with competition that extensively uses dual flags.

For instance, more than 50 million gross tonnes of ships fly the Bahamas Flag. The Bahamas does not impose any kind of tax — income or capital gains — on ship flying its flag.

The change in rules means also that Indian ship owners will not have to set up foreign subsidiaries and the revenue from these operations will come to India. The tonnage carried would be counted towards the Indian company's tonnage, helping them raise foreign funds more easily.

The government will earn taxes. The flexibility to own a foreign vessel is crucial for ship lines as just like India, many countries insist on employment for their nationals to operate in their waters.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

India has allowed domestic shipping lines to operate foreign flag vessels, shedding a key restriction that would help the sector attract more investment and tap more foreign business.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/39137543.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

M/s Santowin Polyester Ltd. Vs.Commissioner of Central Excise & Service Tax, Vapi

M/s PML Industries Limited Versus Commissioner of Central Excise & another

M/s B.S. Textiles Private Limited Versus The Commissioner of Central Excise & Customs

M/S KARNATAKA AGRO CHEMICALS VERSUS THE COMMISSIONER OF CENTRAL EXCISE, BANGALORE

M/s Zeto Engineering Pvt. Ltd. & Others Vs. CCE, Chandigarh

M/s VMI Industries Vs CCE, Jammu

M/s Tata Steel Ltd Versus Commissioner of Central Excise and Service Tax

M/s. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited Vs. Commissioner of Central Excise, Surat

BHUWALKA STEEL INDUSTRIES LTD.

M/s Dujodwala Paper Chemicals Ltd. Versus Commissioner of Central Excise, Raigad.

Policy for Growth of Indian Controlled Tonnage

The Government has taken a policy decision to allow shipping enterprises based in India to acquire ships abroad and also flag them in the country of their convenience. This decision is aimed at encouraging Indian Shipping companies to have their registered offices in India itself while allowing them to acquire further tonnage without forming subsidiaries out of India to own foreign flag vessels. These companies register their ships abroad without actually opening their registered office or a subsidiary company there. This will enable Indian companies to have access to cheaper sources of funds abroad to acquire additional tonnage while not having to set up multiple enterprises abroad to acquire and maintain such tonnage.

The policy however prescribes that the additional tonnage that can be acquired and flagged abroad by these India-based enterprises is limited to the tonnage of the Indian flagged ships already registered by them in India. The additional tonnage that can be acquired abroad is also subject to employment of certain proportion of Indian crew thereby creating additional employment opportunities for Indian seafarers.

The Government exchequer is expected to gain from this policy decision through tax on the revenues earned from operations of this additional tonnage rather than through dividends from such subsidiaries based abroad.

The Indian flagged tonnage (ships) which has stagnated to around 10.50 MGT for quite some time is also expected to get a boost by the decision.