Author: Legal Parivar

In the April-January period of the current fiscal year, the import of coal for blending purposes decreased by 36.69 percent to 19.36 Million Tonnes (MT), according to an official statement released on Monday. This marks a significant drop from 30.58 MT recorded during the same period in the previous financial year. Despite a surge in power demand, the notable decline in coal import for blending reflects the nation’s strong commitment to achieving self-sufficiency in coal production and reducing overall coal imports, stated the coal ministry. Power generation in the country witnessed a growth of 6.6 percent in the April-January period…

India advocated for increased flexibility for developing nations in exiting World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements to address challenges encountered in industrialization. India highlighted concerns regarding the merging of traditional development issues like industrial policy with newer topics under the umbrella of “Trade and Industrial policy”. The inclusion of non-trade issues in WTO discussions was cautioned against by India during the thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the WTO in Abu Dhabi, led by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal. Mixing non-trade topics with WTO rules could result in heightened trade fragmentation, Barthwal warned during the session on Trade and Inclusion. India’s stance aligns…

Pricol has been issued a show cause notice by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Gurugram Zonal Unit, potentially resulting in a tax demand of Rs 380 crore plus interest and penalty. A leading manufacturer of instrument clusters, Pricol disclosed in an exchange filing that the notice was received “as part of an industry-wide Goods and Services Tax (GST) investigation regarding the classification of instrument clusters”. While the company’s classification method implies a tax rate of 18 percent, the department’s approach would entail a tax rate of 28 percent. The filing revealed that Pricol is not the sole recipient of…

Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s resignation from the Board of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) was announced by One97 Communications (OCL) on February 26, with the aim of facilitating a board restructuring. OCL, the owner of the Paytm brand, stated that PPBL will begin the process of appointing a new chairman. In a press release from One97 Communications Ltd, it was disclosed that several new members have been appointed to the PPBL Board as independent directors. These include former Central Bank of India Chairman Srinivasan Sridhar, retired IAS officer Debendranath Sarangi, former Executive Director of Bank of Baroda Ashok Kumar Garg, and…

Sun Pharma, Lupin Laboratories, and Alkem Laboratories are recalling pharmaceutical products from the US market, as indicated in the US Food and Drug Administration’s (USFDA) weekly enforcement report. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, headquartered in Mumbai, is recalling 54,960 bottles of Mesalamine Extended-Release Capsules used to treat ulcerative colitis. The recall is due to failed dissolution specifications. The product was manufactured at Sun Pharma’s Mohali unit, which has been under US FDA scrutiny. Ascend Laboratories, a subsidiary of Alkem Ltd., is recalling 71,244 units of Fosfomycin Tromethamine Granule sachets, an antibiotic for bladder infections, due to failed impurities/degradation specifications. This product was…

Currency in circulation saw a slowdown in growth, dropping to 3.7 percent for the week ending February 9 from 8.2 percent a year earlier, largely influenced by the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to phase out Rs 2,000 banknotes. Currency in circulation (CiC) encompasses notes and coins actively used, while currency with the public is calculated as notes and coins in circulation minus cash held by banks. The RBI noted that commercial banks experienced a surge in deposits in January, also attributed to the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency notes. Reserve Money (RM) growth, as per RBI data, decelerated to…

The Indian Paper Manufacturers Association (IPMA) revealed that imports of paper and paperboards have surged by 37 percent to approximately 1.47 million tonnes during April-December of the current fiscal year, significantly impacting local paper mills. In the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, imports stood at around 1.07 million tonnes, according to data from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S) cited by IPMA. The import volume for the entire fiscal year FY23 witnessed a 25 percent increase, reaching 1.44 million tonnes, and the April-December figures have already surpassed that mark, IPMA stated. Pawan Agarwal, President of…

The majority of G-33 nations, a coalition of developing countries within the World Trade Organization (WTO), have collectively called upon all WTO members to reach consensus and adopt a permanent resolution regarding the issue of public stockholding for food security objectives. In a ministerial statement on Agriculture Trade Negotiations issued on February 25, it was emphasized that the G-33 members recognize the crucial significance of public stockholding for food security, particularly for developing countries, including least developed countries (LDCs) and net food-importing developing countries (NFIDCs), in addressing food and livelihood security as well as rural development needs, including support for…

Eight of the top 10 most valued firms witnessed a collective surge of Rs 1,10,106.83 crore in market valuation over the past week, spearheaded by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL). The 30-share BSE Sensex index climbed 716.16 points or 0.97 percent during this period. Among the gainers were RIL, ICICI Bank, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), ITC, and Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), while Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys experienced a combined decline of Rs 38,477.49 crore in market valuation. Reliance Industries alone contributed Rs 43,976.96 crore to its market capitalization, reaching Rs 20,20,470.88 crore. On Friday, shares of RIL…

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have maintained their bullish stance on India’s debt markets, injecting a net amount of over Rs 18,500 crore so far this month. This surge is attributed to the upcoming inclusion of Indian government bonds in the JP Morgan Index. January witnessed a substantial net investment of over Rs 19,836 crore, marking the highest monthly inflow in over six years, reminiscent of the peak in June 2017 when Rs 25,685 crore was infused. Kislay Upadhyay, smallcase Manager & Founder Fidelfolio, noted, “The introduction of India in global bond indices this year is expected to drive steady inflows…