Ministry of Law and Justice
Women Representation on Benches (01 APR 2022)
Appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts is made under Articles 124, 217 and 224 of the Constitution of India, which do not provide reservation for any caste or class of persons. In the present system of appointment of Judges to the constitutional courts through the Collegium system, the onus to provide social diversity and representation to all sections of the society including SC/ST/OBC/Women/Minorities primarily falls on the Judiciary. Government cannot appoint any person as a High Court Judge who is not recommended by the High Court Collegium/Supreme Court Collegium.
However, the Government remains committed to social diversity in the appointment of Judges in the Higher Judiciary and has been requesting the Chief Justices of High Courts that while sending proposals for appointment of Judges, due consideration be given to suitable candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Minorities and Women to ensure social diversity in appointment of Judges in High Courts.
From 01.01.2021 to 30.03.2022, Supreme Court Collegium has recommended 39 women for appointment as High Court Judges, out of which 27 women were appointed and remaining 12 cases are under various stages of processing.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Law and Justice, Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Supreme Court
SEBI moves Supreme Court against Bombay HC order on Reliance Commercial Finance ( APR 01, 2022 )
Market regulator Sebi has moved the Supreme Court against the Bombay high court’s order that allowed the Reliance Commercial Finance’s shareholders to carry out a voting process based on the Debenture Trust Deeds (DTDs) signed in compliance with the RBI’s 2019 circular that is aimed at time-bound resolution of stressed assets. A bench, led by CJI NV Ramana, asked the lenders and other parties not to give effect to the voting process, which has already concluded, till the matter is heard next week afresh by another SC bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud.
The conflict has risen in this case due to application of two circulars issued by two regulators – RBI and Sebi. While the voting was conducted under the RBI (Prudential Framework for Resolution of Stressed Assets) Directions 2019, issued on June 7, 2019, that allowed the lenders to enter into Inter Creditor Agreement (ICA) for arriving at and implementing a resolution plan, Sebi says that the Sebi (Debenture Trustee) Regulations 1993 and its circular of October 13, 2020 were to be strictly complied with as they are meant to protect the interests of investors and to regulate the securities market.
NCLT
NCLT approves amalgamation of CGPL with Tata Power ( APR 01, 2022 )
Tata Power, one of India’s largest integrated power companies, received approval from the Mumbai Bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday for the composite scheme of arrangement between Coastal Gujarat Power (CGPL) and Tata Power and their respective shareholders. The scheme provides for the amalgamation of CGPL with Tata Power which will result in streamlining the corporate structure and consolidation of assets and liabilities of CGPL within Tata Power.
The thermal power plant CGPL, is a wholly-owned subsidiary
of Tata Power and operates the 4000-MW UMPP in Mundra, Gujarat.
Ministry of Finance
All time high Gross GST collection in March’2022, breaching earlier record of ₹ 1,40,986 crore collected in the Month of January 2022 ( APR 01, 2022 )
The gross GST revenue collected in the month of March 2022 is ₹ 1,42,095 crore of which CGST is ₹ 25,830 crore, SGST is ₹ 32,378 crore, IGST is ₹ 74,470 crore (including ₹ 39,131 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is ₹ 9,417 crore (including ₹ 981 crore collected on import of goods). The gross GST collection in March’2022 is all time high breaching earlier record of ₹ 1,40,986 crore collected in the Month of January 2022.
The government has settled ₹ 29,816 crore to CGST and ₹ 25,032 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. In addition, Centre has also settled Rs. 20,000 crore of IGST on ad-hoc basis in the ratio of 50:50 between Centre and States/UTs in this month.
The revenues for the month of March 2022 are 15% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year and 46% higher than the GST revenues in March 2020.
The average monthly gross GST collection for the last quarter of the FY 2021-22 has been ₹ 1.38 lakh crore against the average monthly collection of ₹ 1.10 lakh crore, ₹ 1.15 lakh crore and 1.30 lakh crore in the first, second and third quarters respectively.
Coupled with economic recovery, anti-evasion activities, especially action against fake billers have been contributing to the enhanced GST. The improvement in revenue has also been due to various rate rationalization measures undertaken by the Council to correct inverted duty structure.
Telecom
Airtel, Vodafone Must Have One-Month Prepaid Recharge Plan Soon: TRAI Order Explained ( APR 01, 2022 )
Issuing a clarification on its earlier order on monthly prepaid recharges, the telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) has provided another 60 days to telecom service providers to comply with the new directive. the telecom sector regulator in January had asked the companies to come out with at least one tariff plan that can be renewed on the same date of every month.
Currently, telecom service providers (TSPs), such as Airtel and Vodafone Idea, provide recharge packages with validities of 24 days, 28 days, 56 days and 84 days, among others. As of now, there is no recharge that can cover the whole month of 30 days or 31 days. Customers have been complaining that with the monthly validity of 28 days, they have to do 13 recharges in 12 months. To sort out this issue, Trai came out with a directive in January.
World Affairs
EU lawmakers set to tighten up on crypto transfers ( APR 01, 2022 )
European Union lawmakers were set on Thursday to back tougher safeguards for transfers of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, in the latest sign that regulators are tightening up on the freewheeling sector. Two committees in the European Parliament have thrashed out cross-party compromises to be voted on. Crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc (COIN.O) has warned the rules would usher in a surveillance regime that stifles innovation.
The $2.1 trillion crypto sector is still subject to patchy regulation across the world. Concerns that bitcoin and its peers could upset financial stability and be used for crime have accelerated work by policymakers to bring the sector to heel.
Under the proposal first put forward last year by the EU's executive European Commission, crypto firms such as exchanges would have to obtain, hold, and submit information on those involved in transfers. That would make is easier to identify and report suspicious transactions, freeze digital assets, and discourage high-risk transactions, said Ernest Urtasun, a Spanish Green Party lawmaker helping to steer the measure through the parliament.
The Commission had proposed applying the rule to transfers worth 1,000 euros ($1,116) or more, but under the cross-party agreement this 'de minimis' rule has been scrapped - meaning all transfers would be in scope.
Word of the Day
A white elephant is a troublesome asset that is high maintenance and expensive to retire. The phrase originates with a Thai legend about a king who gives an obnoxious courier a gift of a white elephant. The cost of feeding the large animal then drives the courier into the poor house.
The term is often applied to construction projects that exceed initial budgets by a great margin but are too expensive not to finish. The term has also been applied to technology projects such as new aircraft commissioned by defense departments that vastly exceeded development budgets only to produce aircraft that have particularly high maintenance costs.
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Dollar vs Rupee ( as on 1.04.2022 , 5.18 p.m )
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