Ministry of Finance

Investment Incentive Agreement between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of India (MAY 23, 2022)

The Government of India and the Government of the United States of America has signed an Investment Incentive Agreement (IIA) today at Tokyo, Japan. The IIA was signed by Shri Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary, Government of India, and Mr. Scott Nathan, Chief Executive Officer, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

This IIA supersedes the Investment Incentive Agreement signed between the Government of India and the Government of the United States of America in the year 1997.

The Agreement is the legal requirement for DFC, to continue providing investment support in India. DFC or their predecessor agencies are active in India since 1974 and have so far provided investment support worth $5.8 billion of which $2.9 billion is still outstanding. Proposals worth $4 billion are under consideration by DFC for providing investment support in India.

For Press Release, Click Here

Ministry of Electronics & IT

Citizens can now access Digilocker services on the MyGov Helpdesk on WhatsApp (MAY 23, 2022)

In a major initiative to make Government services accessible, inclusive, transparent and simple, MyGov today announced that citizens will now be able to use the MyGov Helpdesk on WhatsApp to access the Digilocker service. This includes creating and authenticating their Digilocker account, downloading documents such as PAN card, driving license, vehicle registration certificate, among others, all on WhatsApp.

WhatsApp users across the country can use the chatbot by simply sending ‘Namaste or Hi or Digilocker’ to the WhatsApp number +91 9013151515.

For Details, Click Here

Ministry of Steel

SAIL Celebrates Fifty years of Incorporation with a Special Logo (MAY 23, 2022)

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), the maharatna steelmaking public sector unit, is celebrating the company’s fifty years of incorporation this year in 2022. SAIL was incorporated on 24th January, 1973.

The design of the commemorative logo retains the essence of SAIL’s company logo while bringing out the spirit of fifty years of journey of this company. The logo was launched by Smt. Soma Mondal, Chairman, SAIL in presence of the Company’s directors here today.

For Press Release, Click Here

MINISTRY OF FINANCE (Department of Revenue)

Central Excise 

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 112 of Finance Act, 2018 , read with section 5A of the Central Excise Act, 1944, the Central Government being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby makes the following further amendments in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), Central Excise, dated the 6th July, 2019, published in the Gazette of India, namely:-

 In the said notification, in the Table, - (i) against Sl. No. 1, for the entry in column (4), the entry ―Rs. 5 per litre‖ shall be substituted; (ii) against Sl. No. 2, for the entry in column (4), the entry ―Rs. 2 per litre‖ shall be substituted. 

This notification shall come into force with effect from the 22nd May, 2022

For Gazette Notification, Click Here

SUPREME COURT 

Supreme Court to hear Subrata Roy's plea against Patna High Court order on July 13 (MAY 21, 2022)

The Supreme Court Friday said it would hear on July 13 the plea in which it had stayed the direction of the Patna High Court asking the Director General of Police, Bihar, to produce Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy before it in connection with the case in which some companies of the Group were not returning money to the investors. A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and J B Pardiwala passed the order while taking into account the request made by the Bihar government's counsel who said the state needed time to file a counter-affidavit.

It had also stayed the separate order passed by the high court which had on February 11 directed to add Sahara Credit Cooperative Societies Limited and Roy as opposite parties to a bail petition pending before it and later, directed him to personally appear before it.

For News Report, Click Here

ECONOMY NEWS 

‘Heatwaves’ credit negative for India: Moody’s says climate-related shocks could hurt growth, worsen inflation (MAY 23, 2022)

The sweltering heat that is affecting the northern and western parts of India could be bad news for India’s credit worthiness. According to a Moody’s report, the prolonged heatwave, especially ravaging agriculture-dependent states like Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, will curb wheat production, could lead to extended power outages, exacerbate already high inflation and hurt economic growth. This will be a credit negative for India, the report added.

India’s credit rating is currently Baa3, according to Moody’s, which is just above the ‘junk’ rating. A sovereign credit rating can give investors insights into the level of risk associated with investing in the debt of a particular country, according to Investopedia. Lower credit rating would mean higher risk for an investor.

For Details, Click Here

INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY

NCLAT dismisses Hinduja Leyland Finance plea for insolvency proceedings (May 23, 2022) 

The NCLAT has dismissed the plea of Hinduja Leyland Finance Ltd to initiate insolvency proceedings against its creditor Fly Express Logistics. A three-member bench of the appellate tribunal upheld the earlier orders of the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which had on April 5, 2022, rejected the plea of Hinduja Leyland Finance. 

The NCLT had said the date of default wasDecember 24, 2022 which falls within prohibition period mentioned in Section 10 A of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and no petition can ever be filed for initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP)for a default occurring in such period. 

This was challenged by the Hinduja Group firm before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) contending that December 24, 2022 was wrongly mentioned as the date of default in the petition before NCLT. It wanted to file an amendment application but since the petition was dismissed by NCLT on the first day of the hearing, it could not do so, contended Hinduja Leyland Finance. However, the appellate tribunal also rejected the petition of Hinduja Leyland Finance after observing that December 24, 2022 was clearly mentioned as the date of default. 

For News Report, Click Here

WORD OF THE DAY 

An onerous contract is a contract in which the aggregate cost required to fulfill the agreement is higher than the economic benefit to be obtained from it. Such a contract can represent a major financial burden for an organization.

MARKET TODAY (as on 23.05.2022)

BSE SENSEX                 54,288.61 ▼ 37.78 (0.07%)

NIFTY 50                       16,214.70 ▼ 51.45 (0.32%)

DOLLAR VS RUPEE

1 US Dollar = 77.56 Indian Rupee (Last updated · May 23, 12:49 PM UTC)

MyLawman is now on Telegram (t.me/mylawman) Follow us for regular legal updates. Follow us on Google News, Instagram, LinkedInFacebook & Twitter or join our Whatsapp group .You can also subscribe for our Newsletter for Email Updates.