RKCS Consultancy Services, Goa

09/01/2018

EIGHT CHINESE PHARMA FIRMS MAY BE BLACKLISTED OVER QUALITY ISSUES
The Indian government has issued showcause notices to, and may soon blacklist, eight Chinese pharmaceutical companies found to be supplying poor quality raw material to drug manufacturers in this country.
The notices were issued after a special inspection team of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) inspected the eight companies in China.

According to documents available with IANS, the eight companies are M/S Qilu Tianhe Pharmaceuticals, M/S Hinan Xinxiang Pharmaceuticals, M/S Zhuhai United Labratories, M/S Guangzhao Baiyunshan Pharmaceuticals, M/S Shouguang Fukang Pharmaceuticals, M/S Qilu Antibiotics (Linyi) Pharmaceuticals, M/S Qindao Brightmoon Seawoods and M/S Shanghaoi Xiandia Hasen (Shangqiu) Pharmaceuticals.
According to sources in the DCGI, the companies on the verge of getting blacklisted are currently supplying a huge chunk of raw material to the Indian drug manufacturers.
"The allegations against the companies are of providing poor quality products and the action against them will soon be decided by the government. This will be harsh as we don't want the quality of drugs in India compromised," said a senior DCGI officer.
Sources said that with government's action against the Chine firms, India may witness a shortage of medicines, including for vital diseases such as cancer, for a couple of months.
Data from the Ministry for Chemicals and Fertilisers states that India gets 70 per cent of its raw material for drugs from China.
According to figures furnished to Parliament, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) worth Rs 12,254.97 crore were imported in 2016-17. The figure for 2015-16 was Rs 13,853.20 crore. (API refers to the biologically active component of a drug product.)

In 2014-15, the API import stood at Rs 12,757.96 crore and at Rs 12,061.53 crore in 2013-14.

Sources in the DCGI said that following poor quality of pharmaceutical raw products from China, the Indian government has also decided to inspect API from other countries such as the United States, Italy and some European nations.
India imported APIs worth Rs 18,372.54 crore in 2016-17. This included APIs estimated to be worth Rs 820.18 crore from the United States, worth Rs 701.85 crore from Italy, worth Rs 485.11 crore from Germany and Rs 422.01 from Singapore.

09/01/2018

1,463 BAD LOAN ACCOUNTS OWE PSU BANKS RS 100 CRORE OR MORE
As many as 1,463 entities account for bad loans of Rs 100 crore or more in 21 public sector banks (PSBs), finance ministry data showed.

In State Bank of IndiaBSE 0.38 % (SBIBSE 0.38 %) alone, 265 accounts had bad loans of more than Rs 100 crore each, totalling Rs 77,538 crore, at the end of the September quarter.
Among the nationalised banks, Punjab National BankBSE 0.45 % topped the chart with 143 non-performing asset (NPA) accounts carrying over Rs 100 crore each. They collectively owed the Delhi-headquartered bank Rs 45,973 crore.

PNB was followed by Canara BankBSE 0.92 % with maximum number of accounts with NPAs of more than Rs 100 crore.

Among smaller PSU lenders, Union Bank had 79 such accounts, Oriental Bank 68 and UCO Bank 62, the finance ministry data revealed.

Gross non-performing assets of state-owned banks stood at Rs 7.34 lakh crore by the end of second quarter this fiscal.

09/01/2018

MUTUAL FUND FIRMS CANNOT BE BOTH ADVISER AND DISTRIBUTOR: SEBI - LIVEMINT
On 2 January, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) came out with a consultation paper—the third so far—on mutual fund adviser guidelines, taking another step in demarcating advice and selling. The guidelines said that a Sebi-registered investment adviser (RIA) cannot offer mutual fund distribution services, and added that a distributor cannot offer investment advisory services.
Despite the Sebi (Investment Advisers) Regulations, 2013 being in place since 2013, until now your investment adviser or mutual fund distributor would have typically done both—advised you on what to buy and when; followed by a sale transaction where you bought a mutual fund from her to execute the advice given.
Remember, the original 2013 guidelines had allowed distributors to set up a separate division (commonly known as separately identifiable departments or SIDDs) to offer advisory services. Then, the two consultation papers (October 2016 and July 2017) said that mutual fund distributors would need to set up subsidiaries and offer investment advisory services through them.
The third consultation paper goes a step further and now tells advisers and distributors to choose—either to become advisers or distributors. They cannot be both. The latest consultation paper gives time till 31 March 2019 to distributors and advisers to make the choice. But a final circular will most likely come before that.

09/01/2018

TATA HOUSING, LODHA GROUP KEEN TO BUY JAYPEE'S YAMUNA EXPRESSWAY
Real estate developers Tata Housing and the Lodha Group have filed initial bids for debt-laden realtor and road builder Jaypee InfratechBSE 6.65 %, the fate of which is now being decided at the Supreme Court and the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), the country's dedicated platform for insolvency resolution.
Two people familiar with the bidding process told ET that both property companies are keen to own Jaypee's Yamuna Expressway, a prime concrete road project that starts at the eastern end of Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and runs up to Agra. The Yamuna Expressway carries heavy traffic at a toll of slightly more than Rs 2 a kilometre for a car.
Rs 2,000 Crore Needed
India's only operational Formula One racing track is located along the road, while the site of the capital region's second proposed airport is close to the first toll gate from the Greater Noida end. Next to the motorway is one of the biggest urban campuses of a state-run university, while the mega convention centre hosting the annual Auto Expo is also adjacent to the expressway.

ET reported on January 4 that the Reserve Bank of India has ordered banks not to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against Jaiprakash AssociatesBSE 1.80 %, the parent of Jaypee Infratech, in likely anticipation of legal complications after a Supreme Court ruling barred its promoters from selling or transferring assets. The court ruling followed an appeal by homebuyers after IDBI Bank filed to start insolvency proceedings in August against Jaypee Infratech.
Jaypee Group managing director Suren Jain and the Lodha Group declined to comment on the bids for Jaypee Infratech. Tata Housing didn't respond to ET's queries.
While there appears to have been a big response, it's to be seen how many of the initial expressions of interest translate into binding offers, sources said. A binding bid comes with a commitment from an interested party to purchase the assets.

"The bidders, apart from purchasing the assets, need to infuse around Rs 2,000 crore to complete the projects already taken up by Jaypee Infra," said one of the two persons cited above.

09/01/2018

09/01/2018

JAPAN INVESTORS BET BIG ON BITCOIN
Known as "Miss Bitcoin" on Japanese social media, Mai Fujimoto says she invests all of her savings in the virtual currency that has proved a huge hit in Japan.
"I convert all my disposable income into cryptocurrency," the 32-year-old tells AFP. "I've been doing this for nearly a year now. I convert all my savings into cryptocurrency instead of putting them in a bank."

She is not alone in her enthusiasm. Bitcoin is recognised as legal tender in the world's third-biggest economy and nearly one-third of global bitcoin transactions in December were denominated in yen, according to specialised website jpbitcoin.com.
This has led to many analysts speculating that the famous Mrs Watanabe—shorthand for Japanese individual foreign exchange investors— is behind the recent volatile frenzy that pushed the price of bitcoin up to nearly $20,000 before dropping back.

Firstly, unlike regional rivals China and South Korea, whose regulators have clamped down hard on the cryptocurrency, Japan has welcomed it with open arms.

In April, Japan passed a law recognising bitcoin and other virtual currencies as legal tender while also stressing the need for transparency and financial stability.
Some well-known Japanese businesses have started accepting payment in bitcoin and one firm made waves when it said it would pay part of its employees' salaries in the currency if they wish. "The involvement of big companies, the sense of security derived from government approval and media exposure really brought in a whole new group of people to the market," said Koji Higashi, a wellknown commentator on the cryptobusiness in Japan.
While Japanese are generally considered risk-averse investors, they are also well-versed in the complexities of market trading, especially in foreign exchange.

"To be honest, I am not sure if people are buying into bitcoin based on rational decision-making. It feels more of a short-term irrational mania to me," he added.

"At the time, I was working with children and creating an online donation platform. And for the first time, I learned how expensive it is to send money abroad," Fujimoto recalled. "So, I was really impressed when I heard that I don't have to go through banks if I use bitcoin payment," added the businesswoman.

She snapped up her first bitcoin for 1,200 yen ($10) in 2012. On Sunday it was trading at $16,726.

09/01/2018

BUSINESS STANDARD-AADHAAR'S SECURITY FLAWS CAN HAVE DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES FOR INDIANS
It is no surprise that the latest data and security breach surrounding the Aadhaar biometric programme has been selectively denied by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the government of India and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
All three have slammed news reports, calling it mis-reporting even though the process of filing a first information report (FIR) is underway and the portal where the alleged breach took place (portal.uidai.gov.in) has been shut down since the news started making waves.
Increasingly worn out defences were also mounted and trotted out – the UIDAI stated that Aadhaar biometric data is completely safe and cannot be accessed by any rogue individual. It stoically, and misleadingly, maintained that the Central Identities Database Repository (CIDR) was safe even though nobody (including The Tribune) claimed that biometrics were accessed or the CIDR was compromised.
The UIDAI also curiously engaged in a dangerous campaign of misinformation by claiming that the demographic data associated with Aadhaar numbers (name, gender, age phone numbers, addresses) is not sensitive information. Its implication is that it is wholly acceptable for this data to be in the public domain even though the Aadhaar Act of 2016 specifically states otherwise.
However, even on its claims of biometric data and the enrolment process being secure, the UIDAI falls short. It has filed two FIRs over attempts that were made to breach the biometric authentication process in Uttar Pradesh. The UP Police Special Investigation Task Force has arrested a gang believed to have built their own Aadhaar registration clients, bypassing both biometric and iris protections designed for the enrolment procedure.
Leaving this aside though, it has become clear that this is how the UIDAI acts when presented with evidence that its wider ecosystem is filled with holes and is leaking profusely. Every time a security incident is reported, the agency puts out blanket denials even before investigating what has transpired. In the latest breach, the filing of an FIR clearly indicates something has gone wrong and thus needs to be further investigated.
Since the formalisation of the UID programme through the 2016 Aadhaar Act, breaches in the wider ecosystem have piled up. Nearly a year after the Act was pushed through the Lok Sabha, the minister of state for information technology replied to a question in parliament, admitting that over 200 government websites had been publishing Aadhaar numbers and the list of these websites have been made available in a subsequent parliamentary question.

27/12/2017

ONLY 1.7% INDIANS PAID INCOME TAX IN AY 2015-16: THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE
Just over 2 crore Indians, or 1.7 per cent of the total population, paid income tax in the assessment year (AY) 2015-16, according to data released by the I-T department. The number of income-tax return filers increased to 4.07 crore in assessment year 2015-16 (FY 2014-2015) from 3.65 crore in the previous year but only 2.06 crore actually paid tax as the others claimed income below taxable limits.
In the previous AY 2014-15, 1.91 crore, out of 3.65 crore who filed returns, had paid income tax. But the total income tax paid by individuals declined to Rs. 1.88 lakh crore in AY 2015-16 from Rs. 1.91 lakh crore in AY 2014-15.
The data, released last week, indicates just over 3 per cent of the 120 crore population filed returns. Of these, 2.01 crore paid nil income tax, 9,690 paid tax of over Rs. 1 crore. Only one individual paid over Rs. 100 crore in taxes (Rs 238 crore to be precise).
Maximum among of 19,931 crore was collected from 2.80 crore tax filers who paid between Rs. 5.5 lakh to Rs. 9.5 lakh in taxes. As many as 1.84 crore returns were filed for payment of income tax of less than Rs. 1.5 lakh or an average of Rs. 24,000.
Of the 4.07 crore tax returns field in AY 2015-16, close to 82 lakh showed zero or income less than Rs. 2.5 lakh. Currently, no income tax is for income up to Rs. 2.5 lakh.
In AY 2014-15, 3.65 crore filed tax returns with 1.37 crore showing zero or less than Rs. 2.5 lakh income. The combined income of all individual tax filers rose to Rs. 21.27 lakh crore in AY 2015-16 from Rs. 18.41 lakh crore in the previous year.
Maximum number of 1.33 crore individuals were in Rs. 2.5 lakh to Rs. 3.5 lakh income group in AY 2015-16. In all, 4.35 crore income tax returns, including those by individuals, were filed in AY 2015-16. Total income declared was Rs. 33.62 lakh crore.

27/12/2017

*Properties of struck off companies from RoC can’t be used, operated, transferred or alienated until restored*

As per statement made by Shri P.P. Chaudhary, Minister of State for Law & Justice / Corporate Affairs in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 22nd December, 2017, the Central Government has drawn the attention of all the concerned States and Union Territories (UTs) towards the fact that so far, 2,24,733, companies have been struck off from Register of Companies.

It was further stated that assets, properties etc. (i.e. all movable and immovable assets/properties) of such struck off companies (which ceased to operate as legal entities) cannot be used, operated, transferred or alienated in any manner by the companies including by their ex-directors/authorised signatories, till they are restored by following the due process of law under Section 252 of the act.

Source: PIB