1) Simple procedure needed for DEMAT
Union Ministry for Corporate Affairs should have a complete and thorough study of different types of procedures adopted by different companies in respect of shares-certificates still held in physical form by a large number of shareholders. Many aged shareholders because of non-awareness or death of spouses or relations have not been able to get their decades-old share-certificates dematerialised. There are also cases where due to some reasons, premises registered with companies locked with companies now requiring latest share-certificates issued after premises being locked for dematerialisation.
It is quite common that signatures of shareholders differ after decades. Many companies require signature-verifications according to their own format but on letter-heads of banks. But banks provide signature-verification in their own format and not on the format provided by companies for the purpose. This creates a lot of problems when procedures and requirements of banks and companies differ with shareholders affected. Procedure for getting deposited dividends and shares transferred to Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) should be simplified.
Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs should introduce simplified and common forms for different purposes like for dematerialisation of shares and for recovery of dividends from IEPF, which should be available on the website of the ministry. All such forms should be like passport-application forms where shareholders may fill details on forms on the websites and then filled forms may be downloaded to be submitted to Depository Participants, companies, banks or others concerned. Even advance copy of such filled-up forms on websites can also be e-mailed to concerned ones.
All companies should be directed to send one more reminder for dematerialisation of shares clearly mentioning holding of shares, debentures or any other form of investment to individual investors. This reminder should also mention details of unclaimed dividends, interests etc, held either by the company or transferred IEPF, clearly mentioning procedure to claim these. Depository Participants for dematerialisation should only be public sector banks or other public-sector undertakings like Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited to prevent chances of frauds and cheating by private players. Non-listed companies should also compulsorily inform investors likewise about unclaimed securities, dividends, interest etc.
– Subhash Chandra Agrawal
2) Indian shipping companies must pull up their socks
Our Indian shipping has done well largely to our good education and English proficiency. Speaking generally, we have not been excellent vis-a-vis practical work on board, health and stamina. Our maritime education, especially that of ratings, has been poor with no proper supervision. DGS created Board of examination largely to evade responsibility if you can take it sportingly to wipe off their sins in granting permission to numerous colleges. Quite a number of such colleges are located at places where DGS can’t reach unaided.
Now the ships and Indian shipping companies are crying today, why? Because you have not been enterprising enough, you made small profits and devoured on them lazily. Now I see a picture of Abdul Ghani Serang saheb meeting Gadkariji. Croatia is a small nation, look at their technological advancement. I had one chief officer on Hermann Oldendorff who took our class on board at Hazmat. No one could cover the subject better. We didn’t carry out onboard training. Our work culture on board of Indian ships has been rather poor. We can’t repair and dry dock our ships here. We have no decent passenger ship under the Indian flag. Our ships are old for meeting oncoming IMO requirements on use of low sulphur fuel, scrubbers and ballast water treatment equipment fitment.
DG shipping has no clue. Why blame them? Poor fellows never knew what to do. They just did it and left with arrogance. No training and assessment for them especially the ADG and DDG. Please excuse me! I am not demeaning them. They did not set up a good system and the Ministry was equally bad.
Indian shipping companies must pull up their socks at least 15 per cent of their staff must consist of foreign technicians. Six foreign experts to sit in Parliament Street to aid and assist the minister and the secretaries.
Start doing it today and Ministry must be very hard hitting on nonperformers. See the results in one year. IWT and coastal shipping too requires specialists and not mere job seekers. Get CDC somehow and come on board and start agitating. Shipping does not run that way. Hard and sustained work from top to bottom. That’s the Best way!
– Mahendra Singh
3) Mercy should be an exception rather than a rule
It refers to Supreme Court on July 09, 2018, turning down review-petition of all remaining four accused in infamous 16/12 rape-cum-murder case of the year 2016 with one accused committing suicide in prison and the other being freed taking advantage of being juvenile at the time of committing a crime. But still there remains yet another time-consuming process of filing and subsequent decision of mercy petition with the President of India. The system should be for a time-bound competition of all proceedings at different stages in a time-bound manner including a decision on mercy-petitions in crimes attracting death-penalty so that finally an early execution may create much-needed fear against committing such heinous crimes. It is good that only recently a trial-court in Madhya Pradesh awarded death-sentence to a convict for raping a minor girl just within 46 days with police also supersonically fling charge-sheet within a record of three days.
Such lengthy time-consuming process from the stage of trial-court till Supreme Court including a provision of review by Apex Court and then process of mercy-petition without any time-limit to decide makes the punishment of death-sentence meaningless because of dilution of fear amongst such criminals. Mercy-petitions should be decided compulsorily within three months of filing and should be accepted only in rarest of rare cases that too after compulsorily seeking nod from families of victims. Mercy should be an exception rather than a rule. Abnormally high delay in deciding mercy petitions and also subsequent execution in case of rejection of mercy-petitions unnecessarily creates provocation including even state-assemblies passing resolutions for pardon on religious and regional grounds. Since all court-remedies in regard to death-sentences including at Apex Court are adopted before filing mercy-petitions, further approaching courts after the rejection of mercy-petitions must not be allowed. Hanging should be within a week of rejection of mercy-petitions.
– Madhu Agrawal
4) Modi’s hatred for Christians
When so many Indians are suffering in our country, our Modiji keeps on enjoying himself by visiting various countries of the world. Why didn’t he visit the Vatican City when he was invited by the Pope for the canonisation of Mother Teresa in September 2016? This shows his hatred for Christians.
– Jubel D’Cruz
5) Pothole patching time over
The torrential rains in the Mumbai city dashed BMC’s hope of filling the potholes and missed the deadline. As the corporation is not ready with quick measures to solve this perennial problem even after resuming of the monsoon season, the local body missed the date. Thus, motorists are put to test and made manoeuvre their vehicles on a road full of potholes in Santacruz (W), Sion and other areas of the city. The haphazard road with craters increasing day by day is becoming a killer spot for two-wheeler riders. Both the Sena, ruling party in the corporation and BJP leading the state play bicker over politics and there is no ultimate solution. After taxpayers’ money is going to drains and public are made to undergo all trials and tribulations. To add this number of trees are falling during windy days in the monsoon months. The blame game is on and no, one is able to provide a permanent solution to the potholes problem persisting in an already bad conditioned roads of Mumbai. It is indeed a death trap for road users.
– Anandambal Subbu
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
