The Securities and Exchange Board of India has tweaked its SEBI Regulations 2018 rules on buyback of shares by companies.
Among the amendments, companies can now use 75 per cent of the proceeds of the buyback undertaken through the stock exchange route from the existing minimum of 50 per cent.
The Sebi has said the regulator has brought amendments to SEBI (Buy-back of Securities) Regulations, 2018, after considering the various suggestions received from stakeholders. Some of the amendments brought in were buyback done through stock exchanges route to be phased out in a gradual manner and increasing minimum utilisation of the amount earmarked for buyback through stock exchange route from existing 50 per cent to 75 per cent, according to a the regulator’s statement released on Tuesday.
The other two amendments are the creation of a separate window on stock exchanges for undertaking buyback till the time buyback through stock exchange is permitted and buyback through tender offer route.
The timeline for completion of buybacks through tender offers has been reduced by 18 days, Sebi said.
Sebi has also accepted the recommendations of the working group on improving governance standards at exchanges – new rules include increased accountability of directors, stricter investment policy and data sharing.
Members of the ruling coalition in Maharashtra staged a demonstration in the legislature complex here on Thursday and demanded an inquiry into Lok Sabha member Rahul Shewale’s claim of several phone calls from a person with ‘AU’ initials to actress Rhea Chakraborty, the girlfriend of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
Shewale, who belongs to the Shiv Sena faction led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, had on Wednesday flagged in the Lok Sabha the issue of alleged suicide of Rajput and asked about the status of the CBI’s inquiry into his death.
Legislator Pratap Sarnaik, also part of the Shinde camp, on Thursday said Shewale had claimed there were 44 phone calls from ‘AU’ to Chakraborty.
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shinde faction staged a demonstration in the Vidhan Bhavan complex on Thursday while holding banners which read: “AU kaun hain” (who is AU).
Sarnaik demanded an inquiry into the allegations raised by Shewale and to find out who was ‘AU’. Legislators of the ruling dispensation also raised slogans against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Chhagan Bhujbal for allegedly insulting Mumbai by calling it the ‘Kombdi’ (hen) that lays the golden egg.
Bhujbal, a former minister, on Wednesday said he had only used the popular Marathi version of the phrase `to kill the goose that lays the golden egg’.
Meanwhile, members of the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi also staged a demonstration in the Vidhan Bhavan complex and again demanded the resignation of CM Shinde over a Nagpur land allotment decision by him as the urban development minister in the previous MVA government.
The opposition members have been making the demand for Shinde’s resignation since Tuesday. On Thursday, Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Ajit Pawar, his counterpart in the Council Ambadas Danve, Congress leader Nana Patole, Shiv Sena (UBT) legislator Aaditya Thackeray, NCP’s Rohit Pawar and others were part of the demonstration where slogans were also raised alleging corruption in the Nagpur Investment Trust (NIT) land allotment case.
The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court last week ordered status quo on a decision taken by Shinde, when he was the urban development minister in the previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, over the allotment of land meant for slum dwellers to private persons.
Danve on Tuesday said the NIT, which comes under the urban development department, had reserved a plot measuring 4.5 acres in the city for the construction of houses for rehabilitation of slum dwellers. “However, Shinde had issued an order to hand over the land parcel to 16 persons at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore.
The current cost of the land is Rs 83 crore,” he had claimed. The CM had denied any wrongdoing and rejected the demand to quit.
Union Home Min suspends Senior IPS officer & ex-Chief of Tihar prison Sandeep Goel over extortion allegations 4
Former Delhi Prisons chief Sandeep Goel has been suspended from service almost a month after conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar made sensational claims that he paid Rs 12.5 crore to the Indian Police Service officer as “protection money”. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an order on Wednesday night suspending Goel from service.
The action was taken a month after the IPS officer was transferred from the post of Director General of Prisons and asked to report to Delhi Police Headquarters. The transfer order had followed Chandrashekhar’s claims that he paid Rs 12.5 crore to Goel as “protection money” for his safety in Mandoli Jail where he is lodged in connection with a Rs 200 crore money laundering case.
Chandrashekhar also claimed in his letter to the LG that he paid over Rs 50 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party for an “important” post in the party and another Rs 10 crore to jailed minister Satyender Jain as “protection money”. Sanjay Beniwal, a 1989-batch IPS officer, was then appointed as the new Director General of Prisons in place of Goel, who is also a 1989-batch officer. The order was issued with the clearance of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
The claims were made by Sukesh in a letter dated October 7. Chandrashekhar’s allegation also came soon after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed in a court that Jain had met a witness in Tihar Jail and tried to tamper with evidence. In 2019, Chandrashekhar alleged, Jain along with his Secretary and close friend Sushil met him in jail and asked him to pay Rs 2 crore every month as “protection money” to “live safely” in the jail and to get basic facilities besides asking to pay Rs 1.5 crore to Goel, who he said was a “loyal associate” of the minister. Jain forced him to pay Rs 10 crore within 2-3 months, he alleged.
He claimed the whole money was collected through his associate “Chaturvedi” in Kolkata. “Hence a total amount of Rs 10 crore was paid to Satyendar Jain and Rs 12.50 crore to DG Prison Sandeep Goel,” he claimed in the letter. Chandrashekhar also claimed he had disclosed about Goel running a racket in a petition in Delhi High Court, besides telling the CBI about the money paid to both Jain and Goel.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal | Image: Twitter/@PiyushGoyal
Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday withdrew his “demeaning” remarks on Bihar, which triggered protests in Parliament by MPs from the state who demanded an apology from him. “Let me clarify that I have no intention to insult either Bihar or the people of Bihar. If it has hurt anyone’s sentiment, I immediately withdraw that statement,” the minister said in Rajya Sabha today.
On Tuesday while RJD member Manoj Jha was speaking on inflation in the Upper House, the union minister Goyal had said “Inka bas chale toh desh ko Bihar hi bana de” (if he had his way he would turn the entire country into Bihar). Jha has written to Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Rajya Sabha chairman, demanding an apology from the minister.
Jha said that Goyal’s comments are “representative of the contemptuous and condescending attitude of the Government of India towards Bihar”. “Is the statement made by Mr Piyush Goyal also representative of the contemptuous and condescending attitude of the Government of India toward Bihar? Because it is deeply problematic if the Government singles out one state and terms it a failure,” the letter reads. “Bihar has been long ignored by governments at the centre and Biharis have always been treated as second-class citizens. To overcome the long-lived prejudices against our state, Bihar needs national concern and sympathy and not sheer insensitivity towards our situation.” He further urged the BJP leader to “ponder and reflect” the “sneering tone” he had used to speak about Bihar. “Therefore, I demand that Mr Piyush Goyal should immediately make an apology to all the people of Bihar.”
RJD-JD(U) MPs on Thursday also staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament over the remark made by the Union Minister and the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha. The MPs also demand his apology over the same.
Entire Oppn boycotts RS proceedings for day over no discussion on China border issue 7
Led by the Congress, the entire Opposition boycotted the Rajya Sabha proceeding for the day on Thursday after a discussion on the China border issue was disallowed in the House. They also raised an objection to certain remarks made on Bihar by the Leader of the House Piyush Goyal earlier during the session.
In the morning session (Zero Hour), the Opposition stood in protest and entered the Well of the House, demanding a discussion on the issue of the border conflict with China and Goyal’s remark which they alleged was an ”insult” to Bihar.
While Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar repeatedly appealed to the protesting members to take their seats, the unrelenting MPs continued to raise slogans.
“We have been demanding a discussion on the border conflict with China from day one but the government is adamant. The entire opposition has decided to boycott the proceedings of the House for the entire day today,” Congress leader K C Venugopal told PTI.
The Leader of the House has also insulted Bihar and its millions of people with his remarks.
Other opposition members also joined the Congress in boycotting the proceedings to press their demand for a discussion on China and an apology from the Leader of the House for his remarks on Bihar. Goyal made the remark on Tuesday when RJD MP Manoj Jha was speaking during a discussion on the Appropriation Bill seeking Parliament’s nod for additional spending.
As he said the government should devote equal attention to the poor and corporate houses, Goyal responded by saying “inka bas chale to desh ko Bihar bana dein (if they have their way, they will turn the country into Bihar).”
Telangana Director of Public Health and Family Welfare Gadala Srinivasa Rao released a statement clarifying his comments during the Christmas celebrations of the charitable trust in Kothagudem town, which had created an uproar in the media.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rao had purportedly said it was due to the “blessings and kindness of Lord Jesus Christ” that the country could defeat COVID-19.
He said, “I appeal to the media to please not distort my comments. I am deeply disturbed that some media houses have cut a part of my speech and created a controversy. The video clip is being cut and played to show that I said COVID19 was defeated due to Jesus’ blessings. It is unfortunate that this kind of misinformation is being spread.”
“I strongly condemn this. It is unfortunate that some have distorted and falsely propagated my comments which initially said that we defeated COVID19 due to the unique initiative of K Chandrashekar Rao, better performance of the government, full cooperation of all the employees of the health department and because people of all religions prayed to their respective deities. I will not insult any religion or anyone’s beliefs,” he added.
“I see all religions in the same way. I believe that the essence of all religions is to be one. I appeal to all to watch the full YouTube video,” he added. At a Christmas function, organised by Dr G S R Charitable Trust which he had founded in September 2021, at Kothagudem in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, Rao purportedly said it was due to Lord Jesus Christ that India has progressed so much. “We could defeat COVID19 not because of our work, but due to the blessings and kindness of Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.
he Central government is set to move three bills in the Rajya Sabha later on Thursday to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to the states of Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka.
Tribal Minister Arjun Munda is scheduled to move these three bills this afternoon. All these bills were recently passed by the Lok Sabha.
The Minister will move the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 which seeks amendment to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to Tamil Nadu.
The bill, which was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 15, includes Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Tamil Nadu.
Munda will also move the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022 which seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 to provide for inclusion of certain communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to the Himachal Pradesh. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 15.
The Order lists the tribal communities deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in states and union territories. The Bill includes the Hattee community of Trans Giri area of the Sirmour district in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Himachal Pradesh.
The Minister will also move the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Upper House to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to Karnataka.
The Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 19 (Monday), seeks inclusion of the Betta Kuruba community in the list of Scheduled Tribes in relation to the state of Karnataka.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to chair on Thursday afternoon a high-level meeting to review the Covid-19 situation and its related aspects in the county In the last six months, India reported four cases of the BF.7 Omicron sub-variant, which is driving the current surge of infections in China.
Sources said there are currently 10 different variants of Covid-19 in the country, with the latest being BF.7.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country and the preparedness of the public health system for surveillance, containment, and management of the pandemic.
He urged people to follow Covid-appropriate behavior and get vaccinated against Covid-19. Emphasizing that the pandemic is not over yet, he asked officials to be fully geared up to challenge and step up surveillance.
Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases globally, the central government briefed all states to conduct genome sequencing of samples, the additional chief secretary of Health Manoj Agarwal informed on Wednesday.
“Yesterday (Tuesday), the central government briefed all states on the increasing trend of Covid-19 variants in parts of the world and asked them to ensure that whole genome sequencing is done in all states,” he said.
There has been an alarming surge in Covid cases in China, Japan, South Korea, France, and the United States. The spike is being blamed on the new Omicron sub-variant BF.7, which has also been detected in four Indian states.
The urge of having government and foreign jobs duped many youths of India 12
Government jobs in India are much sought after even today. Most young people opt for government jobs under parental pressure and still hold the same opinion of Government jobs as it was a few generations ago. In rural India, most marriages are dependent on government jobs. The parents of the bride give first preference to the groom having a government job. The fact is that India has truly transformed in the last three decades. The private sectors and multinationals have come up in a big way in India while the prestige, perks and importance of government jobs have considerably declined.
Government is no longer in the driver’s seat for the development of the nation. Its new slogan is ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. You can expect the trend to continue and the role of government services to get reduced even more in future. Hence, you must think and plan well, if you are considering joining government services. Most of the people selected for the civil services (IAS, IPS, IRS, IFS etc.) and other government jobs are intelligent, hardworking and honest. Many of them become corrupt soon after they join government jobs in India because they have to recover the bribe money that is already paid for the job.
The lure of landing a government job has led many unsuspecting people into a web woven by fraudsters, who use the victim’s desperation to dupe them of their money. Many of these groups or individuals provide fake government job offers to their victims for a considerable amount, thereby cheating them. Amid a rise in these job scams, three persons, including a peon in the Mantralaya, have been arrested for allegedly impersonating a joint secretary and luring young people by promising them jobs in the state secretariat. They reportedly took anywhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 9 lakh from each candidate, held fake interviews inside Mantralaya, issued fake appointment letters and duped more than a dozen people of Rs 74 lakh. Mantralaya peon Sachin Dolas and two liasoning agents – Mahadev Shirwale and Nitin Sathe trapped young job seekers and looted lakhs of rupees.
Earlier a 26-year-old engineering graduate from Chennai who was cheated in such a scam said the person he trusted took Rs 5 lakh and absconded. He also stopped answering calls. He said the fraudster had made him believe he would get a well-paying, highly respectable government job in a matter of six months. The person was a friend of his father. When a person is cheated, the bitter experience takes a toll on their mental health also.
During Operation Job Scam, police announced phone numbers for the public to contact in case they wanted to share information regarding any job scam they come across. The numbers are 044-28447701 and 28447703 (fax); mobile: 9498105411 (Whatsapp); State control room: 044-23452359; Chennai Police Public Grievance section: 044-23452380.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had earlier issued an advisory warning Indian youths against the fake job offered by an international racket that promises jobs in the information technology sector in Thailand only to illegally send unsuspecting candidates to Myanmar. Some fraudulent IT companies appear to be engaged in digital scamming and forged cryptocurrencies. The Indian workers were held captive and forced to commit cyber fraud. The companies appear to be operating through agents in Dubai, Bangkok and some Indian cities and were recruiting Indian workers through social media advertisements for fake highly lucrative jobs in Thailand. Many of the workers were taken illegally across the border into an area of Myanmar that is difficult to access because of the local security situation, Bagchi said. He said nearly 50 workers had been brought back to India from Myanmar, while some others were still in Myanmar police custody for questioning because they illegally entered the country without visas. Several candidates protested in Bengaluru as the state government cancelled the Police Sub-Inspectors recruitment and announced a re-exam to be conducted.
Many aspirants allegedly involved in the recent Police Sub-Inspectors (PSI) recruitment scam had staked their all— from land to valuables — to pay fat bribes for police jobs. In Kalaburagi, a 55-year-old father is accused of arranging Rs 50 lakh in two instalments to ensure that his son was recruited into the police department. In another case from Holenarsipur, Hassan district, a candidate’s brother who cleared the exams, committed suicide days after learning that the results were annulled. The family eventually denied that the scam was the reason. These cases put into perspective the lengths to which candidates and parents can go to get government jobs. Such incidents, that bring disrepute to government recruitment agencies, are not alien. The present example of the Police Recruitment Board is just the tip of the iceberg.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi | Image: Twitter/@ashokgehlot51
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot stated “BJP is scared of the foot march and many people supporting congress party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. Government is scared and this is why Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has sent a letter to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and me”.
Recently a letter was been sent by Mansukh Mandaviya to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to abide by COVID-19 protocols in the “Bharat Jodo Yatra”.
राजस्थान में भारत जोड़ो यात्रा 21 दिसंबर की सुबह पूरी हो गई पर यहां उमड़ी भारी भीड़ से भाजपा एवं मोदी सरकार इतनी घबरा गई है कि केन्द्रीय स्वास्थ्य मंत्री 20 दिसंबर को श्री राहुल गांधी को राजस्थान में कोविड प्रोटोकॉल की पालना करने हेतु पत्र लिख रहे हैं।
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot also shared a tweet in which it was stated “BJP has strong intentions to disturb Bharat Jodo Yatra”.
Earlier Modi government had organized a rally in Tripura and West Bengal at that time there were no COVID-19 protocols were followed.
यह स्पष्ट दिखाता है कि भाजपा का उद्देश्य बढ़ते जनसमर्थन से घबराकर भारत जोड़ो यात्रा को डिस्टर्ब करने का है।
दो दिन पहले प्रधानमंत्री जी ने त्रिपुरा में रैली की थी जहां किसी भी कोविड प्रोटोकॉल की पालना नहीं हुई। कोविड की दूसरी लहर में पीएम ने बंगाल में बड़ी रैलियां की थीं।
If the Modi government and Health Minister were so concerned about the country’s health condition then they could have interrupted the rallies organized by the BJP.
The letter to abide by COVID-19 protocols at Bharat Jodo Yatra was been sent on December 20, 2022, and it also stated that if necessary protocols are not followed in the Yatra then it should be stopped as considering people’s health as National Emergency and on priority as per reports.
