SEBI Circular No. CIR/CFD/CMD1/114/2019 dated October 18, 2019 addressed to all Listed Entities / Material Subsidiaries and all the Recognized Stock Exchanges—

1. Listed companies are required to make timely disclosures to investors in the securities market for enabling them to take informed investment decisions.

2. Under Sub-clause (2) of Clause A in Part C of Schedule II under Regulation 18(3) of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015 (“SEBI LODR Regulations”), the Audit Committee of a listed entity, inter alia, has to make recommendations for the appointment, remuneration and terms of appointment of auditors of a listed entity. Under Sub-clause (7), the Audit Committee is also responsible for reviewing and monitoring the independence and performance of auditors and the effectiveness of the audit process.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has notified the rate of exchange of one unit of foreign currency equivalent to Indian rupees relating to imported and export goods, in its notification no. 76/2019 - Customs (N.T.) dated 17th October, 2019 (w.e.f. 18th October, 2019).

The contents of the said notification are reproduced as under:—

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 14 of the Customs Act, 1962 (52 of 1962), and in supersession of the notification of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs No.72/2019-CUSTOMS (N.T.), dated 3rd October, 2019 except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and  Customs hereby determines that the rate of exchange of conversion of each of the foreign currencies specified in column (2) of each of Schedule I and Schedule II annexed hereto, into Indian currency or vice versa, shall, with effect from 18th October, 2019, be the rate mentioned against it in the corresponding entry in column (3) thereof, for the purpose of the said section, relating to imported and export goods.

Oct 15, 2019: The data on foreign trade of India for the month of September-2019 as released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Department of Commerce, Economic Division, is presented hereunder:—

India’s overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in April-September 2019-20* are estimated to be USD 267.21 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 1.93 per cent over the same period last year.

Overall imports in April-September 2019-20* are estimated to be USD 312.16 billion, exhibiting a negative growth of 3.15 per cent over the same period last year.

Oct 15, 2019: The Reserve Bank releases monthly data on India’s international trade in services with a lag of around 45 days.

The value of exports and imports of services during the month of August 2019 are given in the following Table.

International Trade in Services

Receipts (Exports)

July-2019 : US$ 19,084 mn

August-2019 : US$ 18,244 mn

Oct 14, 2019: The National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is releasing CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base 2012=100 for the month of September 2019 in this press note.

In addition to this, Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for all India Rural, Urban and Combined are also being released for September 2019.

All India Inflation rates (on point to point basis i.e. current month over same month of last year, i.e., September 2019 over September 2018), based on General Indices and CFPIs are given as follows:

Oct 15, 2019: Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has launched a revamped and streamlined programme to attract investments into India and strengthen Make in India through manufacture and other operations under bond scheme, under Customs Act, 1962.

Section 65 of the Customs Act, 1962 enables conduct of manufacture and other operations in a customs bonded warehouse. 

The scheme has been modernized with clear and transparent procedures, simplified compliance requirements ICT-based documentation and account keeping, by issue of Manufacture and Other Operations in Warehouse (no. 2) Regulations, 2019 and Circular 34/2019 both dated 01 October 2019. The main features of the scheme are as below -

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) Notification dated 11th October, 2019 (Date of its publication in the Official Gazette: 11th October, 2019).—

G.S.R. 776(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 467 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby makes the following further amendments to Schedule VII of the said Act, namely:-

In the said Schedule VII, for item (ix) and the entries relating thereto, the following item and entries shall be substituted, namely:-

 “(ix) Contribution to incubators funded by Central Government or State Government or any agency or Public Sector Undertaking of Central Government or State Government, and contributions to public funded Universities, Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), National Laboratories and Autonomous Bodies (established under the auspices of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) engaged in conducting research in science, technology, engineering and medicine aimed at promoting Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);”

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) Notification dated 11th October, 2019 (Date of its publication in the Official Gazette: 11th October, 2019).—

G.S.R. 777(E).—In exercise of the powers conferred by sections 173, 177, 178 and section 186 read with section 469 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Rules, 2014, namely:—

1. (1) These rules may be called the Companies (Meetings of Board and its Powers) Amendment Rules, 2019.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) Notification dated 14th October, 2019.—

S.O. .....(E). In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 458 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013), the Central Government hereby delegates its powers and functions under sub-section (1) of section 418 of the said Act (hereinafter referred to as the said sub-section) to provide officers and other employees to the Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal referred to in the said sub-section to the President and Chairperson of the said Tribunal and the Appellate Tribunal, as the case may be, subject to conditions as specified in the recruitment rules of the respective posts as approved and notified by the Central Government.

Oct 14, 2019: Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Guruprasad Mohapatra launched the website and mobile application [Learn to Protect, Secure and Maximize Your Innovation] on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) today in New Delhi. The website and app has been developed by Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM)-DPIIT in collaboration with Qualcomm and National Law University (NLU), Delhi.

Speaking on this occasion, Secretary DPIIT said that it is an important project taken up by the Department as both the website and app will be very useful to the startup community which holds great promise for India and its economy. Startups are more tuned into investment and risk taking but lack legal knowledge and today when we are on the threshold of the fourth industrial revolution the interface between technology and law is growing and therefore it is very essential that a specialised website and app is available to help startups with the IP process, added Secretary DPIIT.

The official Wholesale Price Index for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) for the month of September, 2019 declined by 0.1% to 121.3 (provisional) from 121.4 (provisional) for the previous month.

(Data hereunder is sourced from the press release dated 14th October, 2019 released by Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India.)

INFLATION

The annual rate of inflation, based on monthly WPI, stood at 0.33% (provisional) for the month of September, 2019 (over September, 2018) as compared to 1.08% (provisional) for the previous month and 5.22% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 1.17% compared to a build up rate of 3.96% in the corresponding period of the previous year.