NOTFICANTIONS

1. GST RATE CHANGES IN CASE OF SPECIFIED GOODS:

The applicable GST rates for the following goods have been changed in the manner as detailed in the below table. The changed rates are effective from 01.01.2019;

Read more: SBS i 16th Edition

Background: 

Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPIs) are governed in India by SEBI (Foreign Portfolio Investors) Regulations 2014 (‘SEBI FPI Regulations’), Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, 2017 (‘FDI Regulations’) and RBI Master Direction No. 11/2017-18 on Foreign Investment in India, as amended time to time.   FPI refers to foreign investment in India subject to such conditions stipulated in relevant SEBI and RBI regulations.  Prior to SEBI FPI Regulations, such investments were governed by SEBI (Foreign Institutional Investors) Regulations, 1995 (‘FII Regulations’), NRI Regulations and QFI Regulations issued by SEBI and RBI.  India liberalized its economy in 1991 in order to save itself from severe economic crisis. While granting bailout to India at that time, World Bank and IMF stipulated many conditions and of which bringing out changes to foreign trade policy was one major item.  Accordingly, India brought in FII regulations governing its foreign investments in 1995.  Considering changes to global economic scenario, FII regulations were repealed and FPI regulations (subsuming FII Regulations) were brought in.  In today’s world, the words FII and FPI are widely used interchangeably. 

Read more: Foreign Portfolio Investors - SEBI and FEMA Perspective

Introduction:

Corporate Governance is a multi-faceted subject and trying to comprehend in a concise definition. The central theme of corporate governance is to integrate sound management policies in the corporate framework in such a manner to bring economic efficiency in the organization in order to achieve twin goals of profit maximization and shareholder welfare. Few comprehensive definitions on Corporate Governance are discussed below.

“Corporate Governance is the way a company is organized and managed to ensure that all financial stakeholders receive a fair share of the company’s earnings and assets.” - Standard and Poor

"It is a system by which companies are directed & controlled." - The Cadbury Committee U.K.  

Read more: Corporate Governance Perspectives And Role Of Internal Auditing

Since the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 (colloquially referred as ‘RERA law’) picking its heat in the state of Telangana, we thought of writing an article on certain issues which were examined by our office in last few months pertaining to the applicability of RERA provisions and found to be interesting.

Before dwelling into such issues, it is to be noted that projects which have obtained approval post 01.01.2017 are treated as ‘on-going projects’ as defined vide Rule 2(j) of Telangana State Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 17. Vide Order No 04 dated 28^th December 2018, TS RERA has communicated that there will be a penalty amounting to Rs 2 lakhs if the project has received approval between 01.01.2017 to 31.08.2018 and registers prior to 15.01.2019. Hence, it is urged that all projects which have received approval between 01.01.2017 to 31.08.2018 should be register prior to 15.01.2019.

Read more: Certain Issues in Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act