Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness of 26 and 27 March 2021

By PendulumEdu | Last Modified: 27 Mar 2021 16:17 PM IST

Main Headlines:

Topic: Infrastructure and Energy

1. Government may miss its 2022 wind energy targets.

As per Global Wind Energy Council’s Global Wind Report 2021, government may miss its 2022 wind energy targets.
Government has fixed a target of 175 GW renewable energy target. This includes 60 GW of onshore wind energy.
Only 39 GW of wind capacity was installed as of February 2021. Therefore, India needs to double its installed wind capacity within the next two years.
Government aims to change Railways from coal dependency to the world’s first net-zero railway network by 2030.
Recently, the world’s largest (30 GW) Hybrid Renewable Energy Park was launched by PM Modi in Kutch district, Gujarat.
JSW Energy is building a 240 MW greenfield hydro project at Kutehr (Himachal Pradesh).
India is also having a target of achieving a 450 GW renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Topic: Taxation

West Bengal’s Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has ruled that selling eatables is eligible for benefits of Input Tax Credit (ITC) under GST regime.
However, selling and serving the food is not eligible for ITC under GST. In other words, shopkeeper cannot get the benefit of ITC if shopkeeper sells eatables and provide facility to consume them.
Advance Ruling refers to a written opinion or authoritative decision by an Authority that will have tax consequences.
Finance Act, 1993 introduced the scheme of advance rulings. Authority for Advance Ruling consists of a Chairman and two members. The chairman should be a retired Judge of Supreme Court.
Under the advance ruling mechanism in GST regime, Authority for advance ruling can be constituted under the provisions of State Goods and Services Tax Act.

Topic: Corporates/Companies

Ministry of Corporate Affairs has said that companies must disclose the profit or loss on transactions involving cryptocurrency.
Ministry of Corporate Affairs has further asked companies to disclose the amount of cryptocurrency they hold on the reporting date.
Companies would be required to disclose details of deposits or advances taken for trading or investing in cryptocurrency in their financial statements.
Earlier, Government appointed committee has recommended the banning of cryptocurrency. SC Garg headed this committee. It further said that a sovereign digital currency should be allowed.

Topic: MoUs/Agreements

MoUs were signed for implementation of city specific action plans under National Clean Air Programme.
These MoUs were signed by representatives of State Pollution Control Boards, Urban Local Bodies and Institutes of Repute for 132 identified cities.
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, was present at the signing of MoUs.
He said that these initiatives are in line with PM Modi’s vision of curbing air pollution by 20% in the next 4 years in more than 100 cities.
He urged the States to quickly procure e-buses for transport purpose sanctioned under FAME Scheme.
Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India (FAME India) Scheme was launched in the year 2015.
FAME-II scheme, the second phase of FAME-I, became effective from April 1, 2019 for a period of three years with an outlay of RS 10,000 crore.
National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) is a national level strategy with targets to achieve 30% to 20% reduction in Particulate Matter concentrations by 2024 (with 2017 as base year).

Topic: Corporates/Companies

Supreme Court sets aside NCLAT order reinstating Cyrus Mistry as Executive Chairman of Tata Sons.
Cyrus Mistry is a minority shareholder in Tata Sons. He was earlier removed from the post of Executive Chairman. The Court said that his actions led to his removal as a Director also.
Chief Justice Sharad A Bobde said that his removal as Executive Chairman and a Director was justified.
Shapoorji Pallonji Group (SP Group) holds 18.37% shares in Tata Sons. Tata holds the majority stake.
The Supreme Court also upheld the voting rights of the nominee directors. It said that NCLAT went overboard to re-instate Mistry as chairman.
Article 75 allows Tata Sons limited to transfer ordinary shares of any of the shareholders.

Topic: Miscellaneous

Ever Given, a huge container ship has blocked Suez Canal and is affecting global shipping.
Taiwanese company Evergreen Marine operates Ever Given. Ever Given is a huge container ship sailing under the flag of Panama.
The ship blockage is affecting global shipping as 150 ships are waiting for Ever Given to be cleared.
They are vessels near Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea, Port Suez on the Red Sea. Some are stuck in canal system on Egypt’s Great Bitter Lake.
Suez Canal was opened in 1869. Its construction was started in 1859. It was expanded in 2015. It connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez.
Great Bitter Lake is a saltwater lake in Egypt. It is connected to Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea via Suez Canal.

Topic: Appointments

Sanjeev Kumar has been appointed as chairman of the Airports Authority of India.
He is a 1993 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS officer. The post of chairman became vacant as Arvind Singh was recently appointed tourism secretary.

Other Appointments
Saurabh Garg	Chief Executive Officer of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)
Atish Chandra	Chairman and Managing Director of Food Corporation of India
Chandrashekhar Mohapatra	Additional secretary of the GST Council Secretariat