The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Bill to empower SEBI introduced in Lok Sabha Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 4 The Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014 was introduced in the Lok Sabha today which empowers market regulator SEBI to initiate action against unregulated deposit taking and ponzi schemes. Earlier, the Cabinet in its meeting held on July 24 had given its approval to the Bill and to introduce it in the current session of Parliament. The Bill proposes various amendments which include empowering the SEBI to call for relevant information and records from any person. There is a provision for disgorgement. The Bill provides that any pooling of funds in any unregistered scheme or arrangement, having corpus of Rs 100 crore or more, will be deemed to be a collective investment scheme. The Bill provides for express powers for the settlement (compounding), to establish Special Courts, powers of recovery of amounts and empowering Board to enhance the penalty imposed by an adjudicating officer. Section 15A–HB of the SEBI Act prescribes penalties to be imposed for various offences. However, these sections only provide one level of penalty with no minimum level or range and without giving any discretion to the adjudicating officers. Amendment to these Sections are included in the Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014 by prescribing minimum penalty to be imposed for each violation in the Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014, in addition to the amendments included in the earlier Ordinance. Earlier, as large number of cases were reported from all over the country of unregulated deposit taking and ponzi schemes, therefore, the Government had promulgated the Securities Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2013 on July 18, 2013 to empower the SEBI. SEBI has begun coming down hard on entities raising public money illegally through issue of redeemable preference shares and similar instruments, as also through sister concerns after being barred from markets. Action has been initiated in a number of such cases in the past one month, wherein close to Rs 5,000 crore had been raised through issuance of such securities. These cases are other than those involving illicit collective investment schemes. SEBI has also initiated action in many CIS cases and companies that raised close to Rs 4,000 crore have been asked to wind down their schemes. The proposals The Securities Laws (Amendment) Bill 2014 empowers SEBI to initiate action against unregulated deposit taking and ponzi schemes SEBI can call for relevant information and records from any person It provides for express powers for the settlement, to establish Special Courts, powers of recovery of amounts and empowering Board to enhance the penalty imposed by an adjudicating officer.
	Syndicate Bank CMD SK Jain suspended New Delhi, August 4 Two days after the CBI arrested him for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to enhance the credit limit of some companies, the government today suspended Syndicate Bank chairman and managing director SK Jain. Financial Services Secretary GS Sandhu said the Finance Ministry received a preliminary report from the CBI on the arrest of Jain on Saturday, based on which he was suspended. Jain, 54, was appointed CMD of state-owned Syndicate Bank in July last year for five years. He was one of the youngest CMDs of a public sector bank and was due to retire in 2020. "We have suspended him (SK Jain) and two executive directors (EDs) have been given charge of the bank as an interim arrangement," the Secretary said. M Anjaneya Prasad and TK Srivastava are the two EDs of the Bangalore-based bank. Jain, along with seven other accused, were yesterday remanded in the CBI custody for four days as the agency plans to probe various other angles into the case that may emerge from the telephonic transcripts of the official and conduits. After completing necessary formalities, the CBI placed Jain and seven others — CMD of Prakash Industries Ved Prakash Agarwal and director Vipul Agarwal, CA Pawan Bansal, Vineet and Puneet Godha (relatives of Jain), Vijay Pahuja and Pankaj Bansal under arrest. Meanwhile, shares of Syndicate Bank slumped 7% today. The bank’s scrip ended the day 7.05% lower at Rs 134.45 on the BSE. During the day, it tumbled 8.57% to Rs 132.25. — PTI
	Ministry of MSME, Samsung in pact to set up technical schools Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 4 Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Samsung today announced a partnership to set up technical schools in MSME Technology Centres across India. The schools will run Samsung’s advanced repair and industrial skills enhancement programme and provide students with trade-specific training on various aspects of repair and troubleshooting for consumer electronics products such as mobile phones, televisions, home theatres, home appliances and their related accessories. Students will also get real time working experience at Samsung authorised service centres. Other than technical skills, the students will get a chance to learn soft skills which will further enable them to provide exemplary customer service. Ten MSME-Samsung Technical Schools will be set up across India – one each in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Mumbai and Varanasi.
	Hotels’ body demands uniform tax policy to boost tourism To host 49th annual convention in Jaipur on Sept 12 Ritika Jha Palial Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 4 The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has expressed concern over the “low” tourist count in country despite a “high potential” in the sector. Demanding uniform taxation and easy financing for hoteliers to build the backbone of tourism sector — “by strengthening the hospitality sector” — the Federation announced to host its 49th annual convention in Jaipur from September 12 to 14. According to the Federation’s estimates, the annual tourist count in the country is limited to 6.8 million a year. Federation president SM Shervani said: “A joint study conducted by the FHRAI and Jones Lang Laselle (JLL), illuminating the key trends in hotel management contracts in India will be released during the convention.” “We have already submitted our suggestions and demands to the Finance Minister such as expediting e-visa for tourists, reduction of overall taxes imposed on the hotel and restaurant sector, which turn out to be 25% in a state like Delhi, while these are around 10 to 12% in countries abroad. A discussion will be held at the annual convention on these demands,” he added. The FHRAI is an apex body of the Indian hospitality industry and represents nearly 4,000 members, including hotels, restaurants and associates.
	Biz talk Energy-efficient steps can save Rs 10,000 cr: Clyde Bergemann Dilip Sinha, MD, Clyde Bergemann India talks to Sanjeev Sharma Global clean energy solutions provider Clyde Bergemann Power Group is present in over 40 countries and is expanding in India through a wholly owned subsidiary. Dilip Sinha, managing director, Clyde Bergemann India says studies show that the Indian energy sector can save Rs 10,000 crore in operations and maintenance costs by using energy-efficient and environment-friendly technologies. Q. What is the global footprint of the CB power group? A: The Clyde Bergemann Power Group (CBPG) is a global acting enterprise offering systems and solutions for the energy services market through their five business fields. The technology of Clyde Bergemann makes an important contribution for optimised, more efficient and low-emission operation and therewith supports clean energy generation. CBPG is world market leader in their business fields with their diverse product portfolio and direct presence in over 40 countries with 27 group companies, 12 manufacturing units spread all over the globe and around 1,800 employees worldwide. We are the world leader in “On-Load” cleaning systems (soot blower) and combustion air control, ash handing systems, air pollution control technology, heat exchanger solutions and high-end combustion air flue gas control solutions. Q. What is the India strategy for the group? A: CBPG products and technologies were available to Indian market for many decades through their joint ventures and licensees. In line with the group strategy of being closer to the customer, CBPG started their 100% own subsidiary in 2007 — Clyde Bergemann India — to facilitate direct interface with customer and end-users to provide prompt response and services. Through Clyde Bergemann India, the extensive range of state-of-the-art products and services of the group is available to rapidly growing energy sector in India, looking for more energy-efficient and environment-friendly product and technologies. Some of the well established and globally proven technologies such as intelligent soot blowing, smart clean, dry bottom ash handling or low-pressure soot blowing (for pulp & paper industry) systems are now available for Indian industries through Clyde Bergemann India. Overall, our technology and solutions are catering to the need of industries such as thermal power, pulp & paper mills, petroleum and refineries, cement and minerals and marine boilers. Q. What are the clean energy technologies the company is focusing on? A: As per studies made by industry experts, India’s energy sector can save up to Rs 10,000 crore per annum on their O&M cost by upgrading their plants with modern technologies. Looking at the present need of Indian industries, the Indian unit is focusing on their Smart Clean System and Drycon technologies, which can support the power generating units with improved boiler efficiency, conservation of power, optimum utilisation of natural resources (fuel & water) and better emissions. Q. What is the potential for this sector? A: Since both of the above-mentioned technologies are directly addressing to few of the focus areas of any management i.e. efficiency improvement, plant availability, environment-friendly, preservation of water along with quick and attractive ‘return on investment’, the potential lies with the power-producing units — not only the new projects but all the existing plants as well. Besides having potential to minimise the impact on environment, these technologies can reduce the plant’s O&M cost significantly. Q. What are the challenges facing the sector? A: The challenges include the user’s mindset which is more comfortable with conventional processes, relatively higher initial investment though the pay back is attractive and lack of motivation (like incentives from authorities) to adopt more energy & environment-effective measures.