Lok Sabha passes bankruptcy bill

May 6, 2016

New Delhi, May 6: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the new bankruptcy bill that proposes speedy closure of sick companies, fast action against defaulters and recovery of debt by banks.

LokSabhaThe Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2015, the first major economic reform legislation this session, was passed with the support of Opposition Congress and other parties. This comes in the wake of a whopping Rs 9,000 crore loan default by liquor baron Vijay Mallya.

Replying to a debate on the bill, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said the government was also intending to enter into cross-border treaties with other countries to confiscate foreign assets of wilful defaulters.

Once the legislation is passed by both Houses of Parliament, the government will be able to repeal 21 different laws dealing with bankruptcy and insolvency which made the process lengthy and ineffective.

“This legislation is a transformational building block for the economy and it will make the entire process more transparent,” Sinha said. He said it will also help India move up the ladder in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking.

According to World Bank, winding up an ailing company takes four years in India and the average recovery is only one-fourth of a dollar.

At a time when banks are toiling with a huge non-performing assets, the passage of bankruptcy code will strengthen their hands, according to legal experts.

There are 7,686 wilful defaulters in India owing Rs 66,190 crore to public sector banks (PSBs), according to the information given by the government in Parliament. The total outstanding amount in top 100 non-performing accounts with PSBs is Rs 1.73 lakh crore as on December 2015.

At a time when banks are toiling with a huge non-performing assets, the passage of bankruptcy code will strengthen their hands, according to legal experts.

There are 7,686 wilful defaulters in India owing Rs 66,190 crore to public sector banks (PSBs), according to the information given by the government in Parliament. The total outstanding amount in top 100 non-performing accounts with PSBs is Rs 1.73 lakh crore as on December 2015.

To protect employees’ interest, the bill proposes that the money due to employees from provident fund, pension and gratuity funds should be safeguarded while declaring a firm insolvent and liquidating its assets.

The bill also proposes for disqualification of anyone declared bankrupt from holding public office and contesting elections. A debtor could be jailed for up to 5 years for concealing property or defrauding creditors under the new law.

At present, bankruptcy proceedings are governed by various laws such as Companies Act, SARFAESI Act and Sick Industrial Companies Act. The entire process of winding up is very long-winded, with courts, debt recovery tribunals and the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction all having a say in the process.

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News Network
April 28,2020

New Delhi, Apr 28: Nafisa Ali took to Instagram to share the inspiring story of her niece, Diya Naidu, who donated her plasma to help patients suffering from Covid-19 after recovering from the disease. The veteran actress shared a photo of her niece from the hospital bed and asked fans to read Diya's post to get a detailed account of her experience.

Nafisa wrote, "Diya Naidu my niece - a COVID19 hero - is back home after donating her plasma - looks like liquid gold - it’s value is priceless as it will save lives. So please read her COVID19 story and share the information that is first hand. It is the need of the hour. Help save lives. #diyanise. #diyanaidu #covid_19 #india (sic)."

Diya Naidu, who is a dancer and choreographer based in Bengaluru, revealed in her Instagram post that she has donated her plasma for other Covid-19 patients. She said that the method has been super effective wherever it's been tried.

Earlier, Nafisa Ali gave a shout-out to her niece on Instagram and penned a heartfelt note for her. She wrote, "I am so grateful to you brave child - a COVID19 warrior (living in Bangalore) has agreed to donate her plasma to help cure other COVID19 serious patients (sic)."

Explaining the process of plasma therapy to treat Covid-19 patients, she wrote, "The process of donating plasma to treat COVID-19 is not very complex and can be done in just two hours. One of the most discussed methods of treatment of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus is plasma therapy, which involves the transfusion of plasma from a convalescent coronavirus patient to a critical patient. The blood of a recovering patient is rich in antibodies produced by the body to fight the virus, which are expected to help the critical patient recover (sic)."

Plasma therapy has been suggested to treat people suffering from Covid-19. People, who have recovered from the disease, are donating plasma as it contains antibodies to fight the disease. Earlier, Kanika Kapoor, who was the first Bollywood celebrity to be diagnosed with the disease, also offered to donate her plasma. She has recovered from Covid-19 and is currently living with her family in Lucknow.

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News Network
June 19,2020

Kolkata, Jun 19: The nationwide clamour for boycott of Chinese goods is getting louder amid the Ladakh face-off, with traders urging the Centre to direct e-commerce firms to restrict the sale of items from the Dragonland, which imports products worth USD 74 billion to India annually.

Of the total import from China, retail traders sell goods worth around USD 17 billion, mostly comprising toys, household items, mobiles, electric and electronic goods and cosmetics among other things, which could possibly be replaced by Indian products, a national trading body said.

"We, at 'Federation of All India Vyapar Mandal', are advising our members to clear their stocks of Chinese products and refrain from placing fresh orders. We are also requesting the government to restrict e-commerce companies from selling Chinese products," V K Bansal, the association's general secretary, told PTI.

Sushil Poddar, the president of the Confederation of West Bengal Traders Association, said its members have been told to shun trading in Chinese goods as much as possible.

Another national traders' body, The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), has decided to step up its movement against the boycott of Chinese goods, under its campaign 'Bhartiya Samaan-Hamara Abhimaan'.

It released a list of over 450 broad categories of commodities, comprising 3,000 Chinese products.

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News Network
May 18,2020

As many as employees of Zee News have tested positive for the coronavirus, Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary said on Monday. Most of them are asymptomatic, he said, tweeting an official statement from Zee News about the situation.

The organisation said that on May 15, one of its employees tested positive for the coronavirus. Following this, the company started testing employees who may have come in contact with the employee. Twenty-seven more were found to be infected.

“Fortunately most of them are asymptomatic and are not complaining of any discomfort,” Zee News said. “We believe this is because of early diagnosis and proactive intervention.”

The news network said all guidelines and protocols have been followed, and its office, newsroom and studios have been sealed for sanitisation. The Zee News team has been shifted to an alternative facility.

“At the moment, Zee Media Corporation has 2,500 employees, by far the largest in the private sector,” the company said. “We are committed to the safety of each one of them.”

Chaudhary also claimed that “those who are infected had the option of sitting at home and sharing memes”. “They came to work because they are committed professionals.”

Following this, some social media users claimed that Zee News employees found infected with Covid-19 were still at work. In response, Chaudhary alleged that a malicious campaign was being conducted to distort his statement. He said no infected employee had come to work, and all the contacts of the employee who tested positive on May 15 had been tested and quarantined.

Over the past two months, journalists from several media organisations have tested positive for the coronavirus. On April 21, 26 employees of a Tamil news channel based in Chennai tested positive for the coronavirus. The previous day, over 50 journalists from Mumbai were found infected, after samples of over 170 journalists were tested.

On May 7, a newspaper journalist died of the coronavirus in Agra. Some states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi, have tested journalists for Covid-19.

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