The month of November started with preparations to celebrate Diwali, one of the biggest festivals in the year but the festivities were somewhat dampened as Swachch Bharat Cess was added to Service Tax.
This year has seen an unprecedented rainfall in various parts of the country, especially in Orissa, Assam, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. Unfortunately, the gods have literally poured its wrath on Chennai and parts of Andhra Pradesh. The damage and loss is unimaginable and the city will take time to recover completely. While I am writing this column, I am informed that rains continue in Chennai and normal life has come to a standstill.
On the political front the month of November 2015 saw a topsy- turvy drama in the field of Indian Politics when the Janata Group led by Six Political parties (Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Indian National Lok Dal and Samajwadi Janata Party), the supposed under dogs, took centre stage by comprehensively beating the over whelming favorites BJP in Bihar elections and began their “Ache din” in Bihar. BJP now have to work alone as a constructive opposition in Bihar.
On the Corporate front, the regulatory bodies have expressed that the performance of many top companies is poor when it comes to their overall compliance report card. The Regulatory bodies have pointed out that the Indian Corporate’s have not constituted the CSR committees, Audit Committees, Internal Complaints Committee etc., This comes as a wakeup call for all the companies and even more for us as professionals who have to ensure that the Corporate’s adhere with the designated regulations.
Strategic restructuring (converting loan dues to equity) by lenders is increasing in numbers. Latest are IVRCL Ltd, Gammon India Ltd and GOL Offshore Ltd. This move marks a major shift in the banking systems response to bad and stressed assets and has been seen as a positive step that gives lenders significant powers to deal with delinquent borrowers.
The other major news in the month of November was that of Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev’s launching instant noodles in addition to its existing food products. With Maggi, the most popular and the favorite snack missing from the market, Baba Ramdev banked on his goodwill of Patanjali and entered the market with a bang. However he had to face the wrath of the popular regulator FSSAI. After Baba Ramdev’s entry in FMCG market, Maggi too came back in full swing and with an advertisement blitz.
Tata Advanced Systems which is based out of Telangana, being a pioneer in Aeronautical sector has signed an agreement with Boeing to manufacture aerospace parts in India. Hope many more Coprorate’s set up their business operations in Telangana in the days to come.
Globally philanthropy is felt strongly by Zuckerberg pledging 99% of his Facebook stock on the eve of the birth of his daughter towards social and humanitarian causes.
Let’s hope GST will be reality in 2016 with the Ruling Party meeting the opposition party leaders to Fast track GST that is pending since long.
Lets all pray and hope that the rains should come down and be kind to those helpless and in need.
Best Regards,
CS Bhavani