PHD Cricket Tournament 2016

PHD Cricket Tournament 2016

“Flagship Match-PHD Members vs PHD Secretariat”, 24^th December 2016, 8.00 am, Major Dhyanchand National Stadium, India Gate, New Delhi.

Games & Sports form an Integral part of anyone’s life, be it a student or a sports enthusiast of any age. In India cricket has never been just a game, it has been a part of everyday life, a religion in itself. In continuation of this legacy, PHD Chamber Sports Committee organized the PHD Cricket Tournament 2016 on 24^th December 2016 at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium, India Gate, New Delhi.

The match was played between the PHD Secretariat & PHD Members whose captains were Mr. Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, PHDCCI and Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka, President, PHDCCI respectively.

PHD Secretariat won the toss and chose to field. The PHD Members team set a target of 136 runs before the Secretariat team who were able to accomplish the same in just 18.2 overs and won the match with 2 wickets to spare. Mr. SumitGola from the PHD Secretariat team who took four wickets and made 21 runs was declared the Man of the Match.

Ms. NeelamPratap Singh Rudy, Chairperson, PHD Sports Committee and Ms. Anjum Chopra, Co-Chairperson, PHD Sports Committee along with Mr. Mukesh Gupta, Chairman-PHD Tourism Committee and Mr. Rakesh Gupta, Chairman, PHD Media and Entertainment Committee along with Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka, Captain of the PHD Members Team presented the winning trophy to the PHD Secretariat team led by Mr. Saurabh Sanyal and also to the Man of the Match-Mr. SumitGola.

The endeavour of the match was to foster team spirit which was amply showcased on the field. Both the teams played the gentleman’s game.

DTC BUS FARE LIKELY TO FALL SHORTLY: IMRAN HUSSAIN

In a bid to put a partial curb in overall pollution levels, the government of NCT of Delhi is likely to curtail existing bus fare rates under Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to maximize commuting in and around Delhi, according to the Minister of Environment & Forest, Food Supplies and Elections, Mr. Imran Hussain.

Speaking at an Interactive Session on Combating Pollution Issues of Delhi NCR – Its Magnitude, Impact & Measures under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today, Mr. Hussain also said that the AAP Government would also intensify efforts for third party audit to combat pollution which would enhance plantation of additional trees. 

According to him, “the Delhi Government is likely to curtail the DTC bus fare shortly to encourage and motivate the commuting lot of four wheeler vehicles, beat car and any other such mode of transport to shift away to CNG buses that would be comfortable and even luxurious.  This could be one measure that could contain the vehicular pollution in and around Delhi”.

The Minister, however, did not elaborate on this any further nor did he explain as to by when the bus fare would be reduced and to which extent.

Mr. Hussain also praised the initiative of the Road Transport and Highways Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari as per which the state governments of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab should put in collective efforts with the Central Government to combat the menace of rising pollution on finding out solution on the issue of stubble burning in these states since it causes and contributes a great deal to pm levels in air pollution.

Among others who spoke on the occasion emphasizing the need for collective and united efforts for pollution containment with the governments and other stakeholders consisted of Convenor, Delhi Wing, AAP, Mr. Dilip Pandey; President, PHD Chamber, Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka and its Chairman, Delhi & NCR Committee and Member, Managing Committee, Mr. Dhiraj Dhar Gupta and Mr. Pradeep Multani.

DEMONETIZATION WILL LEAD TO WIDER SPREAD OF TECHNOLOGY APPS FOR MASSES: PHD CHAMBER

“With introducing demonetization, Prime Minister Modi is emphasizing Indians to adopt technology and the products created by it particularly in India’s rural landscape for financial inclusion and banking transactions, fruits of which would be imminent shortly” was the crux drawn out of a Seminar on Fin Tech Startups – Time to Unleash Potential under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today.

                   

The Seminar objectively concluded that demonetization has also provided a unique opportunity for fin tech startups to unleash their potential to connect with rural India for financial inclusion as well as smother banking transactions.

Thirdly, it held that demonetization would amount to a major push without any fiscal incentives from the government for fin tech to sell off their products and apps to recalcitrant and disobedient user of technology with little training to rural folks to go digital with enthusiasm and happiness.

The aforesaid view were aired here at fin tech startups seminar by panel of experts such as Mr. Bipin Kaul, Zonal Head (North & Gujarat)-Business Banking, IDFC Bank and Mr. Paritosh Sharma, Head (Digital Vertical) hero Mind Mine as also Chairman Innovation Committee, PHD Chamber, Mr. Deepak Pahwa; Mr. V K Mishra, Angel Investor, Director, Lakshmi Energy and Food Ltd.

Economic Advisor, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Mr. Arun Kumar Jha and Dr. Jatinder Singh, Sr. Secretary, PHD Chamber were also among those who endorsed the views of the other speakers.

The Seminar concluded with a positive note that with a slight twist in our mindset can bring about a revolution for adoption of evolving technologies to apply their use in our day-to-day transactions on many front.  It was also felt that the government needs to incentivise the fin tech startups, what it ought to do invest human resource on vigorous training to impart the knowledge to adopt and use technology.

India received largest FDIs from Singapore in Fiscal 2015-16: PHD Chamber & KPMG

India received the maximum FDI inflows from Singapore in fiscal 2015-16 followed by Mauritius, USA, Netherlands and Japan, respectively US $ 13.69 billion, 8.35 billion, 4.19 billion, 2.64 billion and 2.61 billion, according to a report on Foreign Direct Investment in India jointly prepared by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and KPMG.

The report which was collectively released at a Seminar on Foreign Direct Investment : Opportunities and Challenges under the aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry by Joint Secretary, DIPP, Mr. Atul Chaturvedi; CMD, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (IREDA), Mr. K S Popli; Sr. Vice President, PHD Chamber, Mr. Anil Khaitan; Deputy CEO, KPMG India, Mr. Akhil Bansal; Chairman, Foreign Trade & Investment Committee, PHD Chamber, Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal and Secretary General, PHD Chamber, Mr. Saurabh Sanyal. 

The report highlights the recent liberalization in FDI policies & regulations, and advocates for continued efforts by government to sustain the current momentum.

The 2 year period from October 2014 -  September 2016 has recorded a 60% increase in FDI equity inflows, a notable achievement. .

Emphasizing on sector specific FDI inflows, the report suggests that on an average between 2000 and 2016 approximately 40% of FDI inflows has gone into services, telecom, construction and computer software and hardware with pharmaceuticals, chemicals and automobile sectors each receiving close to 5% of the country’s total FDI inflows.

The PHD Chamber internal analysis indicates that FDIs are related to ease of doing business in India and therefore, in its federal structure, an effective project monitoring group need to be activated in all States and UTs to encourage the bureaucracy to adopt a progressive approach towards investment proposals so that India sees multiplication in them.

It is also highlighted in the report that Maharashtra, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh together attracted more that 70% of total FDI inflows to India in the last 15 years. 

Maharashtra received FDI amounting to US$9.5 billion during April 2015 – March 2016 against US$6.36 billion in between April 2014 – March 2015.  During April 2000 and September 2016, the state received cumulative FDI totaling US$92.84 billion, constituting 30% of the country’s FDI.

According to the report, Delhi received FDI inflows to the tune of US$12,743 million during April 2015 – March 2016 against US$6,875 million in April 2014 – March 2015.  From April 2000 to September 2016, the state received FDI totaling US$65,652 million, constituting 21% of the country’s FDI and the second highest among states.

Institution Mechanism Necessary To Protect IPRs : PHD Chamber

National Conference on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) held here under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has recommended to the government that institutional mechanism is called for protection of IPRs in the absence of which remains the scope of piracy that goes on unabated.

In addition, the Conference also suggested that focus needs to be intensified for monetization of intellectual properties discovered and invented in universities and research institutions with their thick partnership with industry and industrial associations in the shape of final products with key element of innovation in it.

It was highlighted during the conference that a vast majority of academic institutions and universities do not have IPR Cell for patenting the innovations and therefore, such cells are need of hour to protect and patent the properties for their commercial launch and gains.

The aforesaid recommendations were mooted by panel of experts that participated in the inaugural session of the conference such as Mr. Amit Gupta, Chairman-Education Committee, PHD Chamber; Prof. (Dr.) Rekha Chaturvedi, DIPP IPR Chair, Cluster Innovation Centre, University of Delhi; Mr. Renaud GAILLARD, Counsellor for Intellectual Property India & South Asia, Embassy of France in India and Dr. Jatinder Singh, Sr. Secretary, PHD Chamber.

In his observations, Mr. Gupta emphasized that intellectual properties created by academia are pirated by vested interest and sold off less than half a price of theirs which leads to discouragement and disappointments.

Therefore, in the National IPR Policy should have regulations bend in favour of those that discover and create intellectual properties with their innovative spirits.

Dr. Chaturvedi in her presentation endorsed what Mr. Gupta advised further emphasizing closer academic and industry partnership for proper commercialization and monetization of intellectual properties.

Mr. Renaud Gaillard also stressed that the innovation happening in India and within its academics and research institutions should also be promoted with a collaborative approach between India and France.

Prof. Prabuddha Ganguli, IPR Chair, Tezpur University stressed on the role of sensitizing students in the IRP ecosystem.  The pace of technology is changing the landscape of IPR in a vibrant manner, so academia and industry should create institutional linkages for the progression of IPR in India.

FOOD PROCESSING SECTOR UNLIKELY TO SUFFER HIGHER TAXATION EVEN POST GST, SPECIAL SECRETARY, MOFPI

Special Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Mr. J P Meena on Wednesday assured the industry that the GST regime is unlikely to adversely affect this sector with higher taxation slabs as the available indications suggests that it would continue to be taxed at existing rates even post GST.

He further stressed that the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is insisting on with the Ministry of Finance that this sector should be subjected to minimum taxation even post GST for its further growth as also to ensure that investments in it continue to be attractive so that linkages between agri-producer and manufacturers are established in a manner that lead to production of quality products with reasonable prices.

Addressing the 4^th International Conference & Exhibition – India Farm 2 Fork 2016 under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today, Mr. Meena also said that the government was going to put and evolve policies and schemes that would promote food processing industries so much as also to bring down agri wastages by 50% in next 5-6 years from currently estimated annual losses of Rs.1 lakh crores.

“With the pro-active policies of the government of the day and its commitment to further improve upon them, the average level of FDIs into food processing sector in the last three years has been to an extent of $500 million per annum”, said Mr. Meena.

According to him, the mega food parks that have been coming up across the country in 42 locations are the major source of FDIs into food processing sector in which sufficient and adequate infrastructure to set up processing units is available though government will further improve on such an infrastructure.

Mr. Meena called upon the industry to improve their quality of processing to let India excel even on exports front as the government has already asked the food regulator FSSAI to streamline its safety standards and align them with CODEX norms so that India’s quality of food processing products become unquestionable.

“Whereas FSSAI has streamline several of its safety standards, it is also in the process of further introducing new norms so that quality products come out from food processing units that could be of global standards and also facilitate India’s exports on this front”, said Mr. Meena.

Among others who spoke on the occasion comprised Chairperson, Agribusiness Committee, PHD Chamber, Ms Priyanka Mittal; its Senior Member and Chairman, Kwality Dairy Industries, Dr. R S Khanna and Partner, Earnst & Young India, Mr. Devinder Chawla.

Govt. Committed to Transform Food Processing: Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti

Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti on Wednesday assured the industry that the government would do all possible to promote the food processing sector and further incentivize it so that the farmers produce and manufacturer’s hard work is equally rewarded.

Inaugurating the 4^th International Conference & Exhibition – India Farm 2 Fork 2016 under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today, the Minister said that the last in the 70 years ever since India attain freedom nothing much was done for food processing sector.

“It is with Modi Ji becoming the Prime Minister that the food processing sector felt to priority sector as it is he who referred to this sector as Prime Minister of India in his address to the Nation from the rampart of Red Fort”, said Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.

“It was our government that reduced significantly the taxation particularly its excise part on food processing industries from 10% to 6% and in future the government would take more initiative so that this sector becomes vibrant and put on global map”, she added.

The Minister concluded her inaugural address hoping that industry and farmers would build a partnership that is long lasting for the growth of food processing sector and reducing substantially the wastages on to it.

India-Singapore Investment Summit opens up in Singapore on 16 Dec. under aegis of PHD Chamber

In a bid to ignite and expand the scope of ongoing entrepreneurial boom in India through overseas investments and talent pool, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry is going to organize a day long “India-Singapore Investment Summit” on December 16, 2016 in Singapore.

In order to successfully and objectively accomplish this mission, the PHD Chamber is mounting a high level delegation of its constituents to interact with their respective counterparts at Singapore on 14^th of December under the stewardship of its President, Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka.

Prominent among those that would accompany him for this unique initiative of the PHD Chamber, comprise Mr. Anil Khaitan, Senior Vice President, PHD Chamber;  Mr. Rajeev Talwar, Chamber’s Vice President and CEO, DLF Ltd.; Mr. Alok B Shriram, Deputy Managing Director, DCM Shriram Industries Ltd; Mr. Sanjay Aggarwal, Chairman and CEO, Paramount Communications Ltd.; Mr. Shekhar Agarwal, MD, Maral Overseas Ltd.;  Ms. Alka Batra, MD, AEGIS Jobs Pvt Ltd.; Mr. Anuj Khanna, MD& CEO, TNRIC Services Private Ltd.;  Dr. Harish Ahuja, Chairman, Energy Committee, PHD Chamber and Founder & CEO, India Go Solar;  Mr. Saurabh Kumar Pandey, MD, Proplarity Infrastructure P Ltd.; Mr. Kunal Banerjee, Consultant, Proplarity Infrastructure P Ltd. and Mr. Vivek Gupta, Founder & CEO, KAIZEN PARTNERS.

Among others who also will be part of the delegation consist of Mr. Anil Jain, Director, A.K. Engineering Industries;  Mr. Vipul Maheshwari, Managing Partner, Maheshwari & Company; Mr Ajay Poddar, Managing Director, Synergy Environics Ltd.; Mr Akshay Gupta, Group Executive Head & Chief Executive Officer, Indiabulls Asset Management Company Limited; Ms Mitali Singh, Head-Operations, GHV Accelerator and Secretary General and Director of PHD Chamber, Mr. Saurabh Sanyal and Dr. Ranjeet Mehta.

The Chief Guest of the Investment Summit would be Mr. Jawed Ashraf,  High Commissioner of India to Singapore who would make a presentation for possible integration of global investors including those of Singapore with that of Indian industry and its economy to take advantage of the opportunities that the current entrepreneur boom provides for in India.

The key objective of the Summit is to tap on India’s positive growth trends, bring right partnership in faster pace, focusing on investment in Smart Cities, Renewable energy, Infrastructure sector,  Digital India, Clean India,  Oil and Gas sectors. The summit aims to promote bilateral trade between India and Singapore and looks forward to Singapore companies playing a bigger role in India’s next phase of growth to further build partnerships for mutual business cooperation, said the President of the Chamber, Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka in a statement issued here today. 

Increase the limit for Service Tax Exemption to Rs. 10,000 and Incentivize RTGS and NEFT transfers: PHD Chamber

While appreciating the government for accepting PHD Chamber’s suggestions on the removal of costs for digital transactions, Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has further suggested to incentivize RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement) and NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) under the ambit of digital transfers so that more and more people adopt the available facility and are less dependent on cash transactions.

Provisions of digital transactions in central government petroleum PSUs, primary cooperative societies/milk societies/agricultural input dealers, railways and public sector insurance companies are encouraging, said Mr. Jiwarajka.

Removal of service tax charged while making payments through credit card, debit card, charge card or any other payment card up to Rs.2,000 in a single transaction is a good start for the transformation from cash transactions to the digital transfers, however, the limit needs to be revised to Rs.10,000, he said.

A threshold limit of Rs.2,00,000 for transactions under the RTGS and Rs.50,000 for transfers under NEFT should be exempted from the service tax, said Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka.

Daily cash withdrawal limit from ATMs should also be increased to Rs.10,000 so that people are not coming in queue again and again, he said.

We suggest facility for withdrawal of new currency denominations through mobile ATM’s in the government, public sector and private corporate sector offices having more than 25 employees in their establishments, he added

Cash driven sectors such as construction sector and Small and Micro Units (SMEs) should be facilitated by expanded cash limits to withdraw from the banking sector for the payment of salaries of their daily wage and contractual workers, he said

We believe faster implementation of the suggested measures would help the people to contribute more in the process of demonetization to remonetization, said Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka.

PHD Chamber expect rate cut in line with cut in deposit rates

As the process of demonetization to remonetization has created tremendous liquidity, at this juncture, RBI should cut repo rate in line with cut in deposit rates in the forthcoming Bi-monthly monetary policy due on 7th December 2016, said Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Industry, businesses, and people are facing the impact of higher interest rates since the last many years.

The high interest rate regime has impacted not only the sentiments of businesses but also has significantly impacted the demand in the economy, majorly in the rural segments, said Mr. Jiwarajka.

Economy should be supported by lower interest rates in order to enhance the aggregate demand  and to boost up the manufacturing sector as inflation has significantly came down at around 5%, he said.

Lower interest rates would generate demand, enhance production possibilities and employment creation in he economy, said Mr. jiwarajka.

Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka said that cost of credit to businesses is very high as compared with many competitive economies, impacting not only domestic competitiveness but also comparative advantage in the international markets.

India’s repo rate at 6.25% is significantly higher as compared with the world’s 5 largest manufacturing countries including China (4.35%), United States of America (0.5%), Japan (-0.1%), Germany (0) and Republic of Korea (1.25%).

Other competitive economies such as Thailand (1.5%), Hong Kong (0.75%), Malaysia (3%), Singapore (0.12%), and Taiwan (1.38%) are significantly better than India in terms of cost of credit, said Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka.

Going ahead, we expect a significant cut in repo rate to facilitate the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector not only in order to compete in the international market but also to create a level playing field at the domestic front , said Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka.

Mr. Jiwarajka, Mr. Khaitan & Mr. Talwar are respective President, Senior Vice President & Vice President of the PHD Chamber

Chairman and Managing Director of Salora International Limited, Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka is the new President of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry with Chairman SNK Corp., Mr. Anil Khaitan and  DLF’s Chief Executive, Mr. Rajeev Talwar its respective Senior Vice President and Vice President.

Mr. Jiwarajka who is a commerce graduate from Sydecham College Mumbai has taken over the Presidency of the PHD Chamber, which has entered its 112th years of existence on November 26th, 2016 following conclusion of its 111th Annual Session, has over  35 years of experience in manufacturing, marketing and finance and is credited in setting up seven manufacturing plants for colour television, audio systems and components for the Company.

Mr. Anil Khaitan, who has taken over as the Senior Vice President of the Chamber, entered his family’s pharma business way back in 1976, was its Vice President earlier.  He is a qualified MBA from IMI, Geneva in the year 1981.

Mr. Rajeev Talwar was unanimously elected as the Vice President of the PHD Chamber at the conclusion of Chamber’s 111th Annual Session.  He is currently also serving as the Chairman of industry body National Real Estate Development Council (NREDCO) with nearly four decades of experience in public service and business roles.

Mr. Talwar, a post graduate and a graduate from St. Stephens College, Delhi University, started his career in 1976, as a Banker with State Bank of India as a Probationary Officer. In the year 1978, he was selected for the Indian Administrative Service. During his tenure as an IAS officer from 1978 to 2006, he held many important and critical positions in the Central & State Governments as well as Union Territories

Retain Exemptions for Infra Sector even post GST : PHD Chamber

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday urged the Finance Ministry to continue tax exemptions and other such facilities for power,  construction, real estate and the like even post GST since these sectors are critical for all round development of Indian economy & infrastructure and its national GDP as well.

The Chamber has also advised the government to bring in the model GST Law as can be devoid of and free from tax cascading that improve ease of doing business at a time when the government is committed to improve on this front for larger economic engagements from both overseas and domestic investors.

The aforesaid recommendations have come at a Conference on Implications of GST on Infrastructure & Construction Sector under aegis of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here today which was president over by its Senior Vice President, Mr. Anil Khaitan in which the key speakers consisted of the Chamber’s Chairmen of Indirect Taxes Committee and Roads, Ports & Other Infrastructure Committee, Mr. Bimal Jain and Mr. Ashish Mohan Wig including Founder CAS Associates, Mr. Anil Sood.

According to Mr. Jain, the PHD Chamber which have been interacting with various functionaries of the Finance Ministry on the issue of GST has already emphasized the need that post GST, the key segment of infrastructure sectors should continue to enjoy the existing tax exemptions including input credit to retain the vibrancy of the sector for its further growth and multiplications.

He also stressed that the national infrastructure and port etc. would accelerate with retention of exemptions post GST without adversely affecting the government exchequer in terms of revenue collections as alternates are available in GST statute to make up for lost revenue on this front.

Mr. Jain also advised the audience present that those engaged in construction and building activities need to register themselves in all states wherever supplies of goods or services i.e. from centralized registration to decentralized registration of services.

Mr. Anil Sood in his observations felt that GST code should be such as could not lead to double taxation as also facilitate placement of healthy business practices for comforts of both government and industry.

The Senior Vice President, PHD Chamber, Mr. Anil Khaitan in his remarks felt that the trust deficit that has grown up between the government and industry should be narrowed down for the growth of country and its future generation.

Scrapping excise Duty on branded gold coins to increase investments : PHD Chamber

Elimination of 1% excise duty on branded gold coins, is a good move by the Government and a win-win situation for the industry and consumers, said Mr. Gopal Jiwarajka , President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in a press statement issued here today.

This will boost the investment sentiment among the people and help consumers to invest their good money in gold for the long term savings’ perspective, said Mr. Jiwarajka

Moreover, this will increase the circulation of money in the economy as many investors with new currency in their hands are finding investment avenues. With the investments in gold, money will come in circulation and help the banking sector to meet the cash requirements of the people, added Mr. Gopal Jiawrajka.