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  Supreme Court’s SC/ST Act ruling has diluted law, done great damage: Govt The govt stressed that the Supreme Court judgement on SC/ST Act had diluted the provisions of the governing act, resulting in great damage to the country A recent Supreme Court ruling preventing automatic arrests in cases of atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes has diluted the SC/ST Act and created great damage, the government said. The ruling was in the “teeth of the provisions of the law”, the government submitted in the Supreme Court. “This case dealing with an issue of very sensitive nature has caused a lot of commotion in the country and is also creating anger, unease and a sense of disharmony”, the centre said. It was also stressed that the judgement had diluted the provisions of the governing act, resulting in great damage to the country. In written submissions to the review petition, the centre, through attorney general K.K. Venugopal, said the court was not filling in gaps

RBI tightens monitoring of Liberalised Remittance Scheme for overseas money transferring The Reserve Bank today tightened reporting norms for the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) under which an individual can transfer up to USD 2,50,000 abroad in a year. The LRS transactions are currently permitted by banks based on the declaration made by the remitter. The monitoring of adherence to the limit is confined to obtaining such a declaration without independent verification, in the absence of a reliable source of information. "In order to improve monitoring and also to ensure compliance with the LRS limits, it has been decided to put in place a daily reporting system by AD banks of transactions undertaken by individuals under LRS, which will be accessible to all the other ADs," the RBI said in a notification. Now banks will be required to upload daily transaction-wise information undertaken by them under LRS. Under the LRS, all resident individuals, including minors,

Limits notified for tax breaks to angel investors The notification says start-ups may avail of the tax concession only if total investment, including funding from angel investors does not exceed Rs 100 mn The government announced it had exempted investments by individuals in some categories of start-ups from the so-called ‘angel tax’. The notification says start-ups may avail of the tax concession only if total investment, including funding from angel investors (those who make the initial equity investment) does not exceed Rs 100 million. The said tax, under Section 56(2)(viib) of the Income Tax Act, provides that where a closely held company issues its shares at a price more than its fair market value, the amount it gets in excess of this value will be charged to tax as income from other sources, to the tune of 30 per cent. Concerns were expressed over the possibility of investment into the start-up system being discouraged by this; also, of harassment by tax officials. “Gen

Centre, RBI step in as cash crunch hobbles ATMs across various states Several states are facing cash shortage despite currency flow in the economy going back to the pre-demonetisation level The finance ministry held a meeting with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks, and state government officials on Thursday to take stock of cash availability in automated teller machines (ATMs) after receiving complaints of cash crunch in some states. Several states are facing cash shortage despite currency flow in the economy going back to the pre-demonetisation level. A recent analysis by the RBI to the finance ministry found that the rate of cash withdrawal was far more than the cash deposits in banks in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana, according to the documents reviewed by Business Standard. “We held a meeting with the RBI officials, banks, and states today (Thursday). There is no apparent cash crun