Air India orders probe into rostering scam; cockpit crew making easy money
Even as the government’s efforts to sell majority stake in Air India came a cropper, it has come to light that a section of Air India’s pilots, deputy general managers (DGMs), clerks and other officials has been making some easy money on the side by playing the system. Airbus and Dream liner pilots’ flying hours and rosters are being nimbly manipulated, with the result that the loss-making national carrier is ending up paying these pilots a lot more than it needs to. To encourage flying, Air India has an absurd rule in place that says that pilots will be paid for 70 hours of flying per month provided they do a minimum of 40 hours’ flying.
Govt to improve norms for auditors, corp. professionals
The government is working to improve the regulations for auditors and corporate professionals as it looks to strengthen the “fabric of corporate governance” in the country, according to Union Minister P P Chaudhary. His comments come against the backdrop of some auditing entities coming under the scanner of the Corporate Affairs Ministry following various complaints. Besides, the ministry is also examining recent instances of auditors resigning from companies on various grounds. In a recent interview to, he said the ministry is working closely with professional regulatory bodies under it to “improve the regulations for the auditors and corporate professionals”.
Banks need more time to implement new APIs: IBA
The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has told the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) in no uncertain terms that banks need to be given reasonable time for testing, making changes in and going live with the three new APIs (application programming interfaces) introduced by the latter for performing 100 per cent Aadhaar authentication. The objective should be to implement the revised systems without compromising on accuracy, safety and security (of transactions), it said, stressing that penalties and disincentives should not be brought in a rush.
SEZ overhaul may see sops being linked to job creation
The overhaul of the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) policy being planned by the government may see sops for the zones being linked to employment generation against the current fiscal-based incentives. “The group of eminent persons constituted by the Centre to study the SEZ policy and suggest changes, in its first meeting on Friday, stressed on the need to ensure that the zones led to generation of employment, which is one of the biggest challenges for the economy,” a government official told Business Line.
Credit goes to States for successful implementation of GST, says PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi credited the state governments for the “successful” implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, which completes one year on July 1. In his customary radio address Mann Ki Baat, Modi said on Sunday that ‘One Nation, One Tax’ was the dream of the people of this country and that has become a reality. “If I’ve to give credit to anyone for successful implementation of the ‘One Nation One Tax reform’, then I credit the states. GST is a great example of Cooperative federalism, where all the states decided to take a unanimous decision in the interest of the nation, and then such a huge tax reform was implemented in the country.
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