Bengaluru (Karnataka)[India], May 3 (ANI): At each venue in the second Khelo India University Games 2021, spectators, coaches, rivals and teammates crammed the sidelines, taking in the action on the field of play. While most were there to watch the action, some usually the most inconspicuous were there for a higher purpose.

New Delhi Mar 30 PTI Lok Sabha on Wednesday cleared a bill to amend the laws governing chartered accountants cost accountants and company secretaries providing for revamping the disciplinary committees of the respective professional institutes Once the amendments come into force the presiding officer of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India ICAI will be a non-Chartered Accountant CA Similarly disciplinary committees of the institutes of cost accountants and company secretaries would also be presided over by individuals who are not cost accountants and company secretaries respectively Piloting the Chartered Accountants Cost and Works Accountants and Company Secretaries Amendment Bill Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the amendments will not infringe upon the autonomy of the three institutes The changes will make the institutes more responsible and accountable and align them with global best practices she said while replying to a discussion on the bill The bill was passed by a voice vote after various amendments moved by opposition members were rejected The Institute of Cost Accountants of India is the apex body for cost accountants while the Institute of Company Secretaries of India ICSI is the key body for company secretaries Among other amendments the government has proposed that the disciplinary committee of each of the three apex institutes should have three nominated members who are not a part of the particular institute concerned The bill also provide for setting up of a coordination committee of the three bodies headed the Union Corporate Affairs Secretary PTI CS NAB RAM

Mumbai Mar 23 PTI A local court has issued a process summons to actor Salman Khan and his bodyguard Nawaz Shaikh on a complaint filed by a journalist in connection with a dispute in 2019 Metropolitan Magistrate R R Khan in his order on Tuesday noted that a police report in the matter stated that offences under Indian Penal Code Sections 504 intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace and 506 criminal intimidation are made out against the accused persons The court issued processsummons and posted the matter for further hearing on April 5 Journalist Ashok Pandey had in his complaint sought criminal action to be initiated against Salman Khan and Shaikh Pandey alleged that the actor had snatched away his mobile phone while cycling on a Mumbai street when some media persons started clicking his photos The actor had allegedly entered into an argument and threatened him Pandey said in his complaint The court had earlier directed the D N Nagar police here to conduct an inquiry and submit a report In its order on Tuesday the court said Keeping in view the self-speaking material on record positive police reportand other material on record there are sufficient grounds to proceed against the accused persons The issuance of a process marks the beginning of criminal proceedings before a metropolitan or judicial magistrate on the basis of a complaint lodged by an individual The magistrate court issues the process if it finds prima facie substance in the allegations made in the complaint Once the process is issued the accused persons have to appear before the court PTI SP GK GK

New Delhi Feb 26 PTI The government on Saturday permitted up to 20 per cent foreign direct investment FDI under automatic route in IPO-bound LIC with an aim to facilitate disinvestment of the countrys largest insurer sources said The decision in this regard was taken by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi The government has approved listing of shares of LIC on the stock market through an IPO by part-sale of its stake in the insurer and raising fresh equity capital Foreign investors may be desirous of participating in the mega IPO However the existing FDI policy did not prescribe any specific provision for foreign investment in LIC which is a statutory corporation established under the LIC Act 1956 Since as per the present FDI policy the foreign inflows ceiling for public sector banks is 20 per cent under government approval route it has been decided to allow foreign investment of up to 20 per cent for LIC and such other corporate bodies Further in order to expedite the capital raising process such FDI has been kept under the automatic route as in the case of the rest of the insurance sector one of the sources said Increased FDI inflows will supplement domestic capital technology transfer skill development for accelerated economic growth and development across sectors Sources said other minor enhancements in the existing FDI policy have also been carried out in order to provide an updated consistent and easily comprehensible FDI framework The FDI policy currently lists only Insurance Company and Intermediaries or Insurance Intermediaries under the insurance sector LIC being a statutory corporation is not covered under either insurance company or intermediaries or insurance intermediaries and no limit was prescribed for foreign investment in LIC under the LIC Act 1956 the Insurance Act 1938 the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act 1999 or regulations made under the respective laws Further with an intent to improve the overall FDI policy certain changes and alignments under various provisions of the policy have been carried out The reform in the FDI policy will have several benefits It would facilitate foreign investment in LIC and such other corporate bodies for which the government may have a requirement for disinvestment purposes The reform will facilitate ease of doing business and lead to greater FDI inflows and at the same time ensure alignment with the overall intentobjective of FDI policy a source said Setting the stage for the countrys biggest-ever public offering Life Insurance Corporation on February 13 filed draft papers with capital market regulator Sebi for the sale of 5 per cent stake by the government for an estimated Rs 63000 crore The initial public offering IPO of over 316 crore shares or 5 per cent government stake is likely to hit D-street in March Employees and policyholders of the insurance behemoth would get a discount over the floor price According to the draft red herring prospectus DRHP LICs embedded value which is a measure of the consolidated shareholders value in an insurance company has been pegged at about Rs 54 lakh crore as of September 30 2021 by international actuarial firm Milliman Advisors Although the DRHP does not disclose the market valuation of LIC as per industry standards it would be about three times the embedded value or around Rs 16 lakh crore The LIC public issue would be the biggest IPO in the history of the Indian stock market Once listed LICs market valuation would be comparable to top companies like RIL and TCS So far the amount mobilised from IPO of Paytm in 2021 was the largest ever at Rs 18300 crore followed by Coal India 2010 at nearly Rs 15500 crore and Reliance Power 2008 at Rs 11700 crore PTI RR DP ANZ ABM ABM

New Delhi Feb 26 PTI The Union Cabinet on Saturday permitted up to 20 per cent foreign direct investment FDI under automatic route in IPO-bound LIC with an aim to facilitate disinvestment of the countrys largest insurer sources said The decision in this regard was taken by the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi The government has approved listing of shares of LIC on the stock market through an IPO by part-sale of its stake in the insurer and raising fresh equity capital Foreign investors may be desirous of participating in the mega IPO However the existing FDI policy did not prescribe any specific provision for foreign investment in LIC which is a statutory corporation established under the LIC Act 1956 Since as per the present FDI policy the foreign inflows ceiling for public sector banks is 20 per cent under government approval route it has been decided to allow foreign investment of up to 20 per cent for LIC and such other corporate bodies Further in order to expedite the capital raising process such FDI has been kept under the automatic route as in the case of the rest of the insurance sector one of the sources said Increased FDI inflows will supplement domestic capital technology transfer skill development for accelerated economic growth and development across sectors Setting the stage for the countrys biggest-ever public offering Life Insurance Corporation on February 13 filed draft papers with capital market regulator Sebi for the sale of 5 per cent stake by the government for an estimated Rs 63000 crore The initial public offering IPO of over 316 crore shares or 5 per cent government stake is likely to hit D-street in March Employees and policyholders of the insurance behemoth would get a discount over the floor price According to the draft red herring prospectus DRHP LICs embedded value which is a measure of the consolidated shareholders value in an insurance company has been pegged at about Rs 54 lakh crore as of September 30 2021 by international actuarial firm Milliman Advisors Although the DRHP does not disclose the market valuation of LIC as per industry standards it would be about three times the embedded value or around Rs 16 lakh crore The LIC public issue would be the biggest IPO in the history of the Indian stock market Once listed LICs market valuation would be comparable to top companies like RIL and TCS So far the amount mobilised from IPO of Paytm in 2021 was the largest ever at Rs 18300 crore followed by Coal India 2010 at nearly Rs 15500 crore and Reliance Power 2008 at Rs 11700 crore PTI RR DP ANZ ABM ABM

New Delhi Feb 25 PTI The Union Cabinet is likely to consider on Saturday a proposal seeking changes in the foreign direct investment FDI policy to facilitate disinvestment of the countrys largest insurer LIC sources said The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade DPIIT has mooted the proposal after taking views from the finance ministry The Cabinet will take up the matter tomorrow a source said According to the current FDI policy 74 per cent foreign investment is permitted under the automatic route in the insurance sector However these rules do not apply to the Life Insurance Corporation of India LIC which is administered through a separate LIC Act As per Sebi rules both FPI and FDI are permitted under public offer However since the LIC Act has no provision for foreign investments there is a need to align the proposed LIC IPO with Sebi norms regarding foreign investor participation The Cabinet had in July last year approved the initial public offering IPO of LIC and the stake sale is being planned for the current March quarter Setting the stage for the countrys biggest-ever public offering Life Insurance Corporation on February 13 filed draft papers with capital market regulator Sebi for the sale of 5 per cent stake by the government for an estimated Rs 63000 crore The initial public offering of over 316 crore shares or 5 per cent government stake is likely to hit D-street in March Employees and policyholders of the insurance behemoth would get a discount over the floor price According to the draft red herring prospectus DRHP LICs embedded value which is a measure of the consolidated shareholders value in an insurance company has been pegged at about Rs 54 lakh crore as of September 30 2021 by international actuarial firm Milliman Advisors Although the DRHP does not disclose the market valuation of LIC as per industry standards it would be about three times the embedded value or around Rs 16 lakh crore The LIC public issue would be the biggest IPO in the history of the Indian stock market Once listed LICs market valuation would be comparable to top companies like RIL and TCS So far the amount mobilised from IPO of Paytm in 2021 was the largest ever at Rs 18300 crore followed by Coal India 2010 at nearly Rs 15500 crore and Reliance Power 2008 at Rs 11700 crore PTI RR ANZ ABM ABM

Balochistan [Pakistan], February 24 (ANI): Ten terrorists were killed in Pakistan's Balochistan province during a heavy exchange of fire with security forces in Hoshab district.

Mumbai Feb 23 PTI The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed actors Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan to file representation to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC against a notice issued to them for acquiring a portion of their bungalow Pratiksha in suburban Juhu The Bachchans had moved the High Court earlier this week challenging the notices issued to them by the civic body A division bench of Justices R D Dhanuka and S M Modak directed them to file a representation to the BMC within two weeks Once the representation is filed the BMC shall hear and take a decision six weeks thereafter Once a decision is taken no coercive action shall be taken against the petitioners for three weeks the court said The court further said that if required a personal hearing can also be given to the Bachchans lawyers The petition sought for the BMC notices to be quashed and an injunction restraining the civic body from taking any action towards acquisition of the land The Bachchans were issued two notices on April 20 2017 stating that certain portions of the plots near their residential property lay within the regular line of the street and that the BMC intended to take possession of such land along with the wall and structures thereon The Bachchans deputed their representatives to attend the BMC office and inquire about the notices and discuss the matter with civic officials They pointed out to the BMC officials that it will be easier for the civic body to widen the street on the opposite side of the location of the plots The plea stated that for a period of four years and nine months till January 28 2022 no action was taken by the BMC to implement the notices In the meantime the petitioners assumed that the notices issued were dropped and hence no formal objection was communicated On January 28 2022 certain BMC officers informed the petitioners verbally that they proposed to implement the impugned notices and will shortly be taking possession of a portion of the plots as set out in the notices it said The petition stated that the impugned notices do not take into account the building structures existing on the plots which cannot be demolished as per the MMC Act The BMC has not issued any notices to other holders of plots on the same side of the road and no action was taken by them for widening the stretch of road showing disparity in action the petition claimed PTI SP ARU ARU

New Delhi Feb 21 PTI Subscribers of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana PMJJBY are eligible for LIC initial public offering at a discount Chairman of insurance company M R Kumar said on Monday PMJJBY is part of that and reservation will be there for the policyholders Kumar said in an interaction with the media Launched in 2015 PMJJBY offers a renewable one year life cover of Rs 2 lakh to all savings bank account holders in the age group of 18-50 years covering death due to any reason for a premium of Rs 330 per annum per subscriber This government scheme is offered or administered through LIC As per the Draft Red Herring Prospectus DRHP filed last week the maximum bid amount under the Policyholder Reservation Portion by an eligible policyholder would not exceed Rs 200000 net of policyholder discount It further said policyholders having one or more policies of LIC as on the date of DRHP and bidoffer opening date and who are residents of India would be eligible to apply in this offer under the Policyholder Reservation Portion The aggregate of reservation for eligible policyholders shall not exceed 10 per cent of the total offer size The portion of the offer available for allocation to eligible policyholders on a proportionate basis is subject to the receipt of necessary approvals from the government LIC issued approximately 21 million individual policies in FY 2021 accounting for nearly 75 per cent of new individual policy issuances The IPO is offer for sale OFS by Government of India There is no fresh issue of shares by LIC The government holds 100 per cent stake or over 63249 crore shares in LIC The face value of shares is Rs 10 apiece The LIC public issue would be the biggest IPO in the history of the Indian stock market Once listed LICs market valuation would be comparable to top companies like RIL and TCS The IPO of LIC is expected by March and the proceeds would be crucial to meet the revised disinvestment target of Rs 78000 crore in the current fiscal year LICs share capital was raised from Rs 100 crore to Rs 6325 crore during September last year to help facilitate the IPO Last month LIC reported a profit after tax of Rs 1437 crore for the first half of financial year 2021-22 as compared with Rs 614 crore in the year-ago period PTI DP ANU ANU

New Delhi Feb 19 PTI A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking direction to the Centre and the Election Commission to take steps to regulate poll manifesto and make political parties accountable for promises made thereinFiled by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay the PIL seeks direction to the Election Commission to seize the poll symbol and deregisterderecognise the political parties that fail to fulfil their promises made in manifestoThe plea filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey contended that the Centre and the ECI have not taken steps to regulate political parties manifestoPetitioner submits that election manifesto is a vision document to achieve the particular goals if the political party gets elected It is a published declaration of the intentions motives and views of the political party and governmentThe political parties must refrain from giving exaggerated promises as it may burden the public money kept in state funds during times of financial distress It also agreed that not all promises are corrupt but many are and so guidelines must be given by election commission the plea saidPointing to a case as example the petition said the Aam Aadmi Party promised Janlokpal Bill-Swaraj Bill in 2013 2015 and 2020 election manifesto but did nothing to effectuate themThis is happening in all states because neither the Centre has enacted a law to regulate the functioning of political parties and their election manifesto nor has the ECI made any guideline it saidReferring to another example the plea said that Bharatiya Janata Party BJP has been repeatedly making the promise to enact a Uniform Civil CodeIt currently has absolute majority in the Lok Sabha even if it is short of numbers in the Rajya Sabha In such a situation what would be the legal hassle if someone takes the BJP to Court seeking fulfilment of the promise Let it at least introduce a UCC Bill and leave it to the machinations of parliamentary democracy to be settled in due courseAn election manifesto is a window for voters to see through a political partys governance agenda to make an informed decision Voting is a transactional act Once a vote is cast on the basis of the transactional value the voter sees in the party a legal contract arguably comes into existence if the said party forms the ruling government the PIL saidDirect and declare that the Election Manifesto is a vision document a published declaration of the intentions motives and views of the political party and used to achieve the particular goals if political party gets elected Hence it is statutory and legally enforceable the plea said PTI PKS TIR TIR