Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday said trading across borders has become an “economic imperative of our times” and it is in every nation’s interest to bring down the trade barriers for the global economy.

“No nation can produce all products. It cannot specialise in all forms of services and therefore trading across barriers of nations is an economic imperative of our times and this is going to increase with times to come,” Jaitley said at an event here.

Addressing the 80th Session of the Policy Commission of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) through video conference, he said nations have realised that increase in trade gives impetus to the global economy as he advocated free trade.

“It is in the larger interest of every country to make sure that trade barriers are brought down to the extent possible,” he said at a time when protectionism is on the rise fuelled by the trade war initiated by the US against China and with the latter’s retaliation.

Jaitley said trade barriers have a significant impact on transactional costs for all transactions and any delay either due to lack of infrastructure or on account of terms and procedures adds to the cost thereby taking away the competitiveness of that trade.

“Domestic economy itself starts suffering and therefore it is in the larger interest of each economy globally to make sure that trading across customs, trade barriers of nations is facilitated to the largest extent possible,” he said.

He said countries have invested a lot in improving upon infrastructure including ports, airports and roads, and that India has been in the forefront of increasing its own capacities.

“This is reflected from the fact that in the last four years our ranking in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business has moved from 142 to 77, a record movement of 65 position. On facilitating global trade, India’s rank has improved from 140 to 80 among 190 countries.

“India remains committed as far as improvements in trade facilitations and facilitating trading across barriers is concerned,” he said.

He expressed hope that the three-day 80th Session of the Policy Commission will be of great utility for facilitating global trade.

Hosted by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, the session on various topics including trade facilitation is being attended by delegates from 33 countries.

IANS

 The government on Monday said nearly 94 per cent of the total GST refund claims of Rs 97,202 crore has been settled by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the state authorities.

“Total GST refunds to the tune of Rs 91,149 crore have been disposed by CBIC and state authorities out of the total refund claims of Rs 97,202 crore received so far. Thus, the disposal rate of 93.77 per cent has been achieved,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

It said the pending Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund claims of Rs 6,053 crore are being expeditiously processed so as to provide relief to eligible claimants. Refund claims without any deficiency are being cleared expeditiously, it said.

In case of integrated GST (IGST) refunds, about 95 per cent or Rs 48,455 crore of the total IGST refund claims of Rs 50,928 crore transmitted to Customs from GSTN as on November 28 have been disposed of.

“The remaining claims amounting to Rs. 2,473 crore are held up on account of various deficiencies which have been communicated to exporters for remedial action,” it said.

Further, in case of Input Tax Credit (ITC) and other refund claims, of the total refund claims of Rs 46,274 crore received in the jurisdictional tax offices, the pendency as on December 3 is Rs 902 crore with the Centre and Rs 2,678 crore with states.

Provisional or final order has been issued in case of refunds amounting to Rs 37,406 crore. In claims amounting to Rs 5,288 crore, deficiency memos have been issued by respective GST authorities, it said.

The Ministry added efforts are being made continuously to clear all the pending refund claims, where ever requisite information is provided and found eligible.

It sought cooperation of the exporter community to ensure that they respond to the deficiency memos and errors communicated by Centre and state GST as well as customs authorities and also exercise due diligence while filing returns and shipping bills.

IANS

 The Pentagon will begin sending a backlog of thousands of green-card holders to recruit training, suspending a policy adopted by President Donald Trump’s administration that required more-stringent background checks for some immigrants wanting to serve.

The policy called for green-card holders to submit to and complete a full background check and respond to any concerns before they could go to boot camp which was in addition to standard requirements for green-card applicants, such as biometrics screening, reports The Washington Post.

The change put thousands of people in limbo, as their screening languished and specific jobs within the military promised to them slipped away.

The new directive issued on Monday says that each armed service must comply immediately with a preliminary injunction issued last month in the District Court for the Northern District of California.

Air Force Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said the services will begin sending the recruits to training this week and will be placed in available slots.

About 18,000 US troops were green-card holders at the beginning of the Trump administration, and about 5,000 joined the military each year before the stricter policy, Pentagon officials have said.

The Marine Corps sent 1,044 green-card holders to recruit training in 2016 and 1,169 in 2017, but the number dropped to 808 in the most recent fiscal year ending in September, according to Pentagon data.

The Air Force sent 567 green-card holders to recruit training in 2016 and 590 in 2017. But that number dropped to 44 in the fiscal year ending in September. About 470 green-card holders are under contract and waiting to attend training.

The Army sent 4,600 green-card holders to recruit training in 2016, and 3,600 in 2017, according to data provided by the Pentagon. That number plummeted to 513 in 2018.

IANS

 The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Monday came out with a cyber security framework for stock brokers and depositories.

The guidelines would come into force on April 1, 2019, SEBI said in a circular.

“As part of the operational risk management framework to manage risk to systems, networks and databases from cyber attacks and threats, stock brokers/depository participants should formulate a comprehensive cyber security and cyber resilience policy document encompassing the framework,” the circular said.

In case of deviations from the suggested framework, reasons for such deviations, technical or otherwise, should be provided in the policy document, it added.

As per the guidelines, stock brokers or depository participants should designate a senior official or management personnel whose function would be to assess and identify cyber security risks, respond to incidents, establish appropriate standards and controls.

The board or proprietors of the stock brokers or depository participants would have to constitute an internal “technology committee” comprising experts, which would, on a half-yearly basis review the implementation of the cyber security and cyber resilience policy of the organisation.

It also said: “No person by virtue of rank or position should have any intrinsic right to access confidential data, applications, system resources or facilities.”

Any access to systems, applications, networks, databases and so on, should be for a defined purpose and for a defined period, the regulator added.

“All critical systems of the stock broker/depository participant accessible over the Internet should have two-factor security (such as VPNs, Firewall controls etc).”

It mandated the brokers and depositories to ensure that records of user access to critical systems, wherever possible, are uniquely identified and logged for audit and review purposes and also ordered for storing logs in a secure location for at least two years.

The guidelines further said that physical access to the critical systems should be restricted only to authorised officials.

For algorithmic trading facilities, SEBI ordered that adequate measures should be taken to isolate and secure the perimeter and connectivity to the servers running algorithmic trading applications.

“Critical data must be identified and encrypted in motion and at rest by using strong encryption methods,” the circular said.

IANS

Jet Airways cancelled at least 14 flights to various destinations on Sunday after some of its pilots reported “sick” over non-payment of their dues, sources said.

The loss-making private carrier has been defaulting on salary disbursement to its senior management along with pilots and engineer since August due to severe cash crunch.

The airline has partially paid to these staff for September while the full salaries of October and November also remain unpaid.

“At least 14 flights have been cancelled so far due to some pilots reporting sick. They are protesting against non-payment of salary, dues and the indifferent attitude of the National Aviator’s Guild (NAG) in taking up the issue with the management,” the source said.

The NAG is a domestic pilots body of Jet Airways, representing over 1,000 pilots.

The airline said in a statement the flights were cancelled due to an “unforeseen operational circumstance, and not pilot non-cooperation”. It, however, did not give the number of flights cancelled.

Another source said, “Some of the pilots have also written to airline chairman Naresh Goyal, stating that they are unwilling to work in this manner.”

Jet Airways said the passengers of the affected flights were duly informed about their flight status via SMS alerts and they have been re-accommodated or compensated.

“The company continues to enjoy the complete support and cooperation of all its employees, including pilots and engineers, individually and through their respective representative bodies, who have extended their solidarity and full support to the airline,” the airline stated

The management is in regular dialogue with the pilots and other teams to discuss and resolve ongoing issues including disbursement of salaries, it added.

“As stated earlier, Jet Airways is committed to meet its obligations and has been progressively addressing this issue with the employees,” it said.

PTI

 The S&P BSE Sensex opened 200 points higher on Monday, in line with global markets on signs of easing US-China trade tension.

According to reports, China and the US agreed to halt additional tariffs in the G20 meeting in Buenos Aires over the weekend, pushing global stock markets higher.

Buying was witnessed in metal, IT and FMCG counters while healthcare scrips came under selling pressure.

Stocks of key sectors; finance and banking traded higher.

The Sensex of the BSE opened at 36,396.69 from its previous close at 36,194.30 on Friday.

At 9.26 a.m., the Sensex traded at 36,337.41 higher by 143.11 points or 0.40 per cent.

The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) opened at 10,930.70 after closing at 10,876.75 on Friday.

The Nifty traded at 10,909.05 during the morning trade session, up 32.30 points and 0.30 per cent.

IANS

 Iran will continue to develop and test missiles in line with its deterrence policy despite adversarial positions taken on this issue by the US officials, a spokesman of the Iranian Armed Forces said here on Sunday.

“Missile tests and the overall defensive capability of the Islamic republic are for defence purposes and in line with our country’s deterrence policy,” Abolfazl Shekarchi said, Xinhua news agency reported.

“We will continue to both test and develop missiles,” he said, adding that “this issue is outside the framework of any negotiations and is part of our national security.”

“We will not ask for any country’s permission in this regard,” he stressed.

Iran has assured regional countries that the boost of missiles power of the Islamic republic does not hurt the interests of other countries, Shekarchi said.

“Such measures are only in line with boosting the country’s deterrent and defence power,” he added.

Shekarchi made the remarks in reaction to an earlier remarks by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, that Iran’s ballistic missile tests violated the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2231.

Pompeo said on Saturday that “the Iranian regime has just test-fired a medium range ballistic missile that’s capable of carrying multiple warheads. This test violates UNSCR 2231.”

“We condemn these activities and call upon Iran to cease immediately all activities relating to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons,” he said.

In reaction, Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday dismissed as “ridiculous” the charges by Pompeo.

“Iran’s missile program has a defensive nature and is designed based on the country’s needs,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, was quoted as saying by the ministry’s website.

“No resolution at the UN Security Council has banned Iran’s missile program or missile tests,” Qasemi said.

The Iranian spokesman said that the remarks by Pompeo is “ridiculous since the US refers to a resolution which not only has it violated by unilateral and illegal withdrawal, but by encouraging others to violate it, or even threatening them to punish” in case they remain committed to it.

UNSCR 2231 has endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or the 2015 deal on nuclear program of Iran.

The US President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of it in May and reimposed sanctions on Tehran which had been removed under the deal.

Besides, Iran’s Defence Minister, Amir Hatami, said on Sunday that the Islamic republic has turned into one of the world’s missile powers despite tolerating severe western sanctions over the past 40 years.

“Today, Iran is among the world’s top powers in building missiles, radars, armoured vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs),” Hatami told official IRNA news agency.

“Iran has managed to attain a very desirable and acceptable performance in the field of defensive products and the (Iranian) Defence Ministry has become self-sufficient in defence industry despite tough sanctions by the arrogant powers in the past 40 years,” he said.

IANS

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed on cooperation among G20 countries on issues related to global economy, trade tensions, crude oil prices and terrorism and fugitive economic offenders, India’s G20 sherpa has said.

Addressing the media here, Shaktikanta Das on Saturday said the current challenges being faced by the global economy, especially emerging economy space, were highlighted by Modi at the G20 Summit.

“He highlighted the threat of increasing financial vulnerabilities, mainly arising from monetary policies of advanced economies and oil price volatility,” Das said.

“The Prime Minister also emphasized on unsynchronized policies of advanced economies and the uneven pace of revival of economies of various countries.”

Modi stressed on escalating trade tensions and its resultant and collateral damages it caused to the least developed countries and other emerging economies, he added.

As regards the way forward, Modi emphasized on the need for pro-active and reformed multilateralism.

“He (Modi) talked about various multilateral institutions and stressed there is need to adopt policies of pro-active and reformed multilateralism, basically to activate various multilateral channels, whether it is the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) or other multilateral channels and, of course, the UN and last but not the least, G20,” Das said.

Modi highlighted that any instability in the crude oil prices put big pressure on the budgetary resources and domestic finances of the emerging economies.

He also appealed for reforming the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and sought dialogue on trade and service in promoting global value chain in the agricultural sector, Das said.

The Prime Minister wanted countries to “immediately” join the automatic exchange of information.

“He highlighted the efforts taken in regards to harnessing transformative technologies, that is robotics, data analytic, education technology, Fin-tech (Financial Technology). He talked about democratization of the technologies at the international level for global good.”

Presenting a nine-point action programme against fugitive economic offenders at the second session of the G20 Summit on Friday, Modi said there was a need for a joint effort by member countries to form a mechanism that denies entry and safe havens to all fugitive economic offenders.

India is pressing for the extradition of high-profile fugitive economic offenders including Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya among others.

The Prime Minister stressed it was time to fully implement and operationalise various aspects of 11-point agenda against terrorism adopted in Hamburg in 2017.

He also called upon countries to join the international solar alliance and spoke about global coalition on disaster resilient infrastructure, Das said.

Modi said India will host the G20 Summit in 2022, the year New Delhi celebrates its 75th Independence Day.

IANS

 The United Forum of Bank Union (UFBU) – a consortium of nine unions in the banking sector – will strike work on December 26 opposing the merger of Bank of Baroda, Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank, the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said on Saturday.

The AIBEA is one of the constituents of the UFBU.

In a statement, the AIBEA said the unions in the banking sector were opposed to the merger of three banks.

IANS