India Won’t Sign Global Corporate Tax Deal Until Concerns Addressed

India will not sign a global corporate tax deal focused on highly profitable multinational firms unless its concerns on dispute resolution and the treatment of withholding tax are addressed, Business Standard reported quoting a finance ministry official.

The so-called "Pillar 1" arrangement, part of a 2021 global two-part tax deal, aims to replace unilateral digital services taxes (DSTs) via a new mechanism to share taxing rights on multinational companies, such as US tech giants Alphabet's Google and Amazon.com and Apple. India is "constructively engaging" with all the countries for the successful conclusion of "Pillar 1", and was hopeful the deal would be finalised soon, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said, adding, "However, it cannot be at the cost of our own interests." Read more

Supreme Court asks Centre on how it promotes EVs, next hearing on September 23

The Supreme Court on July 22 granted the Centre four weeks to file a counter affidavit along with all policy decisions taken by it from time to time to promote electric vehicles, Livelaw.in reported.

Hearing a public interest litigation seeking the promotion and implementation of electric vehicle policies, the bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan requested Senior Counsel Devashish Bharukha for the respondents to inform Attorney General R Venkatramani to assist in the matter on the next date of hearing, on September 23, 2024.

The PIL was filed in 2019 by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, Common Cause, and SitaRam Jindal Foundation. More here

Customs Duty Cut On Gold And Silver Hints At End Of Sovereign Gold Bonds: Report 

The government's reduction of customs duty on gold and silver to 6 per cent from 15 per cent in Budget 2024-25 is expected to have an impact on demand for Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGB), Moneycontrol.com reported.

On budget day, SGB prices saw a decline on the National Stock Exchange by 2-5 per cent. A source said SGBs have been an expensive proposition for the government, which is unlikely to pursue them.

The first tranche of SGBs, issued on November 30, 2015, reached its final redemption in November 2023. Investors who participated in the SGB scheme 2016-17 -series 1, issued in August 2016, are nearing their final redemption, which is set for the first week of August 2024. More here

20 Ministries To Brainstorm Today On Creating Employment Database

The government is initiating a process to comprehensively tap relevant information on jobs and workforce, Business Standard reported. 

In a first such step, some 20 Union ministries will brainstorm, on Friday, with the objective of creating a central database on employment. Labour Secretary Sumita Dawra told Business Standard that the exercise would be a starting point in formalising a way to capture data that will link supply and demand for workforce in the country.

The meeting will be chaired by Labour Minister Mansukh Lal Mandaviya and will see participation of officials from ministries, such as External Affairs, Commerce and Industry, Agriculture, Coal, Corporate Affairs, Finance, Skill Development, and Textiles.  More here

Byju’s Moves Karnataka High Court For A Stay On Insolvency Proceedings

Edtech firm Byju’s moved the Karnataka High Court on Thursday seeking a stay on the insolvency proceedings triggered by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Bengaluru, Business Standard reported.

Byju’s has urged the Court to stay the insolvency resolution process as well as the formation of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) until its appeal pending before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) is heard and decided finally.

Senior Counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared on behalf of Byju’s parent company, Think and Learn. He told the Court that the NCLAT bench in Chennai had adjourned the edtech firm’s appeal to another date to decide on “whether one of the judges will have to recuse from the plea”.  More here

ChatGPT To Launch SearchGPT, AI-Powered Search Engine 

The global search market is set to get a new entrant as ChatGPT maker OpenAI announced SearchGPT, a new AI-powered search engine, Moneycontrol.com reported.

As of now, SearchGPT will be available to a small group of users and publishers to get feedback. However, the big idea is to integrate search capabilities directly into ChatGPT. “While this prototype is temporary, we plan to integrate the best of these features directly into ChatGPT in the future,” a ChatGPT blog said.

According to OpenAI, users require multiple attempts at the moment to get the relevant results for their search queries. OpenAI will enhance the conversational capabilities of its models with real-time information from the web, to make search faster and easier. More here