SEBI Cracks Down On Finfluencers Advising On Stocks, Eases Delisting Framework

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has tightened rules for financial influencers (finfuencers) and those doling out stock advice, and eased the delisting framework to allow promoters a fair shot at taking their companies private, the Business Standard reported.

It also revised the eligibility criteria for the inclusion and removal of stocks from the futures and options segment to ensure liquid stocks were traded in the segment. On finfluencers and those doling out stock advice, SEBI barred regulated entities and people from having any association with anyone providing direct or indirect recommendations or claiming guaranteed returns. However, SEBI allowed regulated entities to associate with finfluencers dealing in investor education and not providing any advice. Read more 

RBI Governor Das Warns Of Tech Disruptions In Financial System

While the Indian economy is exhibiting strength and resilience amid global headwinds, the Reserve Bank of India is watchful of emerging risks, its Governor Shaktikanta Das said and cautioned against disruptions in the financial system from new technologies, the Business Standard reported. 

Das said the matrix of financial stability is perhaps at its best, but the real challenge is to maintain it and improve upon it further.  “New technologies offer gains in efficiency and customer experience, but they can also bring with them sudden and widespread disruptions to the financial system,” Das said in the foreword of the June edition of the Financial Stability Report. More here

Multi-National Companies, Startups Need Not Pay GST On ESOPs: CBIC 

Multi-national companies and startups offering Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOP) or similar incentives without additional charges will not attract GST, the Economic Times reported quoting a Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) clarification. 

This will benefit the likes of Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Walmart and a large number of tech companies and other MNCs whose Indian employees were getting the benefit from ESOPs options. Most MNCs and startups were facing tax demand and were locked in litigation over the taxability of these ESOPs. The CBIC clarified that in cases where an additional amount over and above the cost is charged by the foreign holding company from the domestic subsidiary company, it would be considered a supply of service and GST would be leviable on the additional amount. More here

More Than 33% Of Pharma Units Shut Down Over Quality Standards

Around 36 per cent of the pharmaceutical manufacturing units inspected by the Indian drug regulator in recent times were forced to shut down due to non-compliance with quality standards, the Business Standard reported.

At a pharma industry event, Drugs Controller General of India Rajeev Raghuvanshi said 400-odd units were inspected and nearly 36 per cent had to be closed as they failed to meet the standards. The Central Drug Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) has been conducting risk-based inspections of manufacturing facilities since December 2022. India has around 10,000 pharma manufacturing units, of which nearly 80 per cent are micro-small and medium-scale facilities. More here 

India Gets Moving On Plan To Set Up Power Grid Link With Sri Lanka 

India is keen to fast-track longstanding talks with Sri Lanka on setting up a power grid link between the two neighbours for electricity trading, especially renewable energy, the Economic Times reported.

The aim is to eventually sign a memorandum of understanding between the state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India and Sri Lanka's Ceylon Electricity Board, the report said. "Discussion is still going on with the Sri Lankan government on the grid connectivity project," an Indian government official said. The project is being planned through both overhead and under-sea cables, another official added. The cross-border interconnection plan has been under discussion for nearly two decades, but the high project cost has made it unviable. More here 

OpenAI, Microsoft Sued By US Nonprofit Against Unauthorised Use Of Content

The Center for Investigative Reporting said it has sued ChatGPT maker OpenAI and its closest business partner, Microsoft, against unauthorised use of their content on artificial intelligence platforms, the Business Standard reported. 

The nonprofit, which produces Mother Jones and Reveal, said that OpenAI used its content without permission and without offering compensation, violating copyrights on the organisation's journalism. The lawsuit, filed in a New York federal court, focuses on how AI-generated summaries of articles threaten publishers a move CIR called exploitative. It's immensely dangerous, Monika Bauerlein, the nonprofit's CEO, told The Associated Press. “Our existence relies on users finding our work valuable and deciding to support it.” More here