Top Headlines: Centre eyes state route after repeal, Paytm's listing fiasco

The key difference between the two signal agricultural reform measures - Land acquisition bill and farm laws - is in how they end. Read more in our morning brief

The key difference between the two signal agricultural reform measures introduced by the National Democratic Alliance government since 2014 – land acquisition Bill of 2015 and the three farm laws – is in how they end. Meanwhile, Sebi is planning to question the investment banks that handled Paytm’s IPO over the listing debacle. More on these stories in our top headlines this morning.

Land acquisition Bill & farm laws: Divergent ends of Centre's two reforms

The key difference between the two signal agricultural reform measures introduced by the National Democratic Alliance government since 2014 – land acquisition Bill of 2015 and the three farm laws – is in how they end.

The land Bill, 2015 went into history once the term of the 16th Lok Sabha ended. Though it was passed by the lower House it did not go past the Rajya Sabha. 

In the case of the farm laws, Modi has said a Bill to repeal them shall be moved in the upcoming winter session of Parliament. Read more
 

Sebi likely to quiz investment bankers on Paytm's listing fiasco
 

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) plans to question the investment banks that handled Paytm’s initial public offering (IPO), the country’s largest ever, over the listing debacle. The capital markets regulator will seek their views on why the stock tanked on the listing day. Read more

Centre looks to take state route after repeal of three farm laws

After the repeal of the three controversial agriculture Acts, officials said the focus would shift to convincing states to adopt model APMC laws that were promulgated some years back, and if possible link their adoption to some sort of fiscal benefit as suggested by the 15th Finance Commission (FFC) in its draft report. Read more

Centre mulls tweaking law in Budget to tax cryptocurrency gains

The government is considering changes in the Income Tax Act to bring gains made from transactions in cryptocurrencies under the tax net in the Budget next year. It is also looking at imposing goods and services tax (GST) on the trade in virtual currencies.

People are already paying capital gains on income from cryptocurrencies, and the GST law provides for taxing such transactions as ‘services’, Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said. Read more
 

CPI weights do not reflect Covid-19 pandemic realities, shows analysis

In April last year, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation could not release data on the consumer price index. Given the country was under lockdown from end-March to mid-April 2020, the ministry could not gather responses on price changes in the basket of commodities. Later, it released CPI for these months based on imputed values. While the April period was just an aberration and the ministry has since been publishing CPI data every month, the index has not been adjusted to reflect the changes in consumption patterns during the pandemic. Read more

IBM bets big on India, logs in to small towns for R&D build-up

IBM plans to increase its R&D strength in the country, including setting up more centres in smaller cities as a response to a global crunch in tech talent which might last a decade.

“Apart from the four R&D centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and a smaller one in Delhi, we have just announced the opening of centres in Kochi and Ahmedabad. We will also add a few thousands per year in our R&D centres and tens of thousands in the consultancy business,” IBM Inc chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna said. Read more