Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill 2020 tightens receipt, use and transfer of foreign contributions and mandates centralised banking and identification.
The Bill amends the Act to include public servants among those prohibited from accepting foreign contribution; prohibits registered persons from transferring received foreign contribution to any other person; reduces the limit on administrative expenses from fifty to twenty per cent; requires applicants to open and specify an FCRA Account (with receipt through a designated SBI New Delhi branch and prescribed reporting); authorises Aadhaar or passport/OCI identification for key functionaries; permits surrender of certificates where no contravention is found; and empowers the Central Government to restrict utilisation pending summary inquiry.

Merger control approval: CCI clears Alstom's acquisition of Bombardier Transportation and related strategic share investments.
Approval under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002 granted for Alstom S.A.'s acquisition of sole control over Bombardier Transportation, with concurrent strategic share acquisitions in Alstom by Caisse de de po t et placement du Que bec and Bombardier Inc, constituting merger control clearance under the statutory combination review mechanism.

Merger control clearance allows International Flavors & Fragrances to acquire the Nutrition & Biosciences business via a newly formed SpinCo.
Approval under Section 31(1) is granted for IFF's acquisition of sole control over Nutrition & Biosciences, Inc. (SpinCo), to which DuPont will transfer its Nutrition & Biosciences business; IFF will obtain sole control of a newly formed SpinCo holding the N&B Business, a notifiable combination under merger control.

Taxation and Other Laws Bill 2020: extends tax timelines, cuts interest/penalties, and enables faceless, tech driven tax procedures.
Extends time limits for proceedings, filings and specified compliance falling in defined pandemic periods while excluding certain payments; provides reduced interest and waiver of penalty/prosecution for delayed tax payments made within notified windows. Establishes comprehensive faceless, technology-driven schemes for assessment, information collection, inquiries, valuation, approvals, recovery and appeals with automated allocation and e proceedings; inserts new registration/approval procedures for trusts and charitable entities, prescribes application, verification and renewal regimes, and introduces limited-period reduction of certain TDS/TCS rates to three fourths.

E commerce GST obligations: operators must register regardless of turnover and collect TCS when they handle payments.
E commerce operators are subject to Goods and Services Tax registration regardless of supply value and cannot claim threshold exemption; for certain services supplied through their platforms the operator is liable for GST and must self assess and file periodic returns. Where the operator collects consideration for taxable supplies facilitated on its platform, it must perform Tax Collection at Source on the net value of those supplies.

Investor facilitation reforms to attract multinational relocations, fast track projects and expand the domestic investment pipeline.
The Government is institutionalising investor friendly reforms to attract and facilitate relocation of multinational company operations into India by creating high level facilitation arrangements to identify potential investors, recommend actions to Ministries, provide handholding, attract greenfield projects and establish Project Development Cells to fast track investments through central-state coordination and grow the pipeline of projects.

Local preference in public procurement expands use of local tenders, mandatory country of origin declarations and increased contract awards.
Local preference in public procurement has been implemented by amending the General Financial Rules to limit global tender enquiries for higher value contracts and by a DPIIT order promoting preference for Make in India; concurrently, the Government e Marketplace mandates seller declaration of country of origin, and initial contract awards reflect uptake of these measures.

Co-operative banks may issue shares and long dated debentures with prior RBI approval, subject to specified conditions.
The Amendment makes the Act paramount over other laws for co-operative banks, aligns company-law terminology to co-operative equivalents, and authorises co-operative banks, with prior Reserve Bank approval, to issue equity, preference or special shares and unsecured debentures or similar long dated securities by public issue or private placement subject to RBI-prescribed conditions and ceilings, while restricting surrender or reduction of share capital except as permitted by the Reserve Bank.

Affordable rental housing for urban migrants enables employer-deducted rent arrangements to secure occupancy and revenue.
The Government launched the Scheme for Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHCs) under PMAY U, circulated operational guidelines and a draft MoA to States/UTs, and designated Concessionaires/Entities to map beneficiaries and arrange accommodation by tying up with employers or institutions, with rent payable through direct deduction from salaries or fees; 17 States/UTs have signed the MoA. Concurrently, measures to boost industrial productivity include Product Linked Incentives, Phased Manufacturing Programmes, Quality Control Orders, logistics improvements, digitisation and consolidation of central labour laws into four Labour Codes, with the Code on Wages notified.

Ease of Doing Business initiative advances state and district reform action plans to streamline regulatory compliance and approvals.
DPIIT coordinates with States and UTs to compile time bound Action Plans to improve Ease of Doing Business, notably a 301 point State Reforms Action Plan across 24 reform areas with sector specific measures and a 213 point District Reforms Action Plan across eight district level reform areas; States/UTs update achievements on the EODB portal, DPIIT assesses implementation through periodic assessments, and provides workshop and seminar support without specific funding to States/UTs.

Single Window System to centralize investment clearances via a national portal offering unified applications and real time approvals.
Establishment of a Single Window System as a national digital one stop portal integrating existing clearance systems of Central Ministries/Departments and State governments through an Investment Clearance Cell to provide a unified application form, end to end facilitation (including pre investment advisory and land bank information), time bound approvals, and real time status updates while preserving existing ministry IT portals.

Bilateral netting of qualified financial contracts ensures enforceable close-out netting, final net amounts and priority over inconsistent laws.
The Bill makes close-out netting and bilateral netting of designated qualified financial contracts enforceable between regulated market participants, prescribing mechanics for termination, valuation, currency conversion and aggregation into a single net amount. Close-out netting may be invoked on default or termination events, is final and binding on parties and administration practitioners, and is unaffected by insolvency proceedings, stays or moratoria. Designation of covered contracts and participants is by notified authorities; absent agreement on net amount, arbitration determines the payable sum.

Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill alters co-operative bank rules, expanding RBI powers on reconstruction, capital and exemptions.
The Bill expands Reserve Bank authority over co-operative banks by narrowing exemptions in section 3, allowing RBI to prepare reconstruction or amalgamation schemes without a moratorium under section 45, and clarifying that the Act applies to co-operative societies notwithstanding other laws under a modified section 56; it adds provisions on issuance of shares and long-term securities by co-operative banks subject to RBI approval, strengthens governance, audit and capital requirements, and permits RBI to exempt co-operative banks from specified provisions.

Wholesale Price Index shows marginal annual inflation for August, indicating slowing price growth across major commodity groups.
Provisional WPI for August 2020: All Commodities index at 121.7 with annual inflation 0.16%. Primary Articles rose to 146.3, Fuel & Power to 91.4 and Manufactured Products to 119.3. WPI Food Index increased to 153.3 with annual inflation moderating to 4.07%. The release details month on month and year on year movements across commodity sub groups and notes provisional compilation at a weighted response rate of 76%, with final indices released after a ten week revision period.

Combination approval under merger control: acquisition of a minority stake in a pharmaceutical business cleared with business transfer.
The Competition Commission approved a proposed combination in which Piramal Enterprises transfers its global pharmaceutical business into wholly owned Piramal Pharma Limited, followed by a minority equity acquisition in that subsidiary by CA Clover Intermediate II Investments, combining an intra group business carve out with a third party investment in the carved out operating entity covering CDMO, Complex Hospital Generics and Consumer Healthcare segments.

Startup ecosystem ranking promotes standardised state benchmarking to drive policy reforms, capacity building and adoption of good practices.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade released the second States' Startup Ranking based on a seven area framework covering 30 action points. States/UTs were grouped into Category X and Y for comparability; 25 entities participated and were assessed by expert committees with extensive beneficiary feedback. Entities are classified into five tiers (Best Performers to Emerging Ecosystems). A National Report, State Specific Reports and a Compendium of 166 good practices were published to support capacity building, standardised benchmarking and mutual learning.

States' Startup Ranking Framework drives competitive policy reforms and capacity building among states to strengthen startup ecosystems.
The States' Startup Ranking Framework functions as a capacity building mechanism that sets seven reform areas and thirty action points-covering Institutional Support, Easing Compliances, Public Procurement relaxations, Incubation, Seed and Venture funding, and Awareness & Outreach-and standardizes State and UT groupings for uniform evaluation. An expert Evaluation Committee assesses submissions and corroborates implementation through extensive multilingual beneficiary feedback gathered to inform policy formulation and encourage mutual learning among jurisdictions.

Innovation funding and procurement support to scale applied research in MSMEs and startups through a challenge based programme.
A national programme to promote applied research and commercialization in MSMEs and startups has been launched, coordinating a central innovation mission with space agency participation and multiple ministries to accelerate sectoral problem solving. The programme provides targeted funding support for development and rapid prototyping of applicant technologies and envisages a procurement enabling policy posture to create demand for domestically developed products through a challenge based selection mechanism and capacity building measures.

Clean energy mission: coordinated national policy to scale renewables and enable global grid cooperation for shared power.
India's clean energy mission prioritises coordinated cross-departmental action to scale renewables and enable a transition from fossil fuels, including use of gas as a bridging fuel, while promoting new technologies and infrastructure to integrate variable solar, wind and hydro resources. The policy vision includes international cooperation toward interconnected transmission and a world grid to share renewable generation, linked to COP-21 commitments and the International Solar Alliance's expanding membership to advance collective decarbonisation and equitable access to clean power.

Social assistance under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package expanded cash, food, and wage relief to targeted vulnerable households.
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package combined cash transfers, targeted Direct Benefit Transfers to Jan Dhan women and PM KISAN farmers, expanded public distribution of foodgrains and pulses including migrant relief, and sectoral measures such as PMUY cylinder supply, enhanced MGNREGA workdays and EPFO advances and contribution transfers, all implemented through Central and State coordination with monitored disbursement tranches and scheme extensions.