Independent director governance strengthened with tighter pecuniary limits, shareholder approval and enhanced appointment safeguards. Amendments strengthen board independence and governance by recalibrating pecuniary relationship thresholds and time frames for disqualification, requiring shareholder approval for independent director appointments and removals by special resolution, imposing a post resignation cooling off for independent directors before executive appointments in group companies, mandating audit committee approval of related party transactions only by independent directors, and requiring nomination committees to define skills and capabilities for independent director appointments.