Referencer on Venue and Place for holding various Meetings of the company:

Easy referencer for the Venue, Time, Date and Place for holding various Meetings of the company under the Companies Act, 2013 and Secretarial Standards issued by the ICSI in this behalf.

Sl.No	Name of the Meeting	Time and Date of the Meeting	Venue of the Meeting	Provisions Prior to SS*	Remarks
1.	Board Meetings (Including the Adjourned BM)	at any time and on any day, excluding a National Holiday	At any place	Same provisions	-
2.	AGM	Shall be called during business hours, i.e., between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., on a day that is not a National Holiday.	Either at the registered office of the company or at some other place within the city, town or village in which the registered office of the company is situated. In case of Govt Companies AGM shall be held either at the registered office or such other place as the Central Government may approve in this behalf.	Same provisions	Provided in case of Section 8 companies, The time, date and place of each AGM are decided upon before-hand by the board of directors having regard to the directions, if any, given in this regard by the company in its general meeting. If the quorum is not present within half-an-hour, the meeting shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week at the same time and place, or to such other date and such other time and place as the Board may determine.
3.	EGM	Shall be called during business hours, i.e., between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., on a day that is not a National Holiday.	At any place within India	Anywhere in the World	If the quorum is not present within half-an-hour, the meeting shall stand adjourned to the same day in the next week at the same time and place, or to such other date and such other time and place as the Board may determine.
4.	General Meeting called by the Requisitionists	on a working day	At the registered office of the company or at some other place within the city, town or village in which the registered office of the company is situated.	-	No concept of Adjournment for want of Quorum.

Cabinet approves foreign investment in other Financial Services sector

The Union Cabinet has given its approval to amend regulation for foreign investment in the Non- Banking Finance Companies (NBFCs).

In the Budget 2016-17 Speech, the Finance Minister had announced that “FDI will be allowed beyond the 18 specified NBFC activities in the automatic route in other activities which are regulated by financial sector regulators”. The present regulations on “Non-Banking Finance Companies” stipulates that FDI would be allowed on automatic route for only 18 specified NBFC activities after fulfilling prescribed minimum capitalisation norms mentioned therein. In the proposed regulations, FDI is allowed on automatic route for all “Other Financial Services” provided such services are regulated by any regulators (RBI, SEBI, PFRDA etc.) / Government Agencies. Foreign investment in “Other Financial Services”, which are not regulated by any regulators / Government Agency, can be made on approval route.

Further, minimum capitalisation norms as mandated under FDI policy have been eliminated as most of the regulators have already fixed minimum capitalisation norms. This will induce FDI and spurt economic activities. 

Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.

The Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016:

The Cabinet has given approval for amendment of Section 64 and section 65 and consequential amendment of section 115 of the Factories Act, 1948 by introducing the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Parliament.

The approved amendments will give boost to the manufacturing sector and facilitate ease of doing business with an aim to enhance employment opportunities.

These amendments relate to increase in overtime hours from the existing 50 hours per quarter to 100 hours (Section 64) and existing 75 hours per quarter to 125 hours (Section 65).

Amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961:

Govt proposed amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 by introducing the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament. The maternity benefit Act 1961 protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a ‘maternity benefit’ – i.e. full paid absence from work – to take care for her child. The act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more persons. The amendments will help 1.8 million (approx.) women workforce in organised sector.

The amendments to Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 are as follows:

1.      Increase Maternity Benefit from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children and 12 weeks for more than two children.

2.      12 weeks Maternity Benefit to a ‘Commissioning mother’ and ‘Adopting mother’.

3.      Facilitate ‘Work from home’.

4.      Mandatory provision of Creche in respect of establishment having 50 or more employees.