Latest news with #FERA
Axios
17-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
SF offers $1,200 in bill credits for efficient water heater upgrades
A new city program encourages San Francisco residents to upgrade to clean, efficient water heaters by offering bill credits of up to $1,200. Why it matters: Heat pumps are up to seven times more efficient than a gas-powered water heater and reduce exposure to pollution and fire risk, city officials say. Driving the news: Customers of CleanPowerSF, the city-run energy choice program that sources from renewable energy, can apply to the upgrade program and receive a $50 monthly bill credit for two years. Customers on a discount program like CARE/FERA get the credit for up to three years. "We're budgeted for about 1,000 participants every year," Tim Minezaki, who works on CleanPowerSF's customer programs team, told Axios. "We hope this new, different approach helps break through some of the customer barriers." By the numbers: Standard heat pump installation costs from $6,000 to $9,000 in San Francisco — compared with $2,000 to $3,000 for a traditional gas-powered unit, Minezaki said. But heat pumps use less electricity than conventional heating, making them an important tool for curbing emissions, while helping save money long term, studies have found. How it works: Rather than relying on burning fuel, heat pumps absorb heat from the surrounding air and transfer it to water in an enclosed tank. They can also help reduce energy use during expensive peak hours by heating water during off-peak periods and storing it for later. Between the lines: Other incentives can also help reduce upfront costs for switching to a heat pump, including federal tax credits, California's TECH Program and Golden State Rebates. The big picture: Residential and commercial gas use constitutes more than one-third of San Francisco's greenhouse gas emissions, per CleanPowerSF. In residential homes, "the two highest sources of direct gas are going to be turning on a furnace or heating your water," Minezaki said.
The Hindu
05-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
‘Introduce Act to protect revenue employees, surveyors and VAOs'
A delegation comprising State coordinators representing the Federation of Revenue Employees Association (FERA) met Chief Minister M.K. Stalin in Chennai and demanded the government to introduce an Act which would protect the revenue employees, land surveyors and village administrative officers (VAO)s while discharging their duties. In a press release issued here on Saturday, M.P. Murugaiyan, one among the coordinators, said that the employees faced not only challenges in fulfilling the government's programmes for the benefit of the needy people, but also received threats and abusive words at times, while at their work. In a bid to give a morale support to the employees on the ground, the government should introduce a Bill in the Assembly and bring the Act which would discourage the people from indulging in threats against the government employees. The FERA sought filling up of vacancies in government departments comprising revenue, disaster management, survey among others. The human resources shortage had to be addressed at the earliest, as the revenue department played a pivotal role in taking the government's schemes and programmes to the masses. The senior officers in the revenue administration should give an ample time to the staff members to take the schemes to the people. Within a short notice, the government expected the schemes to be implemented and with a huge shortage, it was humanly impossible to execute the works. Mr. Stalin, the memorandum said, should understand the plight of the revenue officials and fill vacancies. The government has been encouraging contract/temporary basis appointments. This should be dropped and all the recruitments should be only on permanent basis. Terms like outsourcing and introducing private sector or private agencies in the revenue department would be a risky proposition to the government. The FERA members recalled the successful implementation of the KMUT (Kalaingnar Mahalir Urimai Thittam) to over 1 crore women beneficiaries in the State within a record time from the announcement. The sustained work by the revenue department round the clock was the reason for taking it to the people in a short notice. The FERA appealed to the CM to declare July 1 as Revenue Department Day and suggested it to be celebrated every year. The delegation included TNVAOMS State president A. Boopathy, TNVAOA general secretary C. Kumar, TNRVEA general secretary S. Ravi and TNSOU general secretary Anna Guberan and others, the release added.
Hindustan Times
27-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Citizens abroad for the long term are non-residents under FERA: HC
MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday observed that persons staying abroad with no clear intention of returning to India would be treated as 'persons resident outside India' under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA), and upheld a penalty of ₹ 1.4 crore against a family which purchased a huge amount of shares from an Indian company without prior appeal to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). (Shutterstock) The case dates back to the mid-1990s, when a series of share transactions was carried out by the Shroff family and its company Sujay Trading Corporation Pvt Ltd. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 18, 1999, had served the family with a notice, stating that Shroff's daughters, who were residents of the United States, had purchased shares worth ₹ 16 lakh from a Mumbai-based company called Ditco Securities Pvt Ltd without taking prior approval from the RBI as prescribed under FERA. Remarking that the daughters were 'persons resident outside India' under FERA, the ED stated that they were married in the US and had been settled there for a few years. Highlighting their lack of intention of returning to India permanently and the purchase of shares from an Indian company without the RBI's approval resulted in the ED penalising them on October 30, 2000. The three daughters were charged an amount of ₹ 41 lakh each, ₹ 25.8 lakh was levied on their father, and ₹ 8.5 lakh on Sujay Trading Pvt Ltd, which was run by the parents. Aggrieved by this, the Shroff family approached the Appellate Tribunal for Foreign Exchange, which upheld the conclusions reached by the ED and dismissed the appeals on November 18, 2005. Subsequently, the family appealed in the Bombay high court in 2006, challenging the orders passed by the ED and the appellate tribunal. The family contended that the daughters were not 'persons resident outside India' but were students pursuing their higher studies in the US. Therefore, there was no need for them to obtain permission from the RBI for the purchase of shares in an Indian company. Based on this defence, they submitted that there was no violation of any of the provisions of FERA. Highlighting the clear intentions of the Shroff daughters to settle in the US, the ED clarified that it had taken the decision after evaluating the relevant documents. It stated that the penalties imposed on the Shroffs were proportionate to the economic offence, and were legally sound. The division bench of Justices M S Sonak and Jitendra Jain upheld the decision of the ED and the appellate tribunal and observed that the daughters' prolonged stay in the US clearly reflected their intention to permanently settle abroad, thereby establishing them as 'persons resident outside India'. It held that the evidence, such as their marriage and their continued stay outside India since the 1980s, corroborated their intentions. The court further stated that merely holding an Indian citizenship or a student visa did not exempt them from the provisions of FERA. With no exemptions proven by the family, the bench held that there was no error in the findings by the authorities and upheld the penalties. 'Considering the magnitude of the transactions and the circumstances in which the same were carried out, there is no substance in the argument based on any alleged disproportionality in the penalty amounts, ' it added.
India.com
25-06-2025
- Business
- India.com
Emergency forced exit of Coca-Cola, IBM, Kodak and Mobil, but gave birth to…
(File/Representational) In 1977, after the Emergency and the rise of nationalist economic agenda led to the exit of Coca-Cola, IBM, Kodak and Mobil, were forced to leave from India. Their forced departures were not only business decisions but also linked to ideological battle. Absence of these global giants led to a shift in consumer tastes and gave birth to local competitors. 1973 Regulation After the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) of 1973 which mandated that foreign companies dilute their equity to 40% and, in certain sectors, reveal proprietary technologies and trade secrets, it changed parameters for many foreign companies. Coca-Cola, IBM, Kodak, Mobil Exit: It was asked to share its secret formula so they decided to exit. IBM was not able to give control of its technology so they left India. Kodak and Mobil found the regulatory and ownership challenges they did the same thing. By 1978, over 50 multinationals announced to leave the Indian market. Birth Of Thums Up After Coca-Cola's exit there was no specific cold drink in the Indian market. Parle Products found the opportunity over here. Thums Up was their soft drink which started taking this space. It was an Indian flavour profile. Even the Campa Cola came with a tagline 'The Great Indian Taste'. Even the government tried to introduce their own soft drink named as 'Double Seven', The name was derived from the Janata Party's year of electoral victory. When Coca-Cola returned in 1993, the market was changed. What they did first was to acquire Thums Up and Limca for $60 million.
The Hindu
25-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Revenue officials stage protest in Madurai urging government to fulfil their charter of demands
The members of Federation of Revenue Associations (FERA) on Wednesday took out a rally from World Tamil Sangam to Madurai Collectorate and staged a protest urging the State government to fulfil their charter of demands. The members said that they were overburdened with work and had to meet unrealistic deadlines. Already there was staff shortage and the government was implementing various special schemes. The officials had to implement the schemes and they were under pressure. Instead of burdening the officials with additional work, existing vacancies in various posts should be filled immediately, they said. They also demanded the enactment of a Special law to protect the Revenue officials. The members said that they were constantly facing threats particularly during the field visits. The Special law should be enacted for the protection of the Revenue officials and to take strict action against those who threaten the officials, they said. The members said that the appointments on compassionate grounds had reduced from 25% to 5%. When there were vacancies in various posts and there was already staff shortage, the government should restore the appointments on compassionate grounds to 25% keeping in mind the plight of the families of deceased employees, they said. The members demanded better salaries and special pay considering the workload and the efficiency. They urged the government to recruit the employees on a permanent basis instead of appointing employees on a temporary basis and through outsourcing method. The FERA members also urged the government to declare July 1 as 'Revenue Day' and organise State level programmes to acknowledge the contributions of the Revenue officials.
