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Draft of certain rules to amend the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Rules, 2017, for the information of all persons likely to be affected thereby. The said draft rules shall be taken into consideration after the expiry of a period of thirty days from the date on which the copies of the Official Gazette in which this notification is published are made available to the public; Objections and suggestions, if any, may be addressed to Shri Vineet Singhal, Director to the Government of India, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Room No 505, 5th Floor, Pandit Deen Dayal Antyodaya Bhawan, CGO Complex, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 110003 or by email at udidsection-depwd@gov.in. The objections and suggestions, which may be received from any person with respect to the said draft rules before the expiry of the period specified above, will be considered by the Central Government.

Copy of notification attached.

Commerce Secretary participates in the 14th BRICS Trade Ministers’ Meeting

Commerce Secretary Shri Sunil Barthwal attended the 14th BRICS Trade Ministers’ Meeting held on 26 July 2024 under the BRICS Presidency of Russian Federation. The theme of BRICS this year is “Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development”. While congratulating the Russian Presidency for the bringing in proposal on contemporary issues, Shri Sunil Barthwal, welcomed the new members of BRICS (Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and UAE) and congratulated them on their fruitful participation in discussions, this year.

The Commerce Secretary expressed the need for strengthening multilateral trading system with WTO at its core, effective functioning of Joint Value Chains, expanding interaction among MSMEs, India’s successful story on Digitalisation and E-Commerce and the relevance of cooperation among Special Economic Zones.

On the strengthening Multilateralism, he reiterated on the collective efforts to find a solution for long pending mandated issues of WTO, in particular, the development aspect and the Special and Differential treatment. He stressed on the urgent need for resolving the issues including the permanent solution to Public Stock Holding, constitution of two-tier Dispute Settlement system, WTO Reform to be based on the principles & objectives of WTO, leading to more responsive to development requirements of emerging economies, invigorating the WTO through “30 for 30” bringing in alt least 30 operational improvements to the WTO before the organization completes 30 years in 2025. He stressed upon strengthening the resiliency of supply chain through decentralisation and diversification, furthering co-operation in value chains through G20 generic Mapping framework for GVCs and by enunciating guiding principles for collaboration. In this context, as an initial step towards digitalisation, he stressed on paperless trade including digitalisation of documents like Bill of lading.

He laid emphasis on collaboration for making access to affordable emerging technologies critical for green transition and climate resilience. On the climate related unilateral measures impacting trade, Commerce Secretary expressed concern as such measures nullify rights and obligations under specialised Multilateral Environmental Agreements and violative NDC Principles, and ignores the CBDR principles.

The Commerce Secretary also mentioned the importance on MSME related developments and their integration with the Global Value Chains. While re-iterating the Jaipur call for action for enhancing access to information for MSMEs issued during India’s Presidency in 2023, he lauded the Russian Presidency for carrying forward the initiative by making efforts to compile certain basic information pertaining to MSMEs among the BRICS members. As MSME’s are an integral part of the BRICS Members, Commerce Secretary stressed on the importance of cooperation and collective efforts for outcome oriented support for MSMEs. He expressed the need to focus on key areas like, exploring cooperation in the form of Research and Development, Technology transfers and joint Ventures as well as the Business development opportunities.

Commerce Secretary underscored the urgency of accelerating inclusive digital transformation. While referring to India’s success story of building up an open source India Stack of Critical Digital Public infrastructure as part of its digital industrialisation following the core principles of open access, transparency, trust and respect for data protection and privacy, expressed India’s willingness to share its experience with the BRICS countries on the e-revolution in the domains of payments, e-commerce, national identity, banking, education etc,

On the Russian presidency’s initiative on cooperation in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Commerce Secretary acknowledged the transformative impact of SEZs in providing employment, state of art technologies, boosting exports. He underscored the importance of exchanging information and best practices regarding the same.

In conclusion, Commerce Secretary laid stress upon the importance of collaborative efforts and commitment along with resilience, unity and transparency to face challenges under the principles of compassion, empathy and understanding, for a common brighter future of BRICS countries.

The Trade Minister’s meeting endorsed the Joint Communique and 6 outcome documents pertaining to various issues mentioned earlier.

Further on the sidelines of BRICS TMM, Commerce secretary had bilateral meetings with the Minister for Economic development Maxim Reshetnikov, Member of the Board (Minister) of Trade, Eurasian Economic Commission Andrey Slepnev, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Alexey Gruzdev, and Head of FSVPS, Sergei Dankvert of the Russian Federation as well as with the Deputy Minister for the Department of Trade, Industry & Competition, South Africa, Zuko Godlimpi and the Minister of State for foreign Trade, UAE, Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, wherein bilateral trade issues were discussed in brief for their early resolution.

A press release issued the PIB stated that the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ (LEMM) assembled in Fortaleza, Brazil have approved the Labour and Employment Ministerial declaration on 26th July, 2024. The final text was approved after the conclusion of the two-day long Labour & Employment Ministers´ meeting (LEMM) on 25-26 July, under the Presidency of Brazil.

Copy of Press Release attached.

The Govt of Maharashtra has notified Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Rules, 2024 for incorporating details of the Establishment Insurance Certificate in Forms A,D F & R of the Rules.

Copy of notification attached.

The court emphasized that negligence in safety measures directly contributing to a fatal accident can constitute a criminal offense under Section 304-A IPC. The court found that the lack of warning signs was a significant breach of duty, and Agrawal, as a partner and responsible party, failed to ensure these precautions, directly leading to Charan Singh’s death.

Copy of judgement attached.

The court emphasized that negligence in safety measures directly contributing to a fatal accident can constitute a criminal offense under Section 304-A IPC. The court found that the lack of warning signs was a significant breach of duty, and Agrawal, as a partner and responsible party, failed to ensure these precautions, directly leading to Charan Singh’s death.

Copy of judgement attached.

The Bombay High Court, while deciding a question of law as to whether a Director, who is also the occupier, would be personally liable to pay the ESI Dues of the Company, has held as follows:

(a) The liability to pay ESI dues is of the company and in the event of there being an occupier who has ultimate control over the affairs of the factory, he is liable to meet the demand. However, the liability of the occupier is not personal.

(b) If the dues of ESIC are of the company the same can be recovered from the company or from the assets of the company

Copy of judgment attached.

A Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, while dealing with an issue as to whether a mere delay in raising a dispute would be fatal to an order of reference, has held that the object of the Act of 1947 is of ensuring justice for both employers and employees, and advancing industrial progress. It is a legislation that provides and regulates the service conditions of the workers. The provisions of the Act and the fact situation will have to be interpreted in a manner that advances the object of the legislature which is the settlement of industrial disputes.

Copy of judgment attached