Tag: Corporate Social Responsibility
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More on CSR and the Companies Bill
We had earlier discussed the half-way house approach adopted by the Companies Bill, 2011 regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR), whereby CSR spending was not intended to be mandatory, but disclosure thereof was. It appears that there is continued resistance to this approach, and that the Parliamentary Standing Committee reviewing the Bill proposes to look at
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Companies Bill, 2011: CSR
It is believed that the treatment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) was one of the key sticking points that delayed the Companies Bill, 2011. Now that there is some clarity, it would be useful to examine the relevant provisions. Clause 135 read with Schedule VII of the Bill deal with the concept of CSR. A
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More on Mandatory CSR
While the introduction of the new Companies Bill in Parliament is eagerly awaited, one issue continues to hold a great amount of attention. Although the concept of corporate social responsibility is generally well-accepted and welcome, more voices are being heard against imposition of a mandatory requirement. Recent pieces by Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Ajay Shah
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SEBI Decisions on Public Offerings, Responsibility Reporting
SEBI’s board has taken decisions on certain matters involving public offerings and business responsibility reporting. As far as the public offering process is concerned, some reforms have been introduced to promote the capital markets (e.g. increasing the minimum allotment for anchor investors and creating a separate category of disclosures for venture capital funds and other
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Corporate Philanthropy: Strategies & Incentives
The Harvard Corporate Governance Forum has an interesting and detailed post on corporate philanthropy that examines the various incentives that operate in this space. The post first seeks to identify the concept of corporate philanthropy: This report focuses on corporate philanthropy, which includes direct cash giving, foundation grants, stock donations, employee time, product donations, and
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ICJ Report on Corporations and Human Rights
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a non-governmental organization headquartered in Geneva, has put out a detailed and well-researched report titled Access to Justice: Human Rights Abuses Involving Corporations, which covers the scenario in India. The abstract is as follows: The 1984 Bhopal gas disaster involving Union Carbide provoked a marked shift in perceptions concerning
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Companies Bill Rekindled
The recent change at the helm of affairs of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has rekindled the discussion on the Companies Bill. Newspaper reports indicate that the new Bill is expected to be introduced in Parliament during the monsoon session that begins August 1. The reports also highlight some key areas recently at the
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Voluntary Guidelines on Environmental Social Governance
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) this week issued the National Voluntary Guidelines on Social, Environmental & Economic Responsibilities of Business (ESG Guidelines), which represents a significant and substantial effort in enhancing the protection of stakeholder interests in the corporate sector. The concepts of stakeholder interests and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have gained importance in
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Academic Analysis of CSR in India
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More on CSR in the Companies Bill
(The following post has been contributed by Satvik Varma) It has been reported in yesterday’s Economic Times that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs is perhaps doing away with the mandatory spend of 2% on Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”). While details of any such changes are not available on the Ministry’s website, based on the news