Modi announces quick loans, relaxation in labour laws for MSMEs
New Delhi, Nov 2 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday announced 59-minute loan sanctions, relaxation in labour laws, easier compliance with environmental rules and changes in company laws for small and medium enterprises to give a boost to the nation's second-biggest employing sector.
Announcing a slew of measures for the sector, he said GST-registered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will be sanctioned a loan of Rs 1 crore in just 59 minutes through a new portal.
Also, GST-registered MSMEs will get 2 per cent subvention or rebate on incremental new loans of up to Rs 1 crore, he said, adding interest subvention on pre- and post-shipment credit for exports by MSMEs has been increased from 3 per cent to 5 per cent.
To rid the sector of inspector raj, Modi announced that inspections of factories in the sector will be sanctioned only through a computerised random allotment and inspectors will have to upload reports on portal within 48 hours. "No inspector can now go anywhere. He will be asked why he went to a factory," he said.
Easing compliance with environmental rules, MSMEs will need single air and water clearance and just one consent to establish a factory.
MSMEs will have to file just one annual return on eight labour laws and 10 central rules, he said, adding that an ordinance has been promulgated to simplify levy of penalties for minor offences under the Companies Act.
Modi termed the 12 new measures "historic" that will make Deepawali brighter for the sector and its millions of entrepreneurs and employees.
Public sector companies, which were mandated to source 20 per cent of their annual procurement from MSMEs, will now source at least a quarter of their requirement (25 per cent) from the sector, he said, adding 3 per cent of sourcing by PSUs would have to be done from MSMEs run by women.
Also, all central public sector enterprises will have to take membership of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) to facilitate online procurement of common use goods and services by various government departments and organisations.
Modi announced Rs 6,000 crore for creation of 20 hubs and 100 tool rooms for technology upgradation. Clusters for MSMEs in pharma sector will be created to boost production in the sector, he said.
All companies with turnover of more than Rs 500 crore would have to now come on Trade Receivables e-Discounting System (TReDS) platform so that there is no cash flow problem for MSMEs.
Talking of India jumping 23 places on the World Bank's latest 'Ease of Doing Business' ranking, Modi said in four years his government has achieved what many did not believe and what no other nation has done -- leaping from 142nd rank in 2014 to 77th position.
Breaking into top 50 rank is not far away, he added. Reform of processes will help MSMEs, Modi said.
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Mexican tall ship strikes Brooklyn Bridge, snapping masts, injuring sailors
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New York (AP): A Mexican navy sailing ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday during a promotional tour in New York City, the top of its three masts slamming into the iconic span and partially collapsing as the boat floated in the East River. Nineteen people were injured in the crash.
The New York Fire Department press desk confirmed that authorities responded to injuries.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said 19 people were injured in the crash, four seriously, but the 142-year-old bridge was spared major damage. The cause of the collision was under investigation.
In a scene captured in multiple eyewitness videos, the masts could be seen snapping and partially collapsing as they crashed into the deck of the bridge. Videos showed heavy traffic on the span at the time of the collision.
The vessel, which was flying a giant green, white and red Mexican flag, then drifted toward the edge of the river as onlookers scrambled away from shore. Sailors could be seen aloft in the rigging on the damaged masts.
Sydney Neidell and Lily Katz told The Associated Press they were sitting outside to watch the sunset when they saw the vessel strike the bridge and one of its masts snap. Looking closer, they saw someone dangling from high on the ship.
“We saw someone dangling, and I couldn't tell if it was just blurry or my eyes, and we were able to zoom in on our phone and there was someone dangling from the harness from the top for like at least like 15 minutes before they were able to rescue them,” Katz said.
They said they saw two people removed from the ship on stretchers onto smaller boats.
The Mexican navy said in a post on the social platform X that the Cuauhtemoc, an academy training vessel, was damaged in an accident with the Brooklyn Bridge that prevented it from continuing its voyage.
It added that the status of personnel and material was under review by naval and local authorities, which were providing assistance.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry said on X that its ambassador to the U.S. and officials from the Mexican consulate in New York were in contact with local authorities to provide assistance to “the affected cadets,” but it did not mention injuries.
The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, has a nearly 1,600-foot (490-meter) main span supported by two masonry towers. More than 100,000 vehicles and an estimated 32,000 pedestrians cross every day, according to the city's transportation department, and its walkway is a major tourist attraction.
The Cuauhtemoc - about 297 feet long and 40 feet wide (90.5 meters long and 12 meters wide), according to the Mexican navy - sailed for the first time in 1982.
Each year it sets out at the end of classes at the naval military school to finish cadets' training. This year it left the Mexican port of Acapulco, on the Pacific coast, on April 6 with 277 people onboard, the navy said then.
The Mexican consulate said May 13 on X that the Cuauhtemoc, also called the “Ambassador and Knight of the Seas,” arrived that day and docked at pier 17. It invited people to visit through May 17.
The ship was scheduled to visit 22 ports in 15 nations, including Kingston, Jamaica; Havana, Cuba; Cozumel, Mexico; and New York.
It also had planned to go to Reykjavik, Iceland; Bordeaux, Saint Malo and Dunkirk, France; and Aberdeen, Scotland, among others, for a total of 254 days, 170 of them at sea.
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