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  The FISME Factor  

 

President's Message
Dr. Sangam Kurade, President, FISME " The devil lies in detail, so goes the saying. By and large, the budget was hailed as a good one by most of the people. However, now slowly the disturbing details are emerging which may give sleepless nights to businessmen. The Finance Bill has proposed to amend the Income Tax Act which seeks to enhance powers of the Income Tax officials who can, on mere suspicion, order search and seizure of properties without citing the reasons. There is a fear that a new era of inspector raj could be unleashed with these provisions leading to harassment of tax payers. We need to study these provisions and lobby that these amendments are dropped sooner. FISME would do its bit and will try everything to build opinion against enhancement of unbridled power of Tax officials. "
Dr. Sangam Kurade, President, FISME
Vol V, Issue 125: Feb 15, 2017
Activities
Awareness programme on ZED Certification Scheme held at Thrissur, Kerala
Awareness programme (2nd in the series) on ZED Certification Scheme at FOSMI, Kolkata
Business Banter: Lessons from Entrepreneurs
Come Up With a Great Name for Your Business
Macro Metre
Wholesale prices up 5.25% year-on-year in January
Demonetisation takes toll on IIP; output shrinks 0.4 per cent in December Knowledge and News Network (KNN)
RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.25% Knowledge and News Network (KNN)
Domestic Digest
Budget allocated to MoMSME focuses on Credit Guarantee Scheme, Khadi Knowledge and News Network (KNN)
Preparing for GST: For SMEs this can be a good starting point
ERP implementation: Top five challenges for SMEs
State Scan
International spice conference in Kerala to focus on disruptive innovation Knowledge and News Network (KNN)
Make in India- Karnataka conference will help transition of state’s MSME in accordance with rapidly changing world
World Watch
China launches anti-dumping probe against Indian manufacturers
India and Croatia sign agreement on Economic Cooperation to boost bilateral trade
Knowledge Store
15 free tools for SMEs and startups to help in digital marketing
...And A Lot More
Activities

Awareness programme on ZED Certification Scheme held at Thrissur, Kerala

FISME started nationwide campaign to create awareness among MSMEs on ZED (Zero Effect and Zero Defect) Certification process. The objective of these programmes is to orient MSMEs on various aspects of ZED scheme and to encourage them to adopt the ZED certification process to enhance their competiveness. A series of programmes has been scheduled across the country with the technical support from QCI, from January to March, 2017. The first such progamme was held at Thrissur, Kerala on 31st January, 2017 in association with Kerala State Small Industries Association. Around 40 MSMEs representing various sectors attended the progamme. Mr. Arun Nair, a ZED certified consultant chaired the technical session followed by Q&A.

Awareness programme (2nd in the series) on ZED Certification Scheme at FOSMI, Kolkata

A series of programmes has been scheduled across the country by FISME to create awareness among MSMEs on ZED (Zero Effect and Zero Defect) Certification process. The second such programme was held in Kolkata in association with Federation of Small and Medium Industries (FOSMI) and Talbanda Bodai Industries Association on February 10, 2017. The awareness programme aims to create proper awareness amongst MSMEs about ZED Manufacturing and motivate them for assessment of their enterprises for ZED rating. These programmes would help MSMEs to drive manufacturing with adoption of Zero Defect production processes without impacting the environment that is Zero Effect on environment.
Business Banter: Lessons from Entrepreneurs

Come Up With a Great Name for Your Business.

Finding the right name for your startup can have a significant impact on your success. The wrong name could result in insurmountable legal and business hurdles. Here are some quick tips for naming your startup: Avoid hard-to-spell names. Don’t pick a name that could be limiting as your business grows. Conduct a thorough Internet search on a proposed name. Get a “.com” domain name (as opposed to “.net” or another variant)...
Writing on the Wall

Cheques and balances

“Permitting tax authorities to conduct raids without due process will be disastrous.. without having to show they had good reasons for raids, there is nothing to prevent IT officials from conducting them arbitrarily. Harassment and rent seeking- the term economists use for corruption, are sure to follow”

See full Opp-Ed on in the Times of India >>
Click here >>





Media Monitor

Macro Metre

Wholesale prices up 5.25% year-on-year in January

India's wholesale inflation saw a sharp rise in January owing to costlier fuel and power even as food items continued to remain cheaper. Data released by commerce and industry ministry on Tuesday showed WPI inflation at 5.25% compared with 3.39% in December. Fuel and power inflation rose 18.14% in January from 8.65% in December. WPI inflation in manufactured products, which has a 64.97% weight in the index, increased to 3.99% from 3.6% in the previous month.

Demonetisation takes toll on IIP; output shrinks 0.4 per cent in December

Industrial production contracted in December 2016 due to a sharp decline in production of consumer goods, confirming a demonetisation led contraction in demand. Index of Industrial Production (IIP) was 0.4% lower in December 2016 from the same period a year ago, data released on Friday showed. The number was well below the 5.7% growth in November and consensus expectation of around 1% growth in December.

Niti Aayog readies model contract farming law

The NITI Aayog is preparing a model contract farming law to connect farmers with the food processing industry. “NITI Aayog is preparing a model contract farming law. That would connect farmers to the food processing industry,” NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said in a Q&A on Budget 2017-18 on Facebook.

RBI keeps repo rate unchanged at 6.25%

In line with what the experts predicted, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) unanimously voted to keep the repo rate unchanged. Repo Rate is the rate at which RBI lends to banks. RBI said it is expecting the growth to recover sharply in FY 18. RBI had reduced the repo rate twice in the current financial year, which has led to a substantial fall in overall market yields.

Domestic Digest

Despite a clear framework for start-ups, not even a single company got listed with ITP: UK Sinha

The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is planning to change certain norms for its start-up listing platform in order to attract more companies, its chairman UK Sinha recently said. He said a new Central Know Your Customer (CKYC) mechanism will be in place in few months for providing common and one-time KYC for all financial market intermediaries. He was addressing the 11th Digital India summit here. No start-ups has yet got listed with the Institutional Trading Platform (ITP) even after an easier set of compliance and disclosure requirements was notified in August 2015.

Budget allocated to MoMSME focuses on Credit Guarantee Scheme, Khadi

Out of Rs 6,481.96 crore allocated to the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME), Rs 3,002 crore has been provided to the Credit Guarantee Scheme. The fund aims to support 4,68,000 credit proposals while approving a credit guarantee to the tune of Rs 17,955 crore. Further, according to a media report, a sum of Rs 1,024.49 crore has been earmarked towards the Prime Minister's Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), for setting up 56,500 micro units and employing 4.52 lakh persons.

ITDC providing Marketing support to MSMEs; keen to procure 54 items for Lalitha Palace Hotel

India Tourism Development Corporation Limited (ITDC) has come forward to extend marketing support to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Mysuru. ITDC Limited is a Hospitality, retail and Education company owned by Government of India, under Ministry of Tourism. Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, a unit of ITDC, is procuring as many as 54 items required by them from the MSMEs under the Marketing Assistance Scheme.

Preparing for GST: For SMEs this can be a good starting point

The implementation of GST in a federal country like ours has been a long awaited legislative change. This promises easier trade across state borders and simplified compliance for many businesses that come under the purview of multiple taxes imposed both by the Centre and States. In the longer term, it would result in reduced costs of operations for businesses making them more competitive. This anticipated simplification and ease of trade is also expected to bring in faster economic growth for the country.

ERP implementation: Top five challenges for SMEs

Today, there are a wide variety of automation tools and techniques designed and devised to help SMEs and their employees produce their products better and more efficiently. There are excellent tools like Six Sigma Quality, Factory Automation, Design for Manufacturability etc with enormous potential. But, none of them will ever yield their full potential unless they are coupled with effective forecasting, planning, and scheduling processes. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the answer, which is a direct outgrowth and extension of Manufacturing Resource Planning.
State Scan

KERALA    

Awareness programme being held in Kolkata for MSMEs on ZED Maturity Assessment

Disruptive innovation is the only way forward for sustainable growth in spice sector. Rather than meeting the existing standards, India should set new international quality benchmarks in farming and spice trade, for which innovation is the key, according to Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director, Nestle India Limited. He was inaugurating the second edition of International Spice Conference at Thiruvananthapuram.

WEST BENGAL    

West Bengal budget allocates Rs 50 cr for MSMEs; proposes to bring MSMEs under minimal VAT scheme ambit

The Bengal State Budget, which was unveiled on Friday, has allocated Rs 50 crore allocated for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector. State Finance Minister Dr Amit Mitra presented the West Bengal state budget on Friday. For 50,000 artisans who lost their jobs due to demonetisation, will be given an aid of Rs 50,000 each, according to the Budget proposal. The Budget proposes to bring small and medium enterprises and manufacturing companies under the ambit of minimal VAT scheme.

KARNATAKA    

Make in India- Karnataka conference will help transition of state’s MSME in accordance with rapidly changing world

Karnataka Chief Minister S Siddaramaiah is optimistic that the Make in India- Karnataka conference being held in the city will help the transition of the state’s MSME and SME sectors in accordance with a rapidly changing world. Siddaramaiah said the Karnataka government, which wanted to celebrate the success of industry, welcomed all investors even as it focused on developing skills. He agreed that Karnataka plays a big role in Make in India as a large number of industries across sectors were situated in the state.

Uttar Pradesh    

UP Elections: MSME entrepreneurs highlight ground reality of doing business in UP

Industrialization, which is a base for development of a particular region, is considered to be the main agenda for winning or losing an election. But things are not same in Uttar Pradesh. KNN spoke to many industrialists in the state, who on condition of anonymity, spoke about ground reality in the state as far as business is concerned. A senior entrepreneur from Meerut said, “The government here has no vision about industry. They have no plans, no actions decided and no intension to do so. They are not realizing that it is industry which will ultimately lead to development of a state.”
World Watch

CHINA    

China launches anti-dumping probe against Indian manufacturers

China today launched anti-dumping and countervailing duties investigations against some Indian manufactures for allegedly exporting a chemical product - widely used in dyes and pharmaceutical - to the country at an artificially low price. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce had received requests from domestic producers, who accused Indian manufacturers of dumping Ortho Chloro Para Nitro Aniline, a type of dye intermediate, on the Chinese market and called for an inquiry, the ministry said in a statement.
Read More    Back to Top

CROATIA    

India and Croatia sign agreement on Economic Cooperation to boost bilateral trade

India and Croatia has signed an agreement on Economic Cooperation to enhance bilateral trade between the two countries. The agreement was signed by Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Martina Dalic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Government of the Republic of Croatia on February 14, 2017 in Zagreb, Croatia. India and Croatia had earlier signed an Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation in September, 1994 with an aim to promote and develop bilateral trade and economic relations.
Read More    Back to Top

IRAN    

Iran may soon permit import of rice from India: Commerce Ministry

Government of Iran may soon issue the notification about resumption of issuance of permits for import of rice from India, Commerce Ministry said in a statement. The Ministry said this after a 20 member trade delegation led by Chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) visited Iran from January 28-30, 2017. The delegation met various departments in the government of Iran including Food and Drug Organisation, Governmental Trading Corporation and Trade Promotion Organisation.
Read More    Back to Top
Upcoming Events
FISME Delegation to :
TIMTOS 2017 – 26th edition
(Taipei International Machine Tool Show)

Awareness programme on ZED Certification Scheme
Date: 21st Feb, 2017
Place: Hooghly, West Bengal
FISME’s official Twitter handle
@fisme
Knowledge and News Network (KNN)
KNN India’s official Twitter handle
@knnindia
Anil Bhardwaj, Secretary General
@abhardwaj_fisme
Other Events

India International Dairy Expo

Date: 16th – 18th Feb 2017
Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai
See Details

India Bakery Expo

Date: 17th – 19th Feb 2017
Venue: Chennai
See Details

Krackerjack Karnival

Date: 18th – 19th Feb 2017
Venue: Oysters Beach Water Park, Gurgaon
See Details

ProSolar

Date: 18th – 19th Feb 2017
Venue: Hitex Exhibition Center, Hyderabad
See Details

Chemtech World Expo 2017

Date: 14th – 17th Feb 2017
Venue: Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre, Mumbai
See Details

Mach Auto Expo

Date: 17th – 20th Feb 2017
Venue: Glada Ground, Ludhiana
See Details
Your Views

Do you think the tax relief offered by Arun Jaitley to the individual taxpayer is enough to cushion the note ban blow?

According to the FISME Factor, 59 percent of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises are of the opinion that the tax relief offered in the budget to the individual taxpayer is sufficient to cushion the note ban blow while 25 percent think otherwise.
Knowledge Store

HR Heuristics

How a leader can create and retain followers

Do you want to be a successful leader at your workplace? Learn the art of creating followership with people who work for you. Followership is the capacity of an individual to actively follow a leader and is the reciprocal social process of leadership. Without followers, you are a meandering tourist. Ask yourself: Why should anybody follow me? What can I do to create strong empowered followers who carve out a success story with me? Here is what you can do.

Finance Fundamentals

Small business accounting: Why it is essential for SMEs to go for book keeping

Manish Soni, a smart businessman, started a textile business some three years back and has so far performed well. However, for record keeping, he maintained a register in which he records transactions like amount to be recovered from customers, amount due to suppliers, among others. He now wants to expand his business and avail a bank facility, that is, cash credit, but to his horror the bank has refused his request.

Marketing Mantras

15 free tools for SMEs and startups to help in digital marketing

Every small business owner is well aware that, it is expensive to build an online business without the help of digital marketing tools. They also know that these various digital marketing tools greatly help them with their everyday tasks.

Policy Polemic

Day after FM show, tech companies, startups feel left out

Even though the Union Budget 2017-18 gave a lot of importance to boosting the digital economy, the technology companies and startups were a tad disappointed since several of their recommendations were left out. These include proposals which extended research and development (R&D) credit to software products, easing of procedures for import of electronic goods and relaxation in angel tax ¬ a long-standing demand of the industry among others.

SME Special

Why MSMEs should manage their Digital Assets

If you do a quick search for what constitutes an asset, Investopedia would define it as "anything of value that can be converted into cash". Taking it further, if we prefix 'digital' to 'assets', it funnels down to specific operational assets that use digits, particularly binary digits, in its operations. This includes textual contents and documents, electronic and multimedia files among others.

Success Story

How professionals UpGrad(e) to entrepreneurs

StartupIndia, which launched 16 January 16, 2016, has a lofty mission of creating the next million entrepreneurs in India. Online education start-up UpGrad, which took off in November 2015 with a course on entrepreneurship, has a similar ambition. Given the same goals, the twain had to meet. And it did on the first anniversary of StartUp India this year, when UpGrad became the government programme’s official education partner.

Stockpile

The Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, has released the Consumer Price Index numbers on base 2012=100 for rural, urban and combined for the month of June 2016

Quotable Quotes

“ Too little confidence and you’re unable to act; too much confidence and you’re unable to hear. ”
– John Maeda, is an American Executive, designer, technologist. He is Global Head, Computational Design and Inclusion at Automattic.
 
Country Chronicles
 
FISME regularly receives monthly reports on the economies of various countries from their missions in India. These reports provide information on key economic parameters, trade related information and all news relevant for importers and exporters. In this edition you can take a look at reports on:
Starting a New Venture
 
Coming August, K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research located in Vidyavihar, Mumbai is launching a certificate programme on Creating New Ventures.
New Members

4 New Members Join FISME

During the period from 01st January 2017 to 15th January 2017 a total of 4 new MSME became member of FISME
Reader Reactions

Write and Win prize!

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Opportunities
Editorial Team:
Hon. Editor: Anil Bhardwaj
Asstt. Editor: Simmi Nagpal
Types setting & websdesigning: Sanjay Sachan  
Video & Photography:  Vipul Kumar Chettry

 

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