Oldest Mangan Old Settlers

Sikkim Companies Act 1961 annulled by Companies Bill 2012

December 27, 2012 by iSikkim

Amidst the FDI and reservation in promotions hungama, a bill which brings down curtains one more existing old law of Sikkim was passed along with five other bills without much fuss by the Lok Sabha during its fiery winter session. The month long winter session of the Parliament concluded on December 20.
Two days before the Parliament was adjourned sine die, the Lower House approved the Companies Bill 2012 aiming to replace the archaic Indian Companies Act of 1956. The bill also repeals the Registration of Companies(Sikkim) Act 1961. The Companies Act, 1965 and the Registration of Companies (Sikkim) Act 1961 shall stand repealed, the bill
states. The bill still needs to be approved by the Rajya House where it will be placed for discussion and approval in the next session.
If the Companies Bill 2012 is passed by the Rajya Sabha and becomes an Act upon Presidential assent, companies operating or aiming to work here would no longer have to follow the existing Registration of Companies (Sikkim) Act 1961 as it stands repealed. Till now, companies here had to undertake registration with Law department paying a fee as per the Registration of Companies (Sikkim) Act 1961. Even those companies, outside of Sikkim and already registered under the existing Companies Act 1965, had to register with the Sikkim government if they want to operate here.
An entire floor of the State Law department is devoted on the task of registering companies here. The Registration of Companies (Sikkim) Act 1961 was also protective of local interests. As per the amendment enacted in 2008, no companies would be registered in Sikkim unless it has at least 50 percent local people having Sikkim Subject Certificate or Certificate of Identification in its board of directors.
As per the Companies Bill, companies already registered under the Sikkim Act would continue to be valid. Before our readers assume that the Companies Bill 2012 is all about rescinding the old law of Sikkim, the legislation has been hailed as a great achievement of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs of this year. On its enactment, the new bill will allow the country to have a modern legislation for growth and regulation of corporate sector in India, the Ministry said.
Various reforms proposed in the bill and together with omission of existing unwanted and obsolete compliance requirements, the companies in the country will be able to comply with the requirements of the proposed Companies Act in a better and more effective manner, the Ministry said in its year end review. New concepts of One Person company, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), dormant companies, having woman director and e-governance have been introduced in the bill.
However, it has been difficult to extract response on the bill in Sikkim whose existing law has been directly affected by the Central legislation. Those in corporate sector and are aware about the proposed enactment believes that the Companies Bill 2012 would be positive for Sikkim.

Building capacity to manage climate risk and disaster preparedness

                Mayor & Deputy mayor attends

GANGTOK, 04 Dec: Institutional understanding of the hazards that affect local populace, the importance of sound infrastructure for safety and to build capacity and strength for effective disaster management and mitigation were some of the aspects discussed here at the Orientation-cum-Workshop on GoI-UNDP US-AID Project on Implementation of UNAID supported, ‘Climate Risk Management Project in Urban Areas Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation’ organized by the Land Revenue and Disaster management Department today.
Gangtok is among six cities in the country where this project is being implemented under the aegis of Disaster Risk Reduction Programme. This 1210000 US Dollar Project would be implemented from October this year till September, 2015. UNDP is carrying out various projects in 26 states across the country and is constantly assisting the governments in enhancing financial and human resources.
The representative of UNDP stated today that disasters could be mitigated to a certain extent through preparedness but it was essential to change collective behaviour for better results. Disaster management is only a partial solution towards disaster mitigation but it is more important to change the mindset of the masses, she said.
She stressed on disaster risk assessment as one of the most important steps in designing suitable measures for reducing the risk of disaster in urban areas and added that ensuring good governance and capacity building of various stakeholders is equally important.
Similarly, SPO, Sikkim, Bhupendra Sharma speaking on the overview of UNDP’s engagement in the state especially Gangtok stated that Sikkim was indeed one of the first states to sign an MoU with UNDP on community risk management and also stated that UNDP had initiated this project since it was felt that urban areas were being neglected with regard to disaster risk preparedness issues.
He also talked about the policies of UNDP that have been adopted by the state departments for efficient preparedness related to disasters.
The Deputy Director, Civil Defense, India, Sanjay Sehgal while stating that Civil Defense was an integral part in disaster management stressed on strengthening the civil defense force in the state. Building capacity of community members for an effective response would go a long way in reducing risk of disaster, he said and added that special efforts should be made to mobilize volunteers from NSS, Civil Defense, Welfare Society, sanitary workers and health workers, NGOs etc.
Training should be provided to these volunteers on basic search and rescue, first aid, fire fighting, relief distribution etc, while efforts should also be made to compile a data base of these volunteers and institutions so that these volunteers could be trained periodically and mobilized in a systematic manner, said Mr Sehgal.
Strengthening early warning systems and developing guidelines and practicals were some other issues he highlighted.
The Gangtok, Mayor, KN Topgay in his address stated that it is important to reduce disaster risk in urban areas by enhancing institutional capacity besides enhancing community capacity to manage climate risk in urban areas by improving the preparedness. He also added that Gangtok because of its efficient governance and administration would be one of the exemplary cities in terms of preparedness.
The earthquake last year opened the eyes of many after which the state government is laying a lot of stress on preparedness related to disasters, the Mayor added.
The workshop was attended by Deputy Mayor, Shakti Singh, Secretary cum Relief Commissioner, GoS, SBS Bhaduria, representatives of different line departments, officials of GMC, UD&HD, PHE, Police, Public Works, Tourism Departments and representatives of NGOs and CBOs. Others to address the gathering were Joint Secretary, LR&DMD, Shova Lepcha, Vice Chairman, Sikkim SDMA, Professor Vinod Sharma and DS, LR&DMD, Prabhakar Rai.

Herbal Medicine exhibition opens today

WEDNESDAY, 21 NOVEMBER 2012 19:23

A National Workshop on Tribal Healers and Exhibition of Tribal Medicine is being organised at Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS). The exhibition is being organised by IGRMS in collaboration with Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies (KIRTADS).

The Bhopalites would now heal their illness with the use of herbal medicines at a five-day long exhibition beginning from Wednesday at Mandapam, museum premises and would conclude here on November 25.

While talking to the mediapersons here on Tuesday, coordinator of the exhibition, Sudhish Shrivastava said, “This is the seventh workshop being organised by IGRMS. This workshop aims to provide a platform to tribal healers, to discuss tribal medicines based on traditional knowledge on bio diversity and to evolve a strategy to transmit this natural heritage to the next generation in a professional manner.”  He further informed that the last exhibition at Bhopal was organized in the year 2006.

Discussing further about the herbal treatment, he explained the advantages of herbs and how they could be useful in curing various diseases like obesity, orthopedic injuries, skin infections, hair-fall and more. He further informed that the representatives from Tribal Healers and Tribal Research Institute from across 18 States are participating in the workshops.

Representatives from States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Manipur would bring the special herbal medicines for the patients. Elaborating further he said, “States like Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttranchal and Lakshdeep are participating for the first time in this workshop and around 180 representatives would put up their stalls.”

During the workshop, the healers would exchange their skills through massage therapy, steam-bath techniques and other therapeutic knowledge and techniques. He further said that during the exhibition, other facilities and extra guidance would be provided to the visitors by IGRMS as well.

Former Governor of Nagaland and Manipur State ON Shrivastava will inaugurate the workshop and Vikram Jeet Pandey, Joint Director, Rajbhasha, Ministry of Culture, New Delhi will be the chief guest on the occasion, he added.