Budget Session: Accountancy Bill approval, vehicle safety norms, and more

Accountancy Bill gets approval

Lok Sabha on Wednesday approved a bill to revamp the functioning of the institutes of chartered accountants, cost accountants and company secretaries, with Union minister Nirmala Sithar­aman asserting that the changes will not impact the autonomy of these bodies. The Chart­ered Accountants, Cost and Works Accountants and Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill seeks to appoint non-Chartered Accountant, non-cost acco­untant and non-company secretary as the presiding officer of the disciplinary committees of the respective institutes.

New safety norms for vehicle users

As many as 13,022 lives could have been saved in the country in 2020 if there were functional airbags in cars, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha on Wedn­esday, while asserting that new norms are being introduced to ensure the safety of vehicle users. He said the transport ministry has notified the new norms and from October 1, it is proposed that all vehicles shall be fitted with six air­bags, including side airbags.

No plans of restoring rail concessions for senior citizens: Minister

Nearly 70 million senior citizens travelled by trains without availing concessions over the last two years since the Railways suspended the facility in March 2020, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday. He also said that the ministry has no plans of restoring the concessions at present.

Nod to merge 3 Delhi municipal corporations

Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill to merge three municipal corporations of Delhi into a single entity. The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill seeks to unify the three municipal corporations into a single, integrated and well equipped entity to ensure a robust mechanism for synergised and strategic planning and optimal utilisation of resources, Home Minister Amit Shah said.

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