Sebi to take action against cos with no woman director; writes to over 160 such companies to ensure compliance

Market regulator Sebi will take ‘necessary’ action against listed firms that fail to appoint at least one woman director on their boards by the end of this month. The capital-markets watchdog had issued guidelines in February last year asking companies to appoint at least one woman director on their board by 1 October 2014, which was later relaxed to 1 April 2015.

“Sebi will take necessary action when the compliance position by companies is known after 31 March 2015,” Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha has said.

According to an estimate, nearly one-third of the top-500 listed companies do not have any female representation on their respective boards. Sebi has written to more than 160 such companies to ensure compliance.

After Sebi's direction in February last year, many companies had stepped up efforts to have women directors on their boards and nearly 500 female members were nominated to the boards till December 2014, although many of them happen to be family members of the promoters.

The norms were finalized by the regulator after detailed discussions were held between Sebi and concerned stakeholders for over a year and involve stronger regulations for listed companies than those prescribed under the Companies Act for non-listed entities. These include clarifications on rules relating to the appointment and qualification of directors as well as independent directors, matters relating to related party transactions, and rules governing meetings of the board and its powers.

Nissan Motor working on Datsun GO’s body shell after failing Global NCAP’s crash test

Japanese car maker Nissan has decided to incorporate safety features like ABS and airbags in its Datsun Go hatchback in India after the model failed the crash test, as per an Economic Times report citing sources familiar with the issue. The company is now said to be using high-tensile steel that can withstand higher pressure

The Datsun GO received zero rating in Global NCAP’s crash test. The UK-based watchdog, which said the vehicle’s structure collapsed during the test, had written to Nissan, asking it to withdraw the model because of the ‘grave risk’ to passengers in the event of a crash. Some other small-car models from India had also failed in the test.

Nissan has managed to sell merely 14,000–15,000 Datsun cars in the past year, when it was expected to challenge Maruti Suzuki’s Alto and Wagon R, and Hyundai Motor’s Eon.

Just about 20 per cent Indians have access to Internet: Study

As per a new study conducted by The Pew Research Center across 32 emerging and developing nations, only 20 per cent in India have access to the Internet at least occasionally while a mere 14 per cent own a smartphone. The study also found that 65 per cent of Internet users in India said they use social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter, while 55 per cent have used the Internet to look for or apply for a job.