The President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr Ike Neliaku, has called on Nigerian leaders to embrace and display the core values of honesty, integrity and selflessness in their dealings for the betterment of the country and humanity in general. Neliaku, who was represented by the NIPR Vice President, Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura, gave the charge during the 2024 Corporate Charisma Conference of the Institute of Personality Development and Customer Relationship Management (IPDCRM), held at the Lead City University, Ibadan. The programme had the theme “Investment in Leadership Education and Personality Development: A Valuable Asset, Timely Rescue Anchor, in a Depressed Economy.” Speaking on the topic: “Building Leadership and Personality Development for Economic Recovery”, the NIPR President said that human beings provide leadership at various levels, be it at the level of family, society or organisation. “Since we don’t control what happens in life, we are exposed to different experiences, different happenings, and that means we have a system where we will continuously monitor what is happening. “We train ourselves by acquiring new skills with which we need to adapt to those happenings. And technology is also on the increase and it is changing in minutes. That alone has changed the dynamics of how we exist as leaders; and how we impact our followers. “Learning is so important. We must learn new things; we must also unlearn those things we used to do because we must drop certain habits that will no longer fit into the new culture. And you must re-learn every day. It is very important, particularly if you must survive in this present economy. “Even at the traditional and African levels, if we look at attributes that define a leader, we find that there are some values that are fundamental. These are issues of integrity; issues of honesty; issues of defending one’s family name and honour so that nothing stains the name. Those are values that define leadership in Africa, and they are still relevant. So, we must try to regain those “In the Nation’s political leadership, unfortunately, those core leadership values are missing. A friend of mine said the First Republic was better than the Second Republic, and that we lost it completely when we moved to the Third Republic. “In the Second Republic, we had some leaders like Abubakar Rimi, and Jim Nwobodo defending their actions when the Military struck. “But in the Third Republic, we had a lot of drama where people could not account for their actions. They jumped out of Police vehicles when they were under arrest. They were taken to the court with stretchers and all sorts. Those were the signs that the culture of honour had departed from us. “Our political class must begin to learn those values that are fundamental to our various communities in terms of leadership. Our ethical consciousness and leadership norms, honesty and honour don’t change, and so our leaders must imbibe them to defend their family names. The more our politicians imbibe these core values, the better for our country and indeed, humanity in general,” Dandaruwa said. Speaking, the President of the body, Dr Ayobami Owolabi, harped on the need for leadership education and personality development. The Special Adviser on International Cooperation to President Bola Tinubu, Mr Dapo Oyewàle, also stressed the issue of competent leadership, saying that it is the thing across the African continent and indeed the world over. While charging the youths to be alive to their personality development, investing their time, talent, and intelligence in building their capacity to contribute meaningfully to society, Oyewole commended the conference organisers, saying that the topic was timely and expedient for the country. In attendance also were other eminent t personalities including the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the IPDCRM, Prof. Jide Owoeye, the Vice Chancellor of Lead City University, Prof. Kabiru Adeyemo; Dr Oyebola Ayeni (Registrar, Lead City University); as well as, many other discussants.As we get ready to ring in the new year, it’s a great time to give the home an update, including the home office. If you’ve been keeping your eyes peeled for a great monitor that doesn’t break the bank , we’ve found it. This Samsung S36GD 27 inch Curved Monitor is currently reduced by 53 per cent for a limited time at Amazon Australia. Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today For just $127, it’s the perfect size for any at-home set up, including the dining room, office or bedroom. Perfect for working from home days or a gaming room addition, free up space or switch multiple screens for this 27-inch monitor. 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Romania’s constitutional court on Friday cancelled the country’s presidential election following allegations of Russian interference in favour of the far-right frontrunner, just two days ahead of the run-off. Romania’s pro-EU President Klaus Iohannis said he would stay in his post until a new government that emerged from legislative elections last weekend can be formed to set a new presidential election date. Romanian authorities had objected after far-right outsider Calin Georgescu topped the first round of the election on November 24, a shock result in the EU and NATO member bordering Ukraine. On Wednesday, the presidency declassified documents detailing allegations against Georgescu and Russia, including “massive” social media promotion and cyberattacks. Based on this, said the court, it had unanimously decided to annul the entire electoral process to ensure its “correctness and legality”. The process “was marred throughout its entire duration and at all stages by multiple irregularities and violations of electoral legislation that distorted the free and correct nature of the vote cast by citizens”, it said in its ruling. “All these aspects had the converging effect of disregarding the essential principles of democratic elections,” it added. – ‘Attack on democracy’ – Georgescu, a former senior civil servant, had been due to face centrist mayor Elena Lasconi in Sunday’s runoff. “It is basically a formalised coup d’etat... Our democracy is under attack,” Georgescu, 62, said in a video message, calling on Romanians to “remain faithful to our common ideal. “They will not be able to stop me. And they cannot stop the Romanian people from what they want to change,” he told local media. Lasconi, a former journalist, 52, also called the court’s decision “illegal, immoral... crushing the very essence of democracy”. Fears had been raised that if Georgescu won, the country — whose strategic importance has increased since Moscow invaded Ukraine — would join the EU’s far-right bloc and undermine European unity against Russia. While Bucharest streets were largely empty late Friday, without any protests taking place as far as AFP journalists could see, several people condemned the court’s decision. “We are upset because this is a political game” to allow the losers to “get back in the game”, said Marius Neagu, a 48-year-old salesman. Miruna Mihai, 25, said the decision “is a slap in the face of everyone who voted in this election” and risked “radicalising” Georgescu’s supporters. IT worker Madalina Stroe, 34, welcomed it however, saying she didn’t want Romania “to go back in time to Communism in case Georgescu was elected. I don’t want us to lose our freedom”. Outgoing Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu — who lost in the first round of presidential elections — hailed the decision as “the only correct solution”. Related News Russia launches aerial attack on Ukraine's energy sector Ukraine accuses Russia of launching record 188 strike drones Ukraine strikes Russia with US-supplied missiles – ‘Deepens polarisation’ – Anti-corruption prosecutors said Friday they had opened an investigation into “illegal operations with computer devices or software”. Prosecutors are already probing “possible violations of electoral legislation” and “money laundering offences”. In documents drawn up for a security council meeting and published Wednesday, the authorities said data had “revealed an aggressive promotional campaign, in violation of electoral legislation”. Last week, authorities condemned “preferential treatment” of Georgescu by TikTok, something the social media platform has denied. The European Commission announced on Thursday that it had stepped up monitoring of TikTok. A separate intelligence services document stated that Romania was a “target for aggressive Russian hybrid actions”, including cyberattacks. On Monday, before the documents were released, Romania’s constitutional court validated the first-round presidential results. Friday’s decision to cancel the elections is “an unprecedented and historic decision”, political analyst Costin Ciobanu told AFP. It “deepens uncertainty and polarisation within Romanian society, raising serious concerns about the strength of Romania’s institutions and democracy”, he added. Georgescu shot into the limelight with his performance in the first round of voting. Having praised Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past, he has more recently avoided answering questions about him being pro-Russian. While the president’s post is largely ceremonial, the head-of-state has moral authority and influence on Romania’s foreign policy. The president also designates the prime minister — a key role especially since legislative elections last weekend returned a fragmented parliament. The governing pro-European Social Democrats won the vote, but far-right parties made strong gains, together securing a third of the ballots. Since the fall of Communism in 1989, Romania has not seen such a breakthrough by the far right, fuelled by mounting anger over soaring inflation and fears over Russia’s war in neighbouring Ukraine. AFPTwo Oregon men dead of exposure in Washington woods after hunt for SasquatchNo. 1 South Carolina women stunned by fifth-ranked UCLA 77-62, ending Gamecocks' 43-game win streak
Opposition fighters are closing in on Syria’s capital in a swiftly developing crisis that has taken much of the world by surprise. Syria's army has abandoned key cities with little resistance. Nervous residents in Damascus describe security forces on the streets. The state news agency has been forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad has left the country. Who are these opposition fighters ? If they enter Damascus after taking some of Syria’s largest cities , what then? Here’s a look at the stunning reversal of fortune for Assad and his government in just the past 10 days, and what might lie ahead as Syria’s 13-year civil war reignites . The aim? Overthrow the government This is the first time that opposition forces have reached the outskirts of the Syrian capital since 2018, when the country’s troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The approaching fighters are led by the most powerful insurgent group in Syria, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham , or HTS, along with an umbrella group of Turkish-backed Syrian militias called the Syrian National Army. Both have been entrenched in the northwest. They launched the shock offensive on Nov. 27 with gunmen capturing Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and the central city of Hama, the fourth largest. The HTS has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. But the group said in recent years it cut ties with al-Qaida, and experts say HTS has sought to remake itself in recent years by focusing on promoting civilian government in their territory as well as military action. HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani told CNN in an exclusive interview Thursday from Syria that the aim of the offensive is to overthrow Assad’s government. Possible rifts ahead The HTS and Syrian National Army have been allies at times and rivals at times, and their aims might diverge. The Turkish-backed militias also have an interest in creating a buffer zone near the Turkish border to keep away Kurdish militants at odds with Ankara. Turkey has been a main backer of the fighters seeking to overthrow Assad but more recently has urged reconciliation, and Turkish officials have strongly rejected claims of any involvement in the current offensive. READ: Whether the HTS and the Syrian National Army will work together if they succeed in overthrowing Assad or turn on each other again is a major question. Others take advantage While the flash offensive against Syria’s government began in the north, armed opposition groups have also mobilized elsewhere. The southern areas of Sweida and Daraa have both been taken locally. Sweida is the heartland of Syria’s Druze religious minority and had been the site of regular anti-government protests even after Assad seemingly consolidated his control over the area. Daraa is a Sunni Muslim area that was widely seen as the cradle of the uprising against Assad’s rule that erupted in 2011. Daraa was recaptured by Syrian government troops in 2018, but rebels remained in some areas. In recent years, Daraa was in a state of uneasy quiet under a Russian-mediated ceasefire deal. And much of Syria's east is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group backed by the United States that in the past has clashed with most other armed groups in the country. Syria's government now has control of only three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus. What’s next? Much depends on Assad’s next moves and his forces' will to fight the rebels. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces have started carrying out the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. And Syrian troops withdrew Saturday from much of the central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, according to a pro-government outlet and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. If that city is captured, the link would be cut between Damascus, Assad’s seat of power, and the coastal region where he enjoys wide support. “Homs to the coastal cities will be a very huge red line politically and socially. Politically, if this line is crossed, then we are talking about the end of the entire Syria, the one that we knew in the past,” said a Damascus resident, Anas Joudeh. Assad appears to be largely on his own as allies Russia and Iran are distracted by other conflicts and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah has been weakened by its war with Israel, now under a fragile ceasefire. The U.N. special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, seeks urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition,” saying the situation is changing by the minute. He met with foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran on the sidelines of the Doha Summit. President-elect Donald Trump in his first extensive comments on the developments in Syria said the besieged Assad didn’t deserve U.S. support to stay in power. “THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT,” Trump posted on social media. ___ Associated Press writer Abby Sewell in Beirut contributed. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
n recent years, major new studies have tried to rehabilitate the presidency of Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at age 100. They’ve emphasized a range of underappreciated accomplishments in everything from foreign policy to environmental protection and racial equity. These accounts still acknowledge Carter’s failures but balance them with a longer-term perspective on how his presidency changed the United States and the world. This positive reappraisal, however, hasn’t extended to . This makes sense considering how devastating the battle over health care was to Carter during his presidency. Congress rejected his major health care policy initiatives, and his grudging support for a much more limited national health insurance plan in part spurred Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) to challenge the incumbent Carter from the left in the 1980 Democratic presidential primary. Yet Carter’s health care record deserves a more nuanced evaluation. More than any other modern president, he took on the health care industry, as well as his own allies, by attempting to address the high costs of American health care. And his health care proposals pushed his party toward the policy strategies that eventually produced the landmark Affordable Care Act in 2010. Carter’s willingness to tackle the politically perilous task of offers a template for the kind of leadership and focus needed to address the health care system’s enduring flaws in 2024. Carter entered office at a moment when health care spending was skyrocketing. Between 1970 and January 1977, total national health expenditures had more than doubled, from $74 billion to $152 billion. As a percentage of gross domestic product, health care spending had risen from 6.9% to 8.1%. Much of this increase stemmed from the enactment of Medicare in 1965, with its generous . These formulas not only raised direct costs, but, critically, also allowed hospitals to generate new revenue streams that enabled them both to build capital reserves and take on debt by entering the bond markets. Hospitals in turn used this access to capital to build new facilities, renovate old ones and add sophisticated new equipment. This created a cost spiral as hospitals competed with one another on facilities and technology, rather than affordability. Carter tried to duck the issue of health care policy in the 1976 Democratic primary, but exploding prices, along with continued interest in national health insurance on the left flank of the Democratic Party, made that impossible. After Carter’s victory in the Florida primary in March 1976, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union demanded that he endorse national health insurance as a condition for receiving its critical endorsement. As an outsider from Georgia, Carter needed the union’s support. So after extended negotiations, he agreed to satisfy the UAW’s demand in an April 1976 speech. Even then, however, Carter refrained from backing Kennedy’s “Health Security Bill”—which offered complete single-payer public health coverage with no cost sharing and no role for private insurers—despite all of his main rivals for the Democratic nomination endorsing it. Instead, he described the general principles of a program that would be introduced in phases. Carter envisioned relying on private as well as public insurance, and his plan included checks on both hospital and physician fees to control costs. Carter also tied his program, in some unspecified way, to reductions to welfare. Since the union wanted to maintain influence if Carter won, this proposal was enough to secure its support. Carter went on to win the nomination and the election in 1976. As the president-elect and his team evaluated their priorities, concerns about the federal budget deficit and rising inflation took precedence over his campaign promise on health insurance. They decided to focus on hospital costs instead. As later put it, they couldn’t “even begin talking about affording a national health insurance program if hospital costs had an unlimited straw into the Federal Treasury.” Kennedy and other supporters of a deferred to the new president—but they were unhappy about it. They agreed about the need to control costs, but believed the two goals could be pursued simultaneously. By April 1977, the Carter team had drafted an innovative, two-part hospital cost containment proposal. The first part capped total hospital revenue growth at nine percent annually, with limited exceptions, achieved through a limit on average revenue per admission. The second part of the Carter bill audaciously proposed limiting total annual hospital capital expenditures to $2.5 billion nationally. This would cut spending for new facilities, and thus was key to slowing the rapid growth of the hospital sector. Together, the two prongs had the potential to be as transformative as Kennedy’s “Health Security Bill” because of the way they challenged unchecked hospital expansion and cost increases. The proposal triggered a brutal war. The industry organized an aggressive local lobbying campaign against the bill while implementing a much-hyped “voluntary effort” to control costs. , Carter’s special assistant for public liaison, explained that every local hospital board included "the president of the bank, the president of whatever local community organizations there were, the leading lights in all the religious organizations in town and so forth.” The hospitals’ powerful allies meant that Carter had lost public opinion, “before we ever got going.” Congress voted down Carter’s proposal multiple times between 1977 and 1979, dealing what he considered to be a crucial blow against his domestic agenda. Meanwhile, a frustrated Kennedy pressed the president to announce a national health insurance plan before the 1978 midterm elections. Carter recognized, however, that Kennedy had no support from moderate and conservative Democrats in Congress and pushed to defer release of a specific plan until the following year. Kennedy grudgingly agreed, but at the midterm Democratic convention that December, he savaged Carter’s inaction. Finally, in June 1979, Carter released a plan for the first phase of a program to achieve universal coverage. It relied on both public and private insurance to cover “catastrophic” medical costs, and it proposed federalizing Medicaid by combining it with Medicare into a new federal program known as “Healthcare.” This would have eliminated the state-to-state variations that made Medicaid an inconsistent and unequal vehicle for insuring low-income Americans. While covering all expenses for the poor, Healthcare had a $1250 deductible ($5151 in 2023 dollars) for higher income recipients. In addition, the Carter plan retained employer-provided private insurance with a mandate that employers offer at least catastrophic coverage for their workers for costs above a deductible of $2500. On the cost control side, the bill limited hospital capital expenditures and added a new system of physician fee controls. More comprehensive coverage, the administration argued, could be added as economic conditions allowed. Kennedy balked at the skimpy benefits, understanding that Congress could not be relied on to regularly expand coverage. Even so, Carter’s vision influenced him. Kennedy’s own proposal began to include public and private elements, including an employer mandate and a requirement that insurance companies provide marketing and administrative services for the plan’s public elements. It also included an annual national health budget to control costs. Neither bill made any real progress in Congress, and Kennedy’s frustrations fueled his decision to challenge Carter for the 1980 Democratic nomination. Despite the political damage done by Carter’s twin defeats on health care, he achieved two major things. First, he recognized the burgeoning cost control problems in the American health care system. His proposal, if passed, would have laid the foundation for a more cost effective and equal system. He understood that such hospital cost containment was a prerequisite for achieving universal coverage. Second, Carter changed the terms of the health care debate for Democrats. No longer would they push universal federally provided insurance like Kennedy’s proposal from the early 1970s had done. Instead, Bill Clinton (unsuccessfully) and eventually Barack Obama in his signature bill in 2010 both embraced a mixture of public and private health insurance that built on Carter’s legacy. Its debatable whether this shift was positive, but it marked a key step toward our current system. The other element of Carter’s health care agenda—the critical but politically perilous problem of high costs—remains largely unaddressed. While President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act took important steps to control the costs of prescription drugs, those only account for nine percent of healthcare costs. Also under Biden, the Federal Trade Commission has increased its scrutiny of both horizontal and vertical hospital mergers, but this has had limited effects and is largely after-the-fact, as the industry has already undergone significant consolidation. Unlike Carter, Biden has not pursued the direct regulation of costs stemming from hospitals, physicians, and clinical services, despite them accounting for 51 percent of health care costs. With cost problems still plaguing Americans in 2023, Carter has proved right on health care. While he couldn’t bend Congress to his will, his hospital spending caps could have prevented many of the challenges we continue to confront. The question now is whether today’s political leaders have the courage to follow his lead. ,US News Today Live Updates on December 8, 2024 : Donald Trump says US should avoid Syria: ‘This is a mess, but not our fight, let it play out’None
The gunman who stalked and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fled New York City by bus, police officials told CNN on Friday. Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN. Here's the latest: The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer may have fled the city on a bus, New York City police officials told CNN on Friday. Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN. “We have reason to believe that the person in question has left New York City,” Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer made sure to wear a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence in view of the nation’s biggest city and its network of security cameras that have aided authorities piecing together his movements and his identity. A law enforcement official said Friday that new surveillance footage shows the suspect riding the subway and visiting establishments in Manhattan and provided more clues about his actions in the days before he ambushed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson . The gunman’s whereabouts and identity remain unknown Friday, as did the reason for Wednesday’s killing. New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack . ▶ Read more about the search for the gunman In many companies, investor meetings like the one UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was walking to when he was fatally shot are viewed as very risky because details on the location and who will be speaking are highly publicized. “It gives people an opportunity to arrive well in advance and take a look at the room, take a look at how people would probably come and go out of a location,” said Dave Komendat, president of DSKomendat Risk Management Services, which is based in the greater Seattle area. Some firms respond by beefing up security. For example, tech companies routinely require everyone attending a major event, such as Apple’s annual unveiling of the next iPhone or a shareholder meeting, to go through airport-style security checkpoints before entering. Others forgo in-person meetings with shareholders. ▶ Read more about how companies protect their leaders Those images include New York’s subway system, a law enforcement official said. In establishments where the person was captured on camera, he always appeared to pay with cash, the official said. The official wasn’t authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. — Mike Balsamo Medica, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health care firm that serves 1.5 million customers in 12 states, said it’s temporarily closing all six locations. The firm has offices in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and North Dakota, and employs about 3,000 people. Employees will work from home, Medica spokesman Greg Bury said in an email Friday. “The safety of Medica employees is our top priority and we have increased security both for all of our employees,” a statement from Medica said. “Although we have received no specific threats related to our campuses, our office buildings will be temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution.” Bury also said biographical information on the company’s executives was taken down from its website as a precaution. The insurer cited the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in its announcement about the Dec. 12 event. “All of us at Centene are deeply saddened by Brian Thompson’s death and want to express our support for all of those affected. Health insurance is a big industry and a small community; many members of the CenTeam crossed paths with Brian during their careers,” Centene CEO Sarah M. London said in a news release. “He was a person with a deep sense of empathy and clear passion for improving access to care. Our hearts are with his family and his colleagues during this difficult time.” Centene Corp. has grown in recent years to become the largest insurer in Medicaid, the state- and federally funded program that covers care for people with low incomes. Insurers manage Medicaid coverage for states, and Centene has more than 13 million people enrolled in that coverage. The insurance company also said it’s focused on ensuring the safety of employees and assisting investigators. “While our hearts are broken, we have been touched by the huge outpouring of kindness and support in the hours since this horrific crime took place,” the company said. But he said Friday that he’s confident police will arrest the shooter. “We are on the right road to apprehend him and bring him to justice,” Adams said on TV station WPIX. Later, it removed their names and biographies entirely. Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the suspect and are working to determine whether he purchased the ticket to New York in late November, a law enforcement official said. Investigators were also trying to obtain additional information from a cellphone recovered from a pedestrian plaza through which the shooter fled. The fatal shooting of Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats. Experts say today’s political, economic and technological climate is only going to make the job of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them even more difficult, experts say. Some organizations have a protective intelligence group that uses digital tools such as machine learning or artificial intelligence to comb through online comments to detect threats not only on social media platforms such as X but also on the dark web, says Komendat. They look for what’s being said about the company, its employees and its leadership to uncover risks. ▶ Read more about the steps companies take to protect their leadership Police said Thursday they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper from a trash can near the scene of the ambush and think the suspect bought them from a Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The items were being tested by the city’s medical examiner.Trident Reports First Half 2024 Unaudited Financial ResultsNon-profits will have to comply with new rules and share more information when they renew and apply for the licence to obtain foreign donations. ET Year-end Special Reads What kept India's stock market investors on toes in 2024? India's car race: How far EVs went in 2024 Investing in 2025: Six wealth management trends to watch out for The chief functionary of a trust running such a non-government organisation (NGOs) must sign on each page of key documents like the memorandum of association, trust deed, and constitution, and submit the entity's year-wise activity report to the authorities instead of presenting a general report. Non-profits have to also share their receipt and payment accounts with the government along with the audited accounts. Several non-government organisations whose licenses under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act - a stern and oft-invoked law - expire on December 31, have learnt about the new compliance requirements after logging on to the FCRA portal hosted by the ministry of home affairs which frames the regulations. Also, applicants must now scan the original copy of their constitution even if it is in a language other than English and make sure that the documents uploaded are legible and not blurred. With the government delaying FCRA renewals of a number of NGOs and questioning the intent of some of the overseas donors during the past few years - amid suspicions that funds were spent on activities unrelated to the stated purposes or amounts spent on administrative expenditure breached the regulatory limit - the new conditions would make key NGO officials more accountable and cautious. According to Dr Gautam Shah, partner of the CA firm Gautam Shah & Associates, which advises many trusts, the additional requirements for new applications and renewal of FCRA are a welcome, but never in the past were they proposed or discussed. "If it was conveyed to the trusts that these conditions would have to be followed at the time of application, a lot of time would have been saved. Getting FCRA registration or renewal is very difficult. For better governance a separate helpline or email or any other social media channel should be provided to address the grievances of applicants," said Shah. 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Practitioners like Isha Sekhri, partner at the CA firm Ajay Sekhri and Co think that the further tightening of KYC norms is a step to align with global best practices in compliance and transparency. "Mandating the chief functionary's signature on every page of key documents ensures accountability and reduces the risk of document manipulation. Also, the shift to a year-wise activity report, instead of a generic summary brings granularity to the evaluation of an organisation's operational history and the use of foreign contributions.While the norms may demand more rigorous compliance efforts, they would ensure that foreign contributions are managed with integrity and aligned to their intended purposes," said Sekhri. However, there is always a lurking fear among NGOs over how the law would be invoked to stop foreign donations. Among other things, what fuelled the debate since 2020 was the allegation that dollar donations were being diverted to lure the poor to embrace a new faith. TACKLING TAX Of late, some of the NGOS are also facing a tax issue. A charitable trust is entitled to exemption for accumulation of income and for amounts spent by it. So, if a NGO spends 85% of its income, the entire income is exempt from tax. If spending in any year is less than 85% of its income, it can choose to accumulate the shortfall amount to be spent for specific purposes within the next 5 years. According to Gautam Nayak, partner at CNK & Associates, which advises several charitable trusts, "Till AY 2022-23, this accumulated amount could be spent in the year following the completion of 5 years, and if not spent, it would be taxable in the sixth year. Nominations for ET MSME Awards are now open. The last day to apply is December 31, 2024. Click here to submit your entry for any one or more of the 22 categories and stand a chance to win a prestigious award. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
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