Personal Finance

EPFO to take call on interest rate for 2021-22 in March meeting



EPFO’s apex decision-making body Central Board of Trustee will take a call on interest rate on employees’ provident fund deposits for 2021-22 in its meeting next month.


“The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) CBT meeting will be held in Guwahati in March where proposal for interest rate for 2021-22 would be listed as it is end of the fiscal year,” Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav told PTI when asked about EPF interest rate for 2021-22.





Asked whether EPFO would maintain the 8.5 per cent interest rate for 2021-22 as decided for 2020-21, Yadav, who also heads the CBT, said the decision would be taken on the basis of income projection for the financial year.


The 8.5 per cent interest rate on EPF deposits for 2020-21 was decided by the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) in March

Global seafood company Thai Union innovates for a sustainable future

The Inside the Mind of the CEO interview series explores a wide range of critical decisions faced by chief executives around the world. For more insight, see PwC’s CEO Survey.


During his three decades as CEO of Thai Union, Thiraphong Chansiri has led the global seafood company through a notable turnaround. After weathering international criticism of Thailand’s fishing industry because of environmental and labor abuses, the company has doubled down on sustainability. Today, Thai Union is a member of the United Nations Global Compact and a founding member of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation. Chansiri has also focused on expansion and diversification: founded in 1977 as a canned tuna processor and exporter, Thai Union purchased a minority stake in the popular global restaurant chain Red Lobster in 2016.

The 55-year-old Chansiri, who holds a degree in marketing from Thailand’s Assumption University and an MBA from the University

Want to make an impact? Change your questioning habits.

“Asking questions keeps people engaged, which is paramount when you are trying to influence someone’s thinking or behavior.” That’s the conclusion of a ten-year-old Harvard Business Review article by Chris Musselwhite and Tammie Plouffe. But the idea that leaders can have more impact by asking the right questions is much older. As early as 375 B.C., Plato emphasized the importance of teaching children how to ask and answer questions. That laid the foundation of a 2,400-year-old belief that not only are some questions more insightful than others, but some people are also more entitled to ask questions than others.

Across key societal institutions, such as courtrooms, classrooms, and newsrooms, we have an unspoken contract that says only lawyers, teachers, and journalists are entitled to ask questions. In a business context, that entitlement has been enjoyed chiefly by corporate leaders and HR. Part of the authority of leaders is that their

Kotak Pre-IPO Opportunities Fund raises Rs 2,000 cr, closes maiden offering


Kotak Pre-IPO Opportunities Fund, an alternative investment fund (AIF) that invests in late-stage new-age businesses with a strong moat of technology, has raised Rs 2,000 crore and closed its maiden offering.




The fund has already made investments worth Rs 653 crore in five deals and has another Rs 405 crore worth deals are in various stages of execution.

Some of the investments made so far by the fund include API Holdings, the parent company of PharmEasy, Pine Labs, Mobile Premier League, PB Fintech (Policy Bazaar) and FSN Ecommerce (Nykaa).

“Kotak Pre-IPO Opportunities Fund enables our investors to participate in this growth story as these companies become part of public markets over time,” Srini Sriniwasan, Managing Director, Kotak Investment Advisors Limited said.

The investors in the fund include several family offices such as Catamaran, the family office of Narayana Murthy and Skywalker, the family

Getting proactive about reactance

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a case examine in human contrarianism. In staggering numbers, folks refused—and nonetheless refuse—to adjust to masks and vaccine mandates. Some bridled at being despatched house to work and at their youngsters being despatched house from college. When everybody was summoned again, some bridled at that, too. It’s an ongoing, large-scale lesson in reactance, an idea with which any chief charged with making an attempt to enact change ought to have a minimum of a passing acquaintance.

The idea of psychological reactance originates within the Nineteen Sixties with Jack Brehm, who developed it when he was a professor at Duke College. Brehm stated that people are negatively aroused after they understand a risk to their freedom. What constitutes a risk to freedom? That’s your name. When you suppose a masks mandate restricts your freedom, Brehm’s concept means that reactance won’t solely improve your want to not

CBDT extends FY21 ITR submitting deadline for corporates until March 15



The federal government on Tuesday prolonged until March 15 the deadline for corporates to file Revenue Tax returns for the fiscal ended March 2021.


The deadline to file tax audit report and switch pricing audit report for 2020-21 fiscal too has been prolonged until February 15.





That is the third extension given to corporates for submitting the revenue tax return for 2020-21 fiscal. The unique deadline for submitting ITR for corporates was October 31, and people with switch pricing transactions was November 30.


The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in an announcement stated that on consideration of difficulties reported by the taxpayers and different stakeholders on account of COVID and in digital submitting of varied experiences of audit, it has determined to additional lengthen the due dates for submitting of Revenue Tax Returns and numerous