Reforms: Black Money

Sunday, June 19, 2011

The Government of India is toiling hard to keep the Indians unaware of facts.

NEW DELHI: The foreign assets kept with Swiss banks came down by about Rs 5,00,000 crore last year, amid a global outcry against the alleged practice of providing secret accounts for black money from different countries, including India.

The securities kept by foreign entities in Swiss banks were valued at 2.39 trillion Swiss francs at the end of 2010 (about Rs 12,600,000 crore at the current exchange rates), down from 2.49 trillion Swiss francs (about Rs 13,00,000 crore) a year ago.

These are the latest figures from the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

However, the influential Swiss Bankers Association ( SBA )) has said that one should be extremely careful before drawing conclusions about value of securities held by foreign entities.

"... the changes are due to not only client behaviour (i.e. deposits and withdrawal of funds) but also to changes in the price of the securities (mainly share and bonds) held in the custody accounts and also to developments in exchange rates," SBA's Head of International Communications James Nason told PTI.

Nason noted that foreign clients probably hold more securities in euros and dollars than their Swiss counterparts.

The value of their portfolio has taken a greater bashing because of the decline in the value of the dollar and the euro vis-a-vis the Swiss franc, he added.

"A drop in value can be seen not only for foreign private clients but also for foreign commercial and foreign institutional clients," Nason pointed out.

Overall, customer holdings of securities in Swiss banks fell by 1.3 per cent to about 4.45 trillion Swiss francs in 2010.

Even though there are no definite figures on the amount of black money stashed away offshore by Indians, rough estimates had pegged the amount at around USD 1.5 trillion.

The Swiss Parliament has approved amendments to tax treaties with India and many other countries, following which the governments can now more easily secure banking information of its citizens who have deposited illegal funds in secret Swiss accounts.

Indian government is facing intense pressure from the Opposition, the Supreme Court and civil society to bring back black money stashed away in tax havens. The government has already unveiled various initiatives including studies to curb the menace of black money.

Source:

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Government seeks public views online on blackmoney issue

NEW DELHI: The government today created an email id for public to send their ideas and inputs to tackle issues arising out of black money.

The email -- bm-feedback@nic.in -- has been created on the server of the National Informatics Centre and the public can send their responses on the subject with immediate effect, a senior Finance Ministry officer said.

"General public can send in their responses and inputs like imposing penalties and making penal provisions to tackle with the issue," the officer said.

The government has already constituted a committee headed by Central Board of Direct Taxes Chairman Prakash Chandra to devise new strategies to deal with the issue. The committee is expected to submit its recommendations in the next six months.

The email account will be continuously monitored by Finance Ministry officials and they would place the messages before the committee headed by the CBDT Chairman.

Election Commission, one of India’s finest brands

Democratic elections provide the method through which citizens assert their civil and political rights. Founders of modern India adopted universal adult suffrage thus reposing faith in the wisdom of the common Indian to elect his/her representative to the seat of power.

Choice of electoral democracy for India was variously termed at that time as a giant leap forward, a bold enterprise and an unparalleled adventure. The makers of the Constitution had realised quite early that elections provide the starting point of justice and equality. Despite a 16% literacy rate and a caste-based hierarchical social system, the independence came directly to the hands of ordinary people in the form of a vote. Oppressed masses of India had voted in many elections before Switzerland allowed its women and Australia its aboriginals to vote.

A thriving and vibrant electoral democracy has been India’s distinct and durable identity at the global stage, long before it asserted itself as economic, nuclear or IT major. This brand, which was founded by our freedom fighters and makers of the Constitution, has been nurtured by Parliament, Judiciary, Political Parties, Media and above all by the People of India, with some distinct contribution from the Election Commission.

Over the past 61 years, the Election Commission has delivered 15 elections to the Lok Sabha and over 330 elections to State Legislative Assemblies, thus facilitating peaceful, orderly and democratic transfer of power. Elections to the 15th Lok Sabha held in April-May 2009 have been described as the biggest management event in the world. It involved 714 million voters, 8,35,000 polling stations, 1.18 million Electronic Voting Machines and 11 million personnel. India’s electorate is larger than that of any continent and even several continents put together.

The recently concluded elections to five states and union territory, which have been rated as among the finest, involved one fifth of the country’s electorate. The management of elections in India has continually evolved and still does, matching with the colossal proportions and ever increasing complexity of the task.