Black money not just from corruption & tax evasion - Kashmir Times

Counterfeit currency, goods and medicines hurt economies and finance terrorists

Undoing the growing black hole of corruption

Maria Waqar (TALKING POINT) / 15 February 2013

South Asia has recently witnessed a stark rise in anti-corruption superstars in politics.

Widespread anti-corruption protests led by iconic activist Anna Hazare in India in 2011 were momentous because for the first time in history, the Indian people pressurised their government to pass a piece of anti-corruption legislation: the Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill. Apart from the India against Corruption movement, Hazare’s movement also became the trigger for a new force in mainstream politics: the Aam Aadmi (Common man) party led by Hazare’ former colleague activist Arvind Kejriwal and lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan. Kejriwal, who has strong aspirations for making a mark in politics in the forthcoming parliamentary elections, has been vociferously hurling allegations against mainstream politicians, mainly from the Congress party, for their supposed involvement in corrupt practices.

A similar demand for rooting out corruption has spawned across India’s border. The anti-corruption movement in Pakistan is heralded by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan. His party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has amassed a huge following among the country’s youth, is famous for pledging that he would eliminate corruption in 90 days if he is elected as Pakistan’s prime minister.

In India and Pakistan, where official corruption penetrates the lowest rung of the bureaucracy to the highest echelons of power, promises of a corruption-free system by activists and politicians with clean personal records, have been welcomed by the public. But as well-intentioned as these promises might be, they have actually made people think unrealistically about the phenomenon. So, at this particular juncture, it’s really important to get some facts straight about corruption, which I will simply define as the use of public office for private gain.

While the Indian and Pakistani media is in the habit of lamenting the supposedly ever-rising levels of corruption, the fact is that the actual extent of corruption is very difficult to assess. Scientifically, it is actually very difficult to calculate how much money is lost due to corrupt practices in a country, because many illicit dealings — ranging from every day bribes given to the traffic police to millions squandered in infrastructure contracts — cannot be tracked and measured. Hence, the term “black hole” often used to describe financial losses due to corruption, is apt because it alludes to immeasurability of the money lost due to illicit dealings.

Corruption In India - The Fight Against | INDIAN DREAMS Vs REALITY
After the government order on formulation of the Lok Pal Bill draft, there have been all kind of reactions from politicians, intelligentsia and journalists. Some think that the drafting is the job of legislatures, some think that Lok Pal institution cannot put an end to corruption while a few think that there is not much of corruption in the country. The vast majority of Indian citizens however are aware of the huge corruption in the Indian economic system with its tentacles rooted deep in all walks of life as also the fact that Lok Pal Bill if at all it comes into force will be like touching the tip of the iceberg in our fight against this demon called corruption. A lot more legislation and governance methodologies will have to be adopted to put an end to corruption practices. The noise being made about the individual members and the kind of aspersions being cast on them does not give much hope to poverty ridden millions of this country. In fact the concerted effort being made by the polity of the country in maligning these members is aimed at nipping this evil of an effective Lok Pal Bill in the bud. After all we should not forget that these very politicians have seen to it that nothing happened on this front for the past forty years. It is well known that India does not have men at the top who could be called incorruptible. For some money is their waterloo, for some wine and woman and for some it could be the lust of power. In India the mighty and the powerful are all guilty on one count or the other otherwise they will not be either silent spectators or partners to the rot of corruption engulfing this country.

India's uphill battle against "black money" in real estate

By Aditi Shah and Swati Pandey

MUMBAI | Wed Nov 21, 2012 3:15am IST

(Reuters) - Ulwe, a village of dusty, uneven streets on the outskirts of Mumbai, lacks basic amenities like water supply and electricity, but a two-bedroom, 1,000 sq ft house costs about 5 million rupees, beyond the reach of many middle-class Indians.

According to prospective buyers, many developers will demand up to 30 percent of that price in cash, a small slice of the ubiquitous, unaccounted "black money" that costs India's straitened exchequer billions of dollars in lost taxable income.

Legislation that would bring more transparency to the industry will be considered during the winter session of India's parliament, which starts on Thursday.

However, investors, tax officials and bankers Reuters spoke with were sceptical the law would stamp out illegal practices they say are closely entwined with politics.

"Four out of 10 developers were ready to do it in full white and six were asking for a black component," said 35-year-old Umesh Kolhapure, who was looking for a three-bedroom house around Ulwe, near the proposed site of a new international airport serving the country's financial capital.

Recent high-profile scandals in the coal and telecoms sectors involving large corporate houses and politicians have rattled investors in Asia's third-largest economy, where undeclared wealth has long been rampant.

Real estate accounts for a large share of illicit transactions, thanks to lax regulation and the numerous approvals needed for projects, making many ordinary people party to corruption and pricing some of the emerging middle class out of the market.

That has prompted the newly-appointed housing minister, Ajay Maken, to push a real estate regulation bill.

Designed to bring greater accountability, transparency and prevent fraud and delay, the bill proposes appointing the sector's first national regulator. However, it will not have control over land deals, which is where illicit activity is widely believed to be rampant.

"The bill is not going to help solve the issue of black money," said Anurag Mathur, chief executive officer of project and development services at Jones Lang LaSalle.

"Black money is tied in or shifted through land transactions and the regulator will have no jurisdiction over that."

TAX AVOIDANCE

In the year to June 2012, about $6 billion, or 30 percent of total transactions in the property sector, were executed using black money, according to Liases Foras, a consultancy.

Real estate accounts for more than a 10th of India's $1.85 trillion economy.

The government says black money, a term widely used in India to describe undeclared funds, often meant to avoid taxes, can be present in every stage of a project from land acquisition to home sales.

For the purchaser of a 5 million rupee home like those in Ulwe, a developer might typically ask for 1.5 million rupees in cash while making out a sales agreement for 3.5 million.

Scaling the ladder of corruption

Postnoon | December 9, 2012 | 0 Comments

Criminalisation and corruption, the twin evils, have been eating into the vitals of India for some time and successive ruling parties have made no effort to rein in this scourge.

UPA’s rule has taken India up on the ladder of corruption. Transparency International, a world watchdog, has placed India 94th among 174 countries surveyed in 2012. India was at 72nd among 180 countries surveyed in 2007. The only consolation is that all our immediate neighbours — China, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka — fared as badly or worse.

Public corruption has deepened in India in the recent past with no meaningful steps taken to curb it. Electoral reforms remain a far cry with the political spectrum getting liberally sprinkled with criminals and the corrupt.

This year, India has a score of 36 out of 100 on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean), which is a result of an average of 10 studies, including World Bank’s Country Performance and Institutional analysis.

India is ranked below Sri Lanka and China, while Afghanistan, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh fared much worse than India when it came to corruption in public sector undertakings.

Sri Lanka, which is slowly limping back to normalcy after

a three-decade civil war, is ranked at 79, while China is ranked at 80.

Have we accepted corruption in public life? -- Prof. K. C. Mehta

Published: November 17, 2012 23:42 IST | Updated: November 18, 2012 00:01 IST

Have we accepted corruption in public life?

Professor K. C. Mehta

The Hindu Social activist Anna Hazare. File photo

Political corruption was there even during the time of Pandit Nehru. But later a rapid erosion in the selfless dedication of leaders led to the growth of corruption in the entire body politic. National interest became nobody’s business. Welfare schemes turned the biggest source for siphoning off public funds.

Scandals of free India

In the post-independence period, only six out of the 14 Prime Ministers had a term of five years or more: Nehru about 17 years, Indira Gandhi 16, Rajiv Gandhi five, Narasimha Rao five, Atal Behari Vajpayee six, Manmohan Singh over eight years to date.

Out of these six Prime Ministers who really matter, five were from the Congress, accounting for 51 years of Congress-led governments. Out of these 51 years, 38 years belonged to the Nehru dynasty. The article gives an overview of corruption during their tenure. All figures are converted to the 2011 price level to make them comparable. The Wholesale Price Index Numbers are used for the purpose.

Corruption to blame for black money: CBDT panel

By KR Sudhaman Aug 15 2012 , New Delhi

Tags: black money, CBDT, Corruption, Economy

SQUARELY blaming the large scale corruption in every sphere of activity and electrol politics 

RELATED ARTICLES Black money: Export, import firms under DRI scanner No amnesty scheme to check black money: Govt

for black money in India, a CBDT committee report released on Tuesday said the menace could not be checked merely through legislation or enforcement but in “finding much deeper socio-economic solutions.

There are two dimensions of the issue of black money –– first, its generation and, second, its consumption and use, including laundering of black money back to mainstream economy.

Cleaning Indian politics is next challenge for Team Anna: VK Singh

File Photo

Former Indian Army chief Rtd General VK Singh on Friday requested Team Anna to take their anti-graftagitation to next level by entering politics.

Addressing the gathering at Jantar Mantar, VK Singh said that the next challenge for Team Anna is to clean the Indian politics.

“There is no governance in the country. There are many problems in the country. Corruption and black money are key issues. The governance is missing and we are directionless. Team Anna will have to come forward and clean the political system,” Singh said after sharing dais with Ana Hazare.

Singh said that corruption is the biggest issue in this country.

“Most of the government policies failed due to corruption. Government says, it has no magic band to change the system but I say the magic band is in weak hands.”

India needs professional blueprint to combat corruption: Basu

Last Updated: Tuesday, July 31, 2012, 21:11

Tags: Kaushik Basu, corruption, Lokpal Bill

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing protests by civil society to enact effective Lokpal Bill, Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu on Tuesday said the country needs to draw a professional blueprint to deal with corruption.

"I like civil society pressure because the pressure becomes a useful rallying point even for those within the government to do something. But blueprint (to combat) needs a lot of professionalism," he said while talking to reporters here at his last press conference as CEA. Basu's term ends today.

Total eradication of corruption, he said, was not possible but "vast decrease in level of corruption is possible and we have to work towards that". 

Baba Ramdev to fight against graft, black money from August 9

Ahmedabad , Sun, 29 Jul 2012ANI

Ahmedabad, July 29 (ANI): Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on Sunday announced that he would begin a decisive fight against graft next month for the retrieval of illicit funds stashed in bank accounts abroad.

Speaking here on the occasion of a sermon by Jain ascetic Tarun Sagar, Baba Ramdev said the movement would reach its crescendo by Independence Day.

"Now, we have to bring back 400 trillion rupees' worth of black money, eradicate corruption, save democracy and the country. The happiness I see on your faces today has to be brought on the faces of our 1.2 billion people. This struggle shall begin in Delhi on August 9, and will reach its climax by August 15," Baba Ramdev said.

Also present on the occasion was Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who said that it was unfortunate that the motives of people like Baba Ramdev were questioned when they tried to initiate social movements in the interest of the nation.

"Today, if ascetics are grieved by the pains of society, and if they talk on social issues, if they try to raise public awareness by taking the nation's benefit as a duty unto themselves, then the misfortune of my country is that those who criticized hermits for being detached from the society, now curse them for being involved with it," Modi said.

Baba Ramdev is poised for a joint movement along with anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare against corruption, which they are scheduled to start from August 9 onwards.

Hinduja also highlighted the challenge faced by India from

PTI | 12:07 PM,Jul 22,2012

the menace of corruption and black money. "The main causes of generation of black money have been the requirement for funds to meet the expenses of political parties and to fight elections at local/state/national levels; the need for making illicit payments to secure government contracts and influence government policies etc," he said. "This is a cancer which must be addressed. Unstructured, non-institutional political funding is the root of corruption in India. Electoral reforms may be introduced to regularise and make political parties accountable for funds received," he said. He also said that state funding of political parties' election expenditure can be part of a large scheme of political, electoral and taxation reform to stop the flow of money into parallel economy. He pointed out that many developed countries have opted for 20-30 per cent tax to make black money stashed abroad accountable. "India could also consider entering into similar agreements with foreign countries so that the unaccounted wealth abroad can come to India and taxed. Such funds could help reduce India's burgeoning fiscal deficit," he said. PTI AKJ

Is the Benami Bill targeted at corruption and black money futile?
Did you know that a law exists, and has existed for 24 years, which declares benami transactions illegal? Benami transactions((benami literally means 'without a name'), where property is paid for by person A, but held in the name of person B (who may not even exist) have long been part of the way business is done, or commerce is conducted, in India.

Reforms needed to check corruption in real estate: CREDAI

Mumbai: The Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI) on Tuesday said there was a need for comprehensive reforms to check black money and corruption in the realty sector.

"There is a need for all round reforms to end corruption and check black money in realty," CREDAI National President Lalit Kumar Jain told reporters here.

He said that CREDAI has been advocating for single window system for project clearances to cut down time and chance for corruption.

CREDAI has sought reforms in four key areas including administration, land, taxation and banking, which impact the real estate.

"There has been a lot of talk on this, but no action. We too hate the system that labels us as crooks and breeders of black money. There is a need to realise that the various bottlenecks at government level at Centre and in several states are equally responsible for this menace," he said.