Thursday, June 18, 2009
Communist Party of India (Maoist)s aim is to break CPM shackles
He is leading the Lalgarh offensive in West Midnapore district of West Bengal (India). Around 24 years old, he is a veteran in Maoist ranks, serving as zonal committee secretary of Communist Party of India (Maoist) for West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts. Sukumar Mahato speaks to firebrand Maoist Bikash about his party's plans:
- What are your immediate plans?Our aim is to break the shackles that the ruling CPM has put on the people of this area. For nearly two decades, the people have not reaped the so-called benefits of parliamentary democracy. Gradually, everything began to be controlled by CPM. Its leaders even had a say in marriages and other social and personal matters. There are many leaders against whom FIRs are pending. The police have taken no action against them. We will punish them. Those who have spent money or used political connections to avoid justice will be tried by people's courts.
- The government is preparing to strike in a major way How will you counter this? We have seen media reports in which government officials have spoken about bringing in Central forces, COBRA or Greyhound personnel. We are prepared for any strike. PCPA is with us. In Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapore districts, we have set up gram committees in over 250 villages. We shall ultimately liberate Keshpur and Garbeta. The state cannot stop us by using force.
- Why have you resorted to violence? We were forced into taking up arms by the administration. When we had guns pointing at us, one can't expect us to respond with flower petals. Violence was started by CPM. We took up arms to counter this. Many of them are educated unemployed youths. Family members of CPM leaders have got jobs that were meant for them.
- Why do you target the police? Many of the constables belong to poor families. We have appealed to the police a number of times, not to blindly follow the diktats of CPM. We have asked the police not to torture poor villagers. There are some who heeded our appeal. Those who we targeted worked at the behest of CPM and paid a price.
- What is your ultimate goal? We want public funds to be used by the people's committee. They will be accountable for all development work done. We have already done a lot of development work in the villages. CPM talks a lot about land reforms. Anuj Pandey and his two brothers owned 40 bighas of land. We shall distribute such land among the poor.
Inactive administration and a corrupt CPM Govermment in West bengal leads to Lalgarg violence
LALGARH a well-planned strategy and a perfectly executed warplan, using tribal grievance against an inactive administration and a corrupt CPM government in West Bengal state in india.
That, in a nutshell, sums up how the Maoist movement gathered momentum in West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura with Lalgarh as the base. The insurgent outfit has been steadily spreading its tentacles and extending its strongholds almost every day at a furious pace over the last seven months. It has reached areas like Jhalda, Bagmundi and Ayodhya in Purulia and Ranibandh and Jhilimili in Bankura. If Salboni which is believed to be the next target falls, then almost the entire western part of the state would be lost. The Maoists did not win the area overnight. In fact, they found it difficult to make headway initially. Till the merger of People's War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) the Left radicals were active only in pockets of Binpur block II and in the area from Belpahari to Banshpahari and were never a force to reckon with. Then the merger took place in 2004 and the Maoist movement took a leap ahead. The two groups galvanized perfectly with the armed wing of PWG the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) providing a militant edge to the theoretical and political campaign of MCC. It helped Maoists spread their base in the Jharkhand-Orissa border areas that served as a transit point. Things took another turn with the arrest of Somen, the CPI(Maoist) state secretary in 2008. It intensified the PLGA's militant campaign. The landmine attack on the chief minister's convoy in Salboni on November 2 served as a flashpoint. It shook the police into action and a combing operation.
was launched at Salboni, barely 9 km from Midnapore town. Three PLGA squads were active in the area by then the Belpahari squad under Madan Mahato, the Lalgarh squad under Shashadhar Mahato and the Dolma squad in Purulia. Police charged Shashadhar and raided Chhotobelia, his village. The combing operation which had led to excesses alienated the locals. It fuelled a movement and led to the formation of People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) which became the frontal organization helping to shield the Maoists who worked from behind the scenes. The tribals united on an anti-police and anti-government plank joined PCPA spontaneously and it helped Maoists form a network over a larger area. The movement spread like wildfire across Jangalkhand. Using the PCPA local committees, Maoists gained access to information and logistical support from every corner of the region. From November 12 when PCPA was formed at a rally at Kantapahari the 14 km road connecting Lalgarh police station with the Ramgarh outpost remained blocked for a month. Maoists used the time to strengthen their network, taking advantage of the fact that neither the administration nor police could enter. Soon, all three roads leading to Lalgarh through Pirakata forest, from Midnapore town through Dharampur and from Goaltore were cut off. With PCPA in the forefront, senior Maoist leaders and armed outfits started infiltrating. Leaders like Chandrasekhar and Akash camped there, helping strengthen the base. It was in this period that the PCPA influence spread to Binpur I and II, Jamboni, parts of Jhargram block and Salboni. Now, all areas in a 30-km radius of Lalgarh have been captured'. Strengthened by the local support base, they now went on uniting all the anti-CPM forces. Between January and June, several CPM leaders were killed. The Maoists finally came out in the open with a procession at Madhupur village, which led to an attack on several CPM leaders' houses. Ever since, a new area has been added to the Maoist territory every other day. Babuibasha, Shaluka, Ramgarh, Belatikri and its adjacent areas fell soon. And finally, the entire stretch from Lalgarh to Dherua, including Dharampur, has been captured last Sunday. It could be mission Salboni next. For that's just about the only area where CPM still exists. If that happens, Maoists could shift their base to Garbeta and Keshpur.
That, in a nutshell, sums up how the Maoist movement gathered momentum in West Midnapore, Purulia and Bankura with Lalgarh as the base. The insurgent outfit has been steadily spreading its tentacles and extending its strongholds almost every day at a furious pace over the last seven months. It has reached areas like Jhalda, Bagmundi and Ayodhya in Purulia and Ranibandh and Jhilimili in Bankura. If Salboni which is believed to be the next target falls, then almost the entire western part of the state would be lost. The Maoists did not win the area overnight. In fact, they found it difficult to make headway initially. Till the merger of People's War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) the Left radicals were active only in pockets of Binpur block II and in the area from Belpahari to Banshpahari and were never a force to reckon with. Then the merger took place in 2004 and the Maoist movement took a leap ahead. The two groups galvanized perfectly with the armed wing of PWG the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) providing a militant edge to the theoretical and political campaign of MCC. It helped Maoists spread their base in the Jharkhand-Orissa border areas that served as a transit point. Things took another turn with the arrest of Somen, the CPI(Maoist) state secretary in 2008. It intensified the PLGA's militant campaign. The landmine attack on the chief minister's convoy in Salboni on November 2 served as a flashpoint. It shook the police into action and a combing operation.
was launched at Salboni, barely 9 km from Midnapore town. Three PLGA squads were active in the area by then the Belpahari squad under Madan Mahato, the Lalgarh squad under Shashadhar Mahato and the Dolma squad in Purulia. Police charged Shashadhar and raided Chhotobelia, his village. The combing operation which had led to excesses alienated the locals. It fuelled a movement and led to the formation of People's Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA) which became the frontal organization helping to shield the Maoists who worked from behind the scenes. The tribals united on an anti-police and anti-government plank joined PCPA spontaneously and it helped Maoists form a network over a larger area. The movement spread like wildfire across Jangalkhand. Using the PCPA local committees, Maoists gained access to information and logistical support from every corner of the region. From November 12 when PCPA was formed at a rally at Kantapahari the 14 km road connecting Lalgarh police station with the Ramgarh outpost remained blocked for a month. Maoists used the time to strengthen their network, taking advantage of the fact that neither the administration nor police could enter. Soon, all three roads leading to Lalgarh through Pirakata forest, from Midnapore town through Dharampur and from Goaltore were cut off. With PCPA in the forefront, senior Maoist leaders and armed outfits started infiltrating. Leaders like Chandrasekhar and Akash camped there, helping strengthen the base. It was in this period that the PCPA influence spread to Binpur I and II, Jamboni, parts of Jhargram block and Salboni. Now, all areas in a 30-km radius of Lalgarh have been captured'. Strengthened by the local support base, they now went on uniting all the anti-CPM forces. Between January and June, several CPM leaders were killed. The Maoists finally came out in the open with a procession at Madhupur village, which led to an attack on several CPM leaders' houses. Ever since, a new area has been added to the Maoist territory every other day. Babuibasha, Shaluka, Ramgarh, Belatikri and its adjacent areas fell soon. And finally, the entire stretch from Lalgarh to Dherua, including Dharampur, has been captured last Sunday. It could be mission Salboni next. For that's just about the only area where CPM still exists. If that happens, Maoists could shift their base to Garbeta and Keshpur.
Times of india 18th june20009
Monday, June 08, 2009
India can surprise the world that it can move ahead even in this global recession period
The growth rate for the global economies since 45 years has shown towards 3.7%. Now the prediction is about half of it. Historically whenever the global growth rate has gone below the threshold of 2.5%, global recession has happened. The global growth trend is likely to be at less than 2% over the next 3 years.
1 It may be sub prime crises/indebtedness/war; the world growth rate has fallen below 2.5%, resulting in global recession.
2 American consumer is the highest purchasing consumer in the world. America accounts 4.5% of world's population, consumed $10 trillion in 2008.Consumers in India and China combined close to 40% of the world population collectively consumed $2 trillion ! Over the next 3 to 5 years the growth rate of consumption in US won't go more than 1.5%; a dramatic slow down from the pre recession period norm of 4%.
3 It is predicted by economists that it is unnatural to think that India can go back to growth rates above 8% in the current environment; it will take next 2 to 3 years (2010to 2011) to reach that mark.
4 India has massive capital and high budget deficits. The stable Government of Indian can take firm decisions to iron out the recession. It can economise on expenditures. Raise resources.Accelerate the manufacturing sector to grow at a much faster rate. India can surprise the world that it can move ahead even in this recession period
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
The world will laugh at us if we do not act to get back Indian black money in Swiss and other banks
R Vaidyanathan, professor of finance at the Indian Institute of Management, a regular columnist for DNA has been nominated as the head of a taskforce by Advani for preparing a strategic document to get back the national wealth.
Excerpts from His interview:
The black money flowing out of the country into Swiss banks and other tax havens worldwide has become an election issue. While there is no official estimate of the amount of black money in Swiss accounts, LK Advani, the prime ministerial candidate of BJP-led National Democratic Alliance, has come out with an estimate of Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 75,000 crore. Prof. Vaidyanathan feels the real figure is many times that number. At around $1.4 trillion (over Rs 70 lakh crore), it is way over India's gross domestic product of Rs 43 lakh crore for 2007-08.
Which are the various tax havens where the ill-gotten wealth of Indian businessmen and politicians is stored?
There are presumably more than 70 tax havens in the world. Indian wealth could be more in Switzerland and various British/ US islands.
How much Indian money do you think would be locked away in Swiss banks? What is the basis for the estimate you make?
I make this estimate on the basis of a report titled "Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2002--2006, Global Financial Integrity," written by Dev Kar and Devon-Cartwright Smith. It was a project sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the final report was released sometime back in December 2008. Financial flows in the context of this report include proceeds from both illicit activities such as corruption (bribery and embezzlement of national wealth), criminal activity, and the proceeds of licit business that become illicit when transported across borders in contravention of applicable laws and regulatory frameworks (most commonly in order to evade payment of taxes). In 2006, the most recent year of the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) study, developing countries lost an estimated $858.6 billion to $1.06 trillion in illicit financial outflows. Even at the lower end of the range of estimates, the volume of illicit financial flows coming out of developing countries increased at a compound rate of 18.2% over the five-year period analysed for the study.
How much of this was siphoned out of India?
On an average, for the five-year period of this study, Asia accounts for approximately 50% of overall illicit financial flows from all developing countries. This report shows that the average amount moved from India annually during 2002-06 is $27.3 billion. This means, during the five-year period, the amount taken away is $27.3 billion x 5 = $136.5 billion. It is not that all these amounts went to Swiss banks; it has gone to different tax and secret shelters. The share of Swiss banks in this dirty money is a third of the global aggregate; some $45 billion out of the 136.5 billion stashed away from India would have been hoarded in these years in Swiss banks. This appears in page 30 of the report mentioned above.The important point is that this is only for five years. More amounts were stashed away during the Nehruvian socialist regime. So the loot for 55 years would be several times the amount. In fact, in those days, the Indian rupee commanded a better value per US dollar, so fewer rupees could get a dollar. Hence the estimation that Indian money stashed away may be of the order of $1.4 trillion
How did the money get out?
There are several methods/ reasons --- under-invoicing/ over-invoicing of exports and imports and getting the balance stored abroad; kickbacks from major defence/ civilian contracts; in the olden days, smuggling of gold and illegal money; transactions done abroad and not reported here; hawala funds; funds earned by artists/ entertainment industry/ sports people and stashed away abroad, etc. When you want to indulge in adharma, hundred ways are open.
Do you feel international terrorist organisations use the tax-haven route to send across money to finance their nefarious activities?
Even our national security advisor, M K Narayanan, has spoken about it in Berlin.You recently wrote, "Under pressure from federal authorities, Swiss bank UBS is closing the hidden offshore accounts of its well-heeled American clients, potentially allowing their secrets to spill into the open."
Do you feel the government of India should also demand all the Indian black money in Swiss banks back?
Of course, India should and must act. We are not a banana republic. How can the government go about doing this? By putting it on the global agenda. Put it in G20. Put it in IMF. Put it in Egmont Group. Also take a lead among all developing countries. Support US/ German/ French efforts. Do you feel Swiss authorities and other tax havens will cooperate with us on this issue if we take the initiative?
It is not our pressure but that of the US, which will make them cooperate. When a family is in deep financial crisis, it tries to look at the small amount saved under the sugar jar by grandma. In the same way, developed economies are desperate for every dollar. Even if we do not act due to their efforts, the list of crooks may be out. Then, we will be in a dangerous social situation since the who's who of India will be there. Instead, we should get the list and get the funds and decide on the steps to sterilise it and the punishment to be given out, etc. Otherwise the world will laugh at us. We will be worse than a Nigeria (Sani Abacha) or Phillipines (Markose).
Do you feel the government will do this, given that a lot of the black money belongs to politicians?
Public pressure will make them do it. Plus, the evolving global situation against tax havens also might act in our favour. The money belongs to the poor farmers and unorganised workers.
Do you see businessmen applying pressure on the government to thwart any attempt to get back this money?
The world situation is such that Indian businessmen will want to bring it back now, given the attractive returns in India. The entire proprietary notes route to invest in the stock market was conceived for that.
You wrote in one of your columns that the German foreign intelligence agency BND got the names of 1,400 clients of the Liechtenstein-based LTG Bank who were suspected tax evaders. Of the 1,400, only 600 were supposed to be Germans. Do you think the rest would include Indians?
Has the Indian government approached the German government for the list? Indian names will be there. Our tax evaders and crooks are like Maha Vishnu, present in all continents and all tax havens, in the sea, on the earth, in the air. But our government has been lukewarm in its response to this issue. It should have immediately dispatched senior officials and the finance minister to get the names Rights Reserved
Monday, March 23, 2009
Parliament Election -2009 Forecast for Karnataka
media.syndicate has come out with preliminary forecast of results of forthcoming
parliament elections. Analysis has predicted minimum of 12 seats for BJP; 6 for Cong (I) ;
4 for (JD-S). The numbers could jump to 17 for BJP and 6 for Cong (I); 4 for JD (S) and 1 for other.
parliament elections. Analysis has predicted minimum of 12 seats for BJP; 6 for Cong (I) ;
4 for (JD-S). The numbers could jump to 17 for BJP and 6 for Cong (I); 4 for JD (S) and 1 for other.
Congress(I) is expected to win Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Dakshina Kannada, Chamarajanagara,Bangalore Central constituencies.
Belgaum, Chikkodi, Bijapur,Bagalkot, Koppal, Bellary,Dharwad, Haveri, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere, Shimoga, Udupi-Chikkamagalur, Mysore, Bangalore North, Bangalore South,Chikkaballapura and Kolar will be won by BJP.
JD (S) may win in Hassan, Tumkur,Mandya and Bangalore Rural.
Monday, March 09, 2009
Time to get back black money in Swiss accounts to India
Time to get back black money in Swiss accounts to India
Under pressure from federal authorities, Swiss bank UBS the largest banking institution from Switzerland, closing the hidden offshore accounts of its well-heeled American clients, potentially allowing their secrets to spill into the open.It is also common knowledge that trillions of dollars of Indian money is in various tax heavens like Antigua, Switzerland, Bahamas, Liechtenstein, Isle of Man, and St Kitts, etc. In a step that would have once been unthinkable in the rarefied world of Swiss banking, UBS will shut about 19,000 accounts that prosecutors suspect have gone undeclared to the Internal Revenue Service. UBS will transfer the assets to other banks or other divisions within UBS, or will mail cheques directly to the account holders, creating paper trails for federal prosecutors who are examining whether UBS clients used such accounts to evade taxes.The clients now face stark choices: They can cash their checks, and thereby alert the authorities to any potential wrongdoing, or not cash them, effectively losing their money. Or they can transfer the money to new banks, a procedure which, in the case of foreign banks, requires depositors of more than $10,000 to report the new account to the Treasury Department. UBS, the largest banking institution from Switzerland, has also committed to provide names of the top 250 persons who have kept money in offshore accounts, out of 19,000, to US authorities. UBS has also committed to pay a fine of $780 million to settle claims that it has defrauded US Internal Revenue Service.The original charges are that the UBS offshore accounts have helped Americans hide $18 billion in 19,000 accounts. But now, the US state department is compelling it to disclose about 52,000 American accounts kept with UBS.The same position was taken in Bofors case also. Now that wall has been breached by this US agreement with Swiss authorities.UBS,also said that it would stop offering to American clients offshore private banking services that are not declared to the IRS.In all these discussions, one critical aspect is not to be missed -- the wealth hoarded by Indian leaders in commerce/ politics/ military/ arts, etc in the foreign banks for the last five to six decades.A recent development makes us alert to our own wealth stored abroad.Liechtenstein is a country as well as a convenient "letter box" for moneyed people all over the world to hide their ill gotten wealth. Its crown prince, Alois von und Zu Liechtenstein, is angry with Germany for launching a massive tax-evasion investigation involving funds hidden away in his countries vaults. Germany's intelligence agency seems to have paid an unnamed informer more than USD 6 million for confidential and secret data about clients of LTG group a bank owned by the Prince's family. The revelations have already led to the resignation of the head of Deutsche Post - the former German mail service -the world's largest logistics company in the world. The German foreign intelligent agency BND seem to have got more than 700 clients of the LTG bank and the German prosecutors are using this information to target hundreds of suspected tax evaders in the last few days. In the meantime LTG claims that the "stolen data' contain information about 1400 clients and only 600 of them are Germans. The German government has announced that it would share information on accounts held in the tax haven with any government that wants it, for free. Intriguingly, Indian government was silent on this issue and did not approach the German government for a long time for a look into that data. Later, it wrote a cursory letter under pressure from Opposition but has not disclosed the response of the German government.It is common knowledge that trillions of dollars of Indian money is in various tax heavens like Antigua, Switzerland, Bahamas, Liechtenstein, Isle of Man, and St Kitts, etc.Throughout the Nehruvian socialistic period, under-invoicing of exports and over-invoicing of imports was very common. Along with that, substantial portion of external earnings were siphoned off to these tax heavens. In a socialistic way, all leaders, be they from business, politics, film, sports or bureaucracy, participated in creating what we may call secular wealth cutting across caste and creed. Also, good portion of the defence commissions were settled abroad. Plus some of our bureaucrats and entertainers and artists have also accumulated wealth abroad. This lobby is well-entrenched and one of the main losers in the appreciation of the rupee.Worst part of the story is the loss of these deposits to Swiss banks themselves up on the death of some of these depositors who have not passed on the relevant account information to their progeny. The Swiss banks appropriate such sums after some years (seven to ten) after the death of the beneficiary if there are no claimants. These are operated using codes but most of them require passport and its number as a proof. That is the reason one finds some persons travelling to Switzerland with all expired passports. Zurich is the only European town which has Hindi slogans written on the side of its trams. Of course it is supposedly linked to Bollywood, but the India traffic to Zurich has to be seen to be believed.
It is estimated that between $500 billion and $1,400 billion is hoarded in Swiss banks and add with that the money stashed in territories like Virgin islands and Bahamas and other assorted tax havens. We need to take steps to bring it back to India. The mechanics can be worked out in terms of amnesty and Swiss bonds issued against these dollars. It can tremendously boost our foreign exchange reserves and facilitate infrastructure investment.
1To start with, we can add one column in our election affidavits regarding wealth accumulated abroad. Of course, the politicians are not going to declare the ill-gotten wealth. But, it may be useful for future regarding provision of false affidavits. The entire tax efforts of countries like India are subverted by these deposits.
2The second and most important issue pertains to financing of terrorism. These secretive and non-transparent tax heavens can be a serious threat to India since the sources and uses of funds are not clear. The lesser the transparency, the greater the threat for civil societies. From that point also, it is imperative for us to get these vaults open.
3The third point is that this should become a major issue in World trade and financial negotiations since what belongs to us cannot be denied to us for long. The entire issue of global financial flows and cross-country free flows become meaningless due to the presence of these tax heavens. Indian lead will shake the world and help large number of African and Latino countries.Already, the Polit Bureau of CPI [M] has asked for government action in the light of the UBS developments.
Baba Ramdev, too, has demanded that politicians take steps to bring back the money.It may be difficult to expect the major parties to take it up since the hands of many of its leaders are stained with rust and dust of Swiss bank vaults.
In the case of Bofors, it was the government of the day versus the opposition parties, and now it has to be a mass movement against all these tainted leaders.The citizens of India should fight to uphold the values of our republic which is not just a market or museum piece but a living civilisation wounded by colonialists and looted by current thanedars ruling the roost in the corridors of power.
If the leaders keep quiet on this burning issue, we can conclude the elite of the country has failed us.Of course, the Media- both electronic and print - will be campaigning to "fill up pubs' in the name of freedom- rather than any serious issue. Our media has become just entertainers and not interested in any important issue.
Let us remember that past history suggests that the elite of India failed India and not the ordinary farmers or workers. The elite helped in the plunder and devastation caused to this country.The thunderous silence of our elite in politics/ media/ business/ bureaucracy and arts speaks volumes about our collective guilt.
"No criminals in politics" is a good campaign. But can we have leaders with funds stashed abroad? The black money abroad is the Gangotri of all crimes. It shows our distrust about our mother land and contempt for Dharma. Let us deal with that first.
The writer is professor of finance and control, Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore, and can be reached at vaidya@iimb.ernet.in.
Under pressure from federal authorities, Swiss bank UBS the largest banking institution from Switzerland, closing the hidden offshore accounts of its well-heeled American clients, potentially allowing their secrets to spill into the open.It is also common knowledge that trillions of dollars of Indian money is in various tax heavens like Antigua, Switzerland, Bahamas, Liechtenstein, Isle of Man, and St Kitts, etc. In a step that would have once been unthinkable in the rarefied world of Swiss banking, UBS will shut about 19,000 accounts that prosecutors suspect have gone undeclared to the Internal Revenue Service. UBS will transfer the assets to other banks or other divisions within UBS, or will mail cheques directly to the account holders, creating paper trails for federal prosecutors who are examining whether UBS clients used such accounts to evade taxes.The clients now face stark choices: They can cash their checks, and thereby alert the authorities to any potential wrongdoing, or not cash them, effectively losing their money. Or they can transfer the money to new banks, a procedure which, in the case of foreign banks, requires depositors of more than $10,000 to report the new account to the Treasury Department. UBS, the largest banking institution from Switzerland, has also committed to provide names of the top 250 persons who have kept money in offshore accounts, out of 19,000, to US authorities. UBS has also committed to pay a fine of $780 million to settle claims that it has defrauded US Internal Revenue Service.The original charges are that the UBS offshore accounts have helped Americans hide $18 billion in 19,000 accounts. But now, the US state department is compelling it to disclose about 52,000 American accounts kept with UBS.The same position was taken in Bofors case also. Now that wall has been breached by this US agreement with Swiss authorities.UBS,also said that it would stop offering to American clients offshore private banking services that are not declared to the IRS.In all these discussions, one critical aspect is not to be missed -- the wealth hoarded by Indian leaders in commerce/ politics/ military/ arts, etc in the foreign banks for the last five to six decades.A recent development makes us alert to our own wealth stored abroad.Liechtenstein is a country as well as a convenient "letter box" for moneyed people all over the world to hide their ill gotten wealth. Its crown prince, Alois von und Zu Liechtenstein, is angry with Germany for launching a massive tax-evasion investigation involving funds hidden away in his countries vaults. Germany's intelligence agency seems to have paid an unnamed informer more than USD 6 million for confidential and secret data about clients of LTG group a bank owned by the Prince's family. The revelations have already led to the resignation of the head of Deutsche Post - the former German mail service -the world's largest logistics company in the world. The German foreign intelligent agency BND seem to have got more than 700 clients of the LTG bank and the German prosecutors are using this information to target hundreds of suspected tax evaders in the last few days. In the meantime LTG claims that the "stolen data' contain information about 1400 clients and only 600 of them are Germans. The German government has announced that it would share information on accounts held in the tax haven with any government that wants it, for free. Intriguingly, Indian government was silent on this issue and did not approach the German government for a long time for a look into that data. Later, it wrote a cursory letter under pressure from Opposition but has not disclosed the response of the German government.It is common knowledge that trillions of dollars of Indian money is in various tax heavens like Antigua, Switzerland, Bahamas, Liechtenstein, Isle of Man, and St Kitts, etc.Throughout the Nehruvian socialistic period, under-invoicing of exports and over-invoicing of imports was very common. Along with that, substantial portion of external earnings were siphoned off to these tax heavens. In a socialistic way, all leaders, be they from business, politics, film, sports or bureaucracy, participated in creating what we may call secular wealth cutting across caste and creed. Also, good portion of the defence commissions were settled abroad. Plus some of our bureaucrats and entertainers and artists have also accumulated wealth abroad. This lobby is well-entrenched and one of the main losers in the appreciation of the rupee.Worst part of the story is the loss of these deposits to Swiss banks themselves up on the death of some of these depositors who have not passed on the relevant account information to their progeny. The Swiss banks appropriate such sums after some years (seven to ten) after the death of the beneficiary if there are no claimants. These are operated using codes but most of them require passport and its number as a proof. That is the reason one finds some persons travelling to Switzerland with all expired passports. Zurich is the only European town which has Hindi slogans written on the side of its trams. Of course it is supposedly linked to Bollywood, but the India traffic to Zurich has to be seen to be believed.
It is estimated that between $500 billion and $1,400 billion is hoarded in Swiss banks and add with that the money stashed in territories like Virgin islands and Bahamas and other assorted tax havens. We need to take steps to bring it back to India. The mechanics can be worked out in terms of amnesty and Swiss bonds issued against these dollars. It can tremendously boost our foreign exchange reserves and facilitate infrastructure investment.
1To start with, we can add one column in our election affidavits regarding wealth accumulated abroad. Of course, the politicians are not going to declare the ill-gotten wealth. But, it may be useful for future regarding provision of false affidavits. The entire tax efforts of countries like India are subverted by these deposits.
2The second and most important issue pertains to financing of terrorism. These secretive and non-transparent tax heavens can be a serious threat to India since the sources and uses of funds are not clear. The lesser the transparency, the greater the threat for civil societies. From that point also, it is imperative for us to get these vaults open.
3The third point is that this should become a major issue in World trade and financial negotiations since what belongs to us cannot be denied to us for long. The entire issue of global financial flows and cross-country free flows become meaningless due to the presence of these tax heavens. Indian lead will shake the world and help large number of African and Latino countries.Already, the Polit Bureau of CPI [M] has asked for government action in the light of the UBS developments.
Baba Ramdev, too, has demanded that politicians take steps to bring back the money.It may be difficult to expect the major parties to take it up since the hands of many of its leaders are stained with rust and dust of Swiss bank vaults.
In the case of Bofors, it was the government of the day versus the opposition parties, and now it has to be a mass movement against all these tainted leaders.The citizens of India should fight to uphold the values of our republic which is not just a market or museum piece but a living civilisation wounded by colonialists and looted by current thanedars ruling the roost in the corridors of power.
If the leaders keep quiet on this burning issue, we can conclude the elite of the country has failed us.Of course, the Media- both electronic and print - will be campaigning to "fill up pubs' in the name of freedom- rather than any serious issue. Our media has become just entertainers and not interested in any important issue.
Let us remember that past history suggests that the elite of India failed India and not the ordinary farmers or workers. The elite helped in the plunder and devastation caused to this country.The thunderous silence of our elite in politics/ media/ business/ bureaucracy and arts speaks volumes about our collective guilt.
"No criminals in politics" is a good campaign. But can we have leaders with funds stashed abroad? The black money abroad is the Gangotri of all crimes. It shows our distrust about our mother land and contempt for Dharma. Let us deal with that first.
The writer is professor of finance and control, Indian Institute of Management - Bangalore, and can be reached at vaidya@iimb.ernet.in.
Monday, January 05, 2009
The Akshay Patra Story
The Akshay Patra programme has increased enrolment rates in schools across the country
It all started with the kitchens feeding 1,500 children in 2000. Now, they feed 9,73,147 children across the country every day. The giant kitchens of the Akshay Patra programme cook 1,00,000 meals in less than five hours every day! Akshay Patra programme, which recently got an entry into the Limca Book of Records, owes a lot to its hi-tech and hygienic kitchens. Bangalore has two of these modern, clean and automated kitchens. Foundation representative Rajni R told STOI how the kitchen works: “We run conveyer belts on which boxes are placed. The cooked food is dispensed through taps into the box and then packed by workers with minimal human contact. The utensils are all sterilized and the food is machine-cooked. All the workers wear caps, gloves and boots, which are also sterilized after every use.” “The workers start cooking at 2 am and get the food ready by 7.30 am to dispatch it. The first vehicle leaves the temple premises at 7.30 with a three-item menu — rice, sambhar with vegetables and curd with ingredients added so that the children’s nutrition requirements are met. A nutrition expert’s advice is also taken,” she adds. Mammoth social service Around 150 workers in the Rajajinagar kitchen cook, clean and distribute food. The food, when packed in steel utensils, is at 90 degrees centigrade and served at 60 degrees. “The kitchens of Akshay Patra can cook around 1,00,000 meals in less than five hours. The extensive mechanization of the kitchens offer children standardized, quality and hygienic meals,” says Rajni, adding that the cooked food is distributed to schools through heat-insulated, dust-free, custom-built vehicles. The first kitchen was set up in Bangalore in 2000 at Rajajinagar and six years later at Kanakapura and started giving food to nearby government schools. Those schools witnessed tremendous response as principals acknowledged that student enrolment increased. Seeing this success, the programme was extended to schools in other areas of Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Bellary, Mangalore and Mysore in Karnataka. Many places covered Mid-day meals are also provided for children of Jaipur, Nathwara and Baran in Rajasthan, Vrindavan and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Puri and Nayagarh in Orissa, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. “The vision is to ensure that no child in India is deprived of education because of hunger. We want to end hunger and create a human resources pool that will propel India into league of developed nations.” Grand plan According to a UNESCO report, around 13.5 million children in the age group of 6-13 years are out of school in India. Despite the country’s stunning economic growth, a large chunk of India’s children does not have access to schools because of poverty and malnutrition. The Foundation is working overtime to eliminate this problem. ON THE MENU Rice, sambhar with vegetables, curd and sweet once a week in southern states including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa Roti, vegetable, pulao and kheer once a week in northern States including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat MEAL IMPACT IN 2006 Increased attendance and enrolment in schools Improved health of those children Enhanced learning abilities Reduced drop-out rates
It all started with the kitchens feeding 1,500 children in 2000. Now, they feed 9,73,147 children across the country every day. The giant kitchens of the Akshay Patra programme cook 1,00,000 meals in less than five hours every day! Akshay Patra programme, which recently got an entry into the Limca Book of Records, owes a lot to its hi-tech and hygienic kitchens. Bangalore has two of these modern, clean and automated kitchens. Foundation representative Rajni R told STOI how the kitchen works: “We run conveyer belts on which boxes are placed. The cooked food is dispensed through taps into the box and then packed by workers with minimal human contact. The utensils are all sterilized and the food is machine-cooked. All the workers wear caps, gloves and boots, which are also sterilized after every use.” “The workers start cooking at 2 am and get the food ready by 7.30 am to dispatch it. The first vehicle leaves the temple premises at 7.30 with a three-item menu — rice, sambhar with vegetables and curd with ingredients added so that the children’s nutrition requirements are met. A nutrition expert’s advice is also taken,” she adds. Mammoth social service Around 150 workers in the Rajajinagar kitchen cook, clean and distribute food. The food, when packed in steel utensils, is at 90 degrees centigrade and served at 60 degrees. “The kitchens of Akshay Patra can cook around 1,00,000 meals in less than five hours. The extensive mechanization of the kitchens offer children standardized, quality and hygienic meals,” says Rajni, adding that the cooked food is distributed to schools through heat-insulated, dust-free, custom-built vehicles. The first kitchen was set up in Bangalore in 2000 at Rajajinagar and six years later at Kanakapura and started giving food to nearby government schools. Those schools witnessed tremendous response as principals acknowledged that student enrolment increased. Seeing this success, the programme was extended to schools in other areas of Bangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Bellary, Mangalore and Mysore in Karnataka. Many places covered Mid-day meals are also provided for children of Jaipur, Nathwara and Baran in Rajasthan, Vrindavan and Mathura in Uttar Pradesh, Puri and Nayagarh in Orissa, Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad in Gujarat, and Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. “The vision is to ensure that no child in India is deprived of education because of hunger. We want to end hunger and create a human resources pool that will propel India into league of developed nations.” Grand plan According to a UNESCO report, around 13.5 million children in the age group of 6-13 years are out of school in India. Despite the country’s stunning economic growth, a large chunk of India’s children does not have access to schools because of poverty and malnutrition. The Foundation is working overtime to eliminate this problem. ON THE MENU Rice, sambhar with vegetables, curd and sweet once a week in southern states including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa Roti, vegetable, pulao and kheer once a week in northern States including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat MEAL IMPACT IN 2006 Increased attendance and enrolment in schools Improved health of those children Enhanced learning abilities Reduced drop-out rates
Manali Kishore
Times of India 4th January 2009 page-4
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is in top 20 of the world
MILLION-DOLLAR tech centre for IISc
Prashanth G N TNN
Bangalore: A multi-million-dollar technology centre for knowledge sciences is set to be Bangalore’s New Year gift. In a collaboration that could be a first, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, the University of California, Santa Cruz and Infosys are in talks to set up a $1-million knowledge sciences research centre at IISc. The $1-million facility will turn into a $10-million one in phases. The brain behind the project is Ram Akella, an IISc alumnus and professor, Tech Services, UC Santa Cruz, who heads a major computer technology centre at the university. Akella told TOI: “We are also in talks with IBM and Yahoo and the government to help us establish the technology centre. Three US varsities will also join us later. Our university-industry-government collaboration could be India’s first.”Akella said he was looking at the centre to create a tranformational impact on knowledge services in India and globally in financial, healthcare, service centre management, CRM and BPO affairs. The centre is also looking at “search technologies and data plus text mining for web and knowledge management”. Akella is very passionate about what IISc should do:“We’ve to innovate and invest by picking new interdisciplinary areas which have societal impact — like Knowledge Sciences (fusing machine learning and data mining with business management), climate change, Earth sciences.” “The integration with international universities and the US industry will enable the institute to develop world-class research capability and achieve major international collaborations and impact,” says Akella. Akella has been to the Ivy leagues such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and to Infosys in India. A model he suggests is the success of Stanford — a university that has been giving rise to some of the finest tech start-ups in the US. In fact, one of the offshoots of the proposed centre is creating new entrepreneurships. “The Society for Innovation and Development has done wonderful work at IISc. We would love to build on this culture. I’ve seen MIT and Harvard. If I look back at what IISc has done and what it can do, I can safely place IISc is in the top 20 of the world.” More muscle to IISc The proposed tech centre will add to the existing research undertaken in the Computer Science Applications Centre and the Supercomputer Education and Research Centre. Together, the three centres can build a culture of IT start-ups similar to the one in Stanford University. Applications in nanotechnology will also be a focus for the new centre as IISc already has a state-of-the-art nano centre coming up.
Times of India Dated15th December 2008 page-5
Prashanth G N TNN
Bangalore: A multi-million-dollar technology centre for knowledge sciences is set to be Bangalore’s New Year gift. In a collaboration that could be a first, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, the University of California, Santa Cruz and Infosys are in talks to set up a $1-million knowledge sciences research centre at IISc. The $1-million facility will turn into a $10-million one in phases. The brain behind the project is Ram Akella, an IISc alumnus and professor, Tech Services, UC Santa Cruz, who heads a major computer technology centre at the university. Akella told TOI: “We are also in talks with IBM and Yahoo and the government to help us establish the technology centre. Three US varsities will also join us later. Our university-industry-government collaboration could be India’s first.”Akella said he was looking at the centre to create a tranformational impact on knowledge services in India and globally in financial, healthcare, service centre management, CRM and BPO affairs. The centre is also looking at “search technologies and data plus text mining for web and knowledge management”. Akella is very passionate about what IISc should do:“We’ve to innovate and invest by picking new interdisciplinary areas which have societal impact — like Knowledge Sciences (fusing machine learning and data mining with business management), climate change, Earth sciences.” “The integration with international universities and the US industry will enable the institute to develop world-class research capability and achieve major international collaborations and impact,” says Akella. Akella has been to the Ivy leagues such as MIT, Harvard, Stanford, and to Infosys in India. A model he suggests is the success of Stanford — a university that has been giving rise to some of the finest tech start-ups in the US. In fact, one of the offshoots of the proposed centre is creating new entrepreneurships. “The Society for Innovation and Development has done wonderful work at IISc. We would love to build on this culture. I’ve seen MIT and Harvard. If I look back at what IISc has done and what it can do, I can safely place IISc is in the top 20 of the world.” More muscle to IISc The proposed tech centre will add to the existing research undertaken in the Computer Science Applications Centre and the Supercomputer Education and Research Centre. Together, the three centres can build a culture of IT start-ups similar to the one in Stanford University. Applications in nanotechnology will also be a focus for the new centre as IISc already has a state-of-the-art nano centre coming up.
Times of India Dated15th December 2008 page-5
