manmohan singh

India is pitching for a consensus among G-20 nations on sharing of tax and banking information with retrospective effect, arguing that it was essential to deal with past cases of tax evasion.Stressing that the era of banking secrecy laws was over, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary R Gopalan said it was vital to build a consensus on sharing of past banking data as it would help in investigation of earlier cases of tax evasion. Full Article

Key Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal, Thursday, sent a cheque of Rs 9.27 lakh – to clear his dues - to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh so that his resignation from the Indian Revenue Service is accepted. In a letter enclosed with the cheque, Kejriwal said that his move to clear the dues does not imply that he was guilty in anyway and that he was clearing the dues in protest. Ideally he should have sent the cheque to the Income Tax department. Full Article

The Government of India today approved the extension of the term of Dr. D. Subbarao as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. Dr. Subbarao’s term has been extended for a period of two years with effect from September 5, 2011 up to September 4, 2013. Full Article

Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh, India, in a goodwill gesture, has allowed zero duty import of vegetables, spices and garments from the neighbouring country, with immediate effect vide Notification No. 60/2011-Customs Dated- 14th July, 2011. However, Bangladesh exporters would enjoy the duty concession only if they dispatch the goods through the land route from Balat-Kalaichar region in Meghalaya for sale in Border Haats. Full Article

– I did not expect the effect of shock injection of liquidity into the system by the United States. I could not anticipate that the Middle East would once again go into turmoil. Commodity prices, food prices, energy prices are variables over which we have no control. And if you exclude these I think the rest of the inflation is still marginally above what would be considered as inflationary. Now we have the no magic wand to bring down international commodity prices –.. Full Article

Amid suggestions for opening up of multi-brand retail for foreign investments, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said discussions were on to further liberalise the FDI policy. 'Discussions are underway to further liberalise the FDI (foreign direct investment) policy,' he said at the annual conference of chief commissioners and directors general of Central Board of Excise and Customs ( CBEC )) at New Delhi. Full Article

Pegging the country's average economic growth rate at 8.5 per cent during the UPA rule so far, the government today said it was determined to take India to the select league of "middle income countries. Full Article

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) will continue to enjoy the power of telephone tapping despite a strong recommendation by a Committee of Secretaries against it following a controversy in the wake of the Niira Radia episode. "The CBDT will continue to have the power of phone tapping subject to certain conditions," an official said. Full Article