India will introduce a bill in the monsoon session of parliament that will enable confiscation of illegal money stashed in India by foreigners, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Monday. We will introduce the bill in monsoon session,’ Mukherjee said while addressing a joint press conference with Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) secretary general Angel Gurria.
At a time when the government is accelerating efforts to strengthen the country’s taxation system , India and rich countries’ club OECD will deliberate on challenges to international tax rules on Monday. Co-operation in global tax matters have gained prominence , especially after the G-20 crackdown on tax havens, which are being used to park unaccounted money worth billions of dollars. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will address a seminar on ‘Adapting Tax Systems and International Tax Rules to the New Global Environment: A Shared Challenge for India and OECD’ .
Millions of people suffer from discrimination in the world of work which not only violates a basic human right but has wider social and economic consequences. Discrimination stifles opportunities wasting the human talent needed for economic progress and accentuates social tensions and inequalities. Combating discrimination is an essential part of promoting Decent Work, and success on this front is felt well beyond the workplace.” Shri Prabhat C. Chaturvedi, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment said this while speaking at the 100th session of the International Labour Conference on Friday 10th June, 2011at Geneva.
The meeting of the Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology was held here today to discuss the Mail Network Optimization Project of Department of Posts. In his opening remarks Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister for Communications and Information Technology said that Department of Posts decided to revamp mail operations in line with the international best practices and include a project in the 11th Five Year Plan for consolidation and optimization of the existing mail network. The completion of project would result in improved mail related services to the public.
With a view to providing more operational flexibility to Indian corporates having investments abroad, Reserve Bank of India (‘RBI’) has decided to further liberalize / rationalize the regulations relating to overseas direct investment by Indian parties by making certain changes vide Rationalization (A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 69) dated 27.05.2011.
Amid reports that the government is planning to make tax evasion a criminal offence, a finance ministry official today said it could be done only if the source of income is illegal. But ‘if it is a tax evasion alone, it is a civil offence,’ the official said. He, however, asserted that ‘if there is an element of illegality about the source of income or if funds are used for illegal purpose…we can think of classifying these as criminal tax offences’.
Taking a strong note of State Bank of India’s huge profit erosion for March quarter due to higher provisions, accounting regulator ICAI on Friday said it would send a letter asking the country’s largest lender to explain the reasons for higher provisions for bad loans.
Financial stability is the toughest task for autonomy-less central banker who gets torn between governmental priorities and regulatory overlap, making them look like the mythological Greek character Sisyphus who endlessly rolls up a boulder uphill, only to see it slide back. India had set up the Financial Stability and Development Council after recognising the need for stability, but it needs to establish conventions and practices to prevent its ‘spillover’ into monetary policies, said the Reserve Bank of India Governor Duvvuri Subbarao.
Associated Chambers of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) today said innovative mobile payment system which has mass appeal is required for non-cash payment modes. ,The need of the hour is to develop an innovative mobile payment system which is customised to the Indian ecosystem requirements and has a mass appeal,’ ASSOCHAM Communications Convergence Committee Chairman T V Ramachandran said.
Concerned over the impact of high interest rate on consumer demand, Chief Economic Advisor ( CEA) Kaushik Basu on Friday said the RBI will need to have a re-look at the monetary tightening policy. ‘RBI will have to balance its monetary policy tightening in view of growing concerns, particularly in consumer goods front, where higher interest rates are impacting demand,’ Basu told reporters here.
