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Forgotten Pledges; Broken Dreams – Yehi Hai India!
- Published on 19 August 2017
(Image Courtesy: taxindiaonline.com)
The Prime Minister stated: “this pledge which we have taken today is not to be treated lightly. We lose our self-respect if we fail to live up to ourselves. If we cannot honour our pledge, we cannot do anything. Therefore, we have to take this pledge with full deliberations and with fullest sense of responsibility and to live up to its spirit.”
This is not Rashtra Rishi Narendra Modi reminding masses about the significance of his New India Pledge (NIP) on the Independence Day. It was late Jawaharlal Nehru speaking about sanctity of national solidarity pledge (NSP). He administered NSP to the Nation on National Solidarity day (NSD) on 20th October 1963.
It would not be surprising if hardly anyone within the Government or outside is able to recall either NSP or NSD. It was conceived as resolve/event to be organized on 20th October every year to reaffirm our commitment to learn from our failures in 1962 Indo-China war.
Any entity can today tag NSD label to its event as was done by Indian Medical Association (IMA) that observed NSD on 17th January 2017 to protest increasing attack on healthcare staff.
Even Rashtrapati Bhavan has slipped on NSD. The then President, Pranab Mukherjee in message dated 13th May 2015 to the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Memorial Committee noted that the Committee was “organizing the 40th National Solidarity Day to commemorate the 110th Birth Anniversary of former President of India, Late Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed”.
The sad plight of NSD is equally true of some of the great national pledges taken and forgotten over the decades.
Has ‘Transforming India’ lost its Inspirational Magic?
- Published on 03 August 2017
Image Courtesy: transformingindia.mygov.in
Has #TransformingIndia & its theme song, Mera Desh Badal Raha Hai, Aage Badh Raha Hai, lost its appeal after two year of its launch? How is its fate different from that of a typical bollywood Song? Who, for instance, now sings Choli Ke Peeche Kaya Hai that was once a rage even in Pakistan?
The reason for tossing the issue of projecting growth through propaganda is that this slogan and its theme song was hardly trumpeted during the recent ModiFest. It was organized to celebrate achievements of Modi Government on completion of three years.
ModiFest instead focused on New India with theme song Saath Hai, Vishwaas Ha; Ho Raha Vikas Hai. It appears that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has learnt from history of voters’ fatigue from empty political slogans.
Recall how the slogan ‘India Shining’ backfired on Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government in 2004 Lok Sabha polls. No wonder then that Mr Modi ever recalled ‘An Agenda for A Proud, Prosperous India’ that helped BJP win 1999 Lok Sabha polls to form NDA-I Government. Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s slogan Garibi Hato nowadays invites derision from all.
With such perspective, no analyst has thus raised hackles at the black-out of ‘Transforming India’ from the assumption speech delivered by the new President Ram Nath Kovind.
Multilateral Institutions Target Tax-Corruption Knot
- Published on 28 July 2017
(Image Courtesy: Transparency International)
The ages-old link between tax and corruption is hogging limelight on global platforms. Multilateral institutions are offering new strategies to break the complex nexus between secrecy, fiscal management, corruption and money laundering.
G20 Summit, held recently in Germany, for instance, approved eight principles on countering corruption in Customs. This is in addition to four principles on combating corruption related to ‘Illegal Trade in Wildlife and Wildlife Products’. G20 leaders also approved 14 principles on the ‘Liability of Legal Persons for Corruption’.
According to Lisa Marriott, Associate Professor of Taxation, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, recent events such as the release of the ‘Panama Papers’ have increasingly focused the international community on the connection between tax systems and corruption.
Taking New Zealand as a case study, Marriott focuses on the tax treatment of facilitation payments made to overseas public officials and the tax treatment and disclosure requirements of foreign trusts.
She says: “Facilitation payments made to overseas public officials are deductible for tax purposes in New Zealand. Current practice is showing no sign of change, despite perceptions that this practice denotes a permissive attitude towards corruption and is no longer tolerated in most other comparable tax jurisdictions”.
In a paper released during April 2017, Marriott pointed out that the tax treatment and disclosure requirements of foreign trusts, together with the tax-corruption link in New Zealand, came under gaze after release of the Panama Papers. This event generated international media interest with the suggestion that New Zealand was acting as a tax haven.
Modi Govt Shouldn’t Thump Chest With Conjured or Dubious Data
- Published on 18 July 2017
“7.28 crore youth self-employed under MUDRA loan scheme -that is title of mythological serial beginning today. Scriptwriters may apply”, tweeted ex-Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on 13th July 2017.
He was ridiculing BJP President, Amit Shah’s claim that 7.28 crore people have become self-employed under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) launched in April 2015. Mr. Shah has indeed pulled a rabbit out of his hat. Why his claim is fictitious would become clear later with a quote from an official report.
Ironically, Mr. Shah had last month flaunted a bigger figure on the same matter. He stated: “As many as 7.64 crore youth have got employment through Mudra bank. The loan amount that is disbursed by the bank varies from Rs 10,000 to Rs 10 lakh. These people turned from job seekers to job-generators”.
Textiles Minister Smriti Irani was perhaps the first one to dish out Mudra-linked job statistics. She told a TV channel in May this year that “Over Rs 7 crore people have been given loan under Prime Minister MUDRA Mission. The loans have been given for entrepreneurship and the loans are being paid back. But those people have now been self-employed and probably have given jobs to others too”.