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India faces acid test on BEPS after G20 declaration
- Published on 18 December 2013
INDIA would have to subject itself to an acid test on countering Base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) over the next two years after having committed to an action plan on this count as a G20 country. It is easy to sign a declaration at an international event. It is, however, difficult for India to unwind tax incentives without risking reduction in inflow of fresh foreign investments and flight of existing portfolio investments. This explains why India has been making half-hearted efforts since 1995 to convince Mauritius to amend the bilateral Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC).
Like Dalits, Infrastructure reforms suffer for want of escape velocity
- Published on 11 December 2013
CBI, from being caged parrot to wingless wonder, gasps for legal bail-out
- Published on 22 November 2013
THE Government has been taking in stride the stinging observations from the judiciary on the functioning of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in recent years till the other day.
In April last year, Rajasthan High Court reportedly observed: "The aims and objectives with which CBI was established have beencompromised and the CBI is proving counterproductive to these objects and it is high time when the agency needs to be shut down."
Suicidal UPA botched CAG probe into Coalgate
- Published on 01 September 2012
HALF-KNOWLEDGE is dangerous. So is suppression of facts. An amalgam of these two developments in the Coalgate has distorted the entire debate over the row. Unfortunately, all debate participants – UPA Government, the Opposition parties, the mainstream media and Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG ) ha vecontributed to confusingbabble . Thus, falsehood, half-truths, plain ignorance and mix-up of private gains (computed by CAG) and loss (invented by ignorant ones) have vitiated the democratic conflict resolution process.
The discourse has overshadowed the fact that the Government has already sown statutory seeds for more Coalgates in future! And this issue has escaped the notice of CAG. UPA Government's proposed coal auction blocks policy is fundamentally flawed as we will discuss later.