Normally Mr. TVR Shenoy writes tremendous pieces. But his latest seems to be in the “sky is blue” category. Very obvious. Congress has thrown all non Congress UPA allies under the bus when they were found to embroiled in a scam (too many to be specific). However when it comes to their own people, they become defensive and dig their heels even in the face of most damning evidences (letter from the Finance Ministry in the 2G scam). Mr. Contends that Chidambaran is being defended to protect Manmohan Singh. This of course assumes that the decision making responsibility for something (2G project) involving so much money lies with him. That is a fallacy. The last domino is not Manmohan Singh. It is the Congress president because she is the one with all the power. It is there that the buck should stop. Pawns gets sacrificed to protect the important pieces. Raja and Kanimozhi were just that. More important pieces get sacrificed to protect the King and the queen. We all know who is whom in this Shakespearean tragedy.
All the talks of scams is diverting attention from the 800 lb gorilla in the room i.e. the trillion dollar black money in foreign banks. In fact some conspiracy theory aficionado suggested that Anna Hazare was helping the Congress in taking out Baba Ramdev from the protests because he was primarily protesting against the black money abroad. Farfetched as it may be, but the underlying fact cannot be denied which is that no one wants to deal with it. They are finding one way or the other to ignore / avoid it even though those safe haven countries have offered their help in the matter. Even the BJP during their tenure did precious little to get our money back (Yes. It is our i.e. taxpayers money!). Prof. Vaidyanathan of IIM Bangluru has been vociferous on the topic. He has written often and well on the subject. Some point he raises are pretty alarming. If the tax haven countries know about the names of the account holders then foreign secret services can also find it out (How difficult it really is for some outfit like the CIA?). That would make any number of politicians and businessmen susceptible to blackmail. Decisions made by such people could prove to be disastrous for our nation.
In his excellent article on the matter he raises four points about why the black money abroad is bad for our security.
Every two-bit expert on the Indian stock markets knows that our markets are moved by external flows – both inflows and outflows. Such flows may be the ill-gotten wealth of Indians kept abroad in tax havens or domestic funds sent out and brought back to facilitate these activities.
In other words, the destabilisation of our stock markets can be done using the black money in tax havens. The movement of the Sensex may not be related to the performance of our economy but to the actions of these black money holders.
The second concern is: are we adequately sterilised in terms of know your customer (KYC)? This is in the context of the concern expressed by our former National Security Advisor (MK Narayanan) regarding the possibility of terror funds coming through the financial markets.
Third, there is a question-mark about our ability to formulate policies without being blackmailed by foreign governments. For instance, many may not know that De La Rue Giori – the owner of more than 90 percent of the world’s currency printing business in Switzerland – was one of the passengers in the Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar. (Time magazine, 17 January 2000). It is easy to imagine the type of pressure that could have been applied by the Swiss on our government at the time of the hijack.
The fourth issue is about getting arm-twisted in our economic and foreign policy formulations. It is pertinent to note that if the CIA knows about our leaders holding black money in tax havens, then there is a strong possibility that the ISI can also have that data. This is the danger faced by our republic. Our national policies may not be formulated in Delhi, but in Washington or Islamabad – if they have the data and can use it to pressure our leaders.
His third point illustrates how the government’s decision making gets affected by this knowledge. If a party with some semblance of integrity can do what they did under pressure, one can only imagine what a corrupt government like the UPA would do. The implications are far too serious to be ignored. Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev and all those people in whom the aam aadmi has placed his trust need to set aside their differences and egos and strive to solve one of the greatest dangers facing the nation. The Indian press and all the left wing intelligentsia should focus on this topic rather than chasing ghosts in Gujarat.
Prof. Vaidyanathan’s article can be read at:http://www.firstpost.com/politics/who-is-govt-shielding-in-hsbc-liechtenstein-tax-haven-lists-97183.html
The Shenoy article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/column/why-is-the-congress-aggressively-defending-chidambaram/20110929.htm
All the talks of scams is diverting attention from the 800 lb gorilla in the room i.e. the trillion dollar black money in foreign banks. In fact some conspiracy theory aficionado suggested that Anna Hazare was helping the Congress in taking out Baba Ramdev from the protests because he was primarily protesting against the black money abroad. Farfetched as it may be, but the underlying fact cannot be denied which is that no one wants to deal with it. They are finding one way or the other to ignore / avoid it even though those safe haven countries have offered their help in the matter. Even the BJP during their tenure did precious little to get our money back (Yes. It is our i.e. taxpayers money!). Prof. Vaidyanathan of IIM Bangluru has been vociferous on the topic. He has written often and well on the subject. Some point he raises are pretty alarming. If the tax haven countries know about the names of the account holders then foreign secret services can also find it out (How difficult it really is for some outfit like the CIA?). That would make any number of politicians and businessmen susceptible to blackmail. Decisions made by such people could prove to be disastrous for our nation.
In his excellent article on the matter he raises four points about why the black money abroad is bad for our security.
Every two-bit expert on the Indian stock markets knows that our markets are moved by external flows – both inflows and outflows. Such flows may be the ill-gotten wealth of Indians kept abroad in tax havens or domestic funds sent out and brought back to facilitate these activities.
In other words, the destabilisation of our stock markets can be done using the black money in tax havens. The movement of the Sensex may not be related to the performance of our economy but to the actions of these black money holders.
The second concern is: are we adequately sterilised in terms of know your customer (KYC)? This is in the context of the concern expressed by our former National Security Advisor (MK Narayanan) regarding the possibility of terror funds coming through the financial markets.
Third, there is a question-mark about our ability to formulate policies without being blackmailed by foreign governments. For instance, many may not know that De La Rue Giori – the owner of more than 90 percent of the world’s currency printing business in Switzerland – was one of the passengers in the Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar. (Time magazine, 17 January 2000). It is easy to imagine the type of pressure that could have been applied by the Swiss on our government at the time of the hijack.
The fourth issue is about getting arm-twisted in our economic and foreign policy formulations. It is pertinent to note that if the CIA knows about our leaders holding black money in tax havens, then there is a strong possibility that the ISI can also have that data. This is the danger faced by our republic. Our national policies may not be formulated in Delhi, but in Washington or Islamabad – if they have the data and can use it to pressure our leaders.
His third point illustrates how the government’s decision making gets affected by this knowledge. If a party with some semblance of integrity can do what they did under pressure, one can only imagine what a corrupt government like the UPA would do. The implications are far too serious to be ignored. Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev and all those people in whom the aam aadmi has placed his trust need to set aside their differences and egos and strive to solve one of the greatest dangers facing the nation. The Indian press and all the left wing intelligentsia should focus on this topic rather than chasing ghosts in Gujarat.
Prof. Vaidyanathan’s article can be read at:http://www.firstpost.com/politics/who-is-govt-shielding-in-hsbc-liechtenstein-tax-haven-lists-97183.html
The Shenoy article can be read at:http://www.rediff.com/news/column/why-is-the-congress-aggressively-defending-chidambaram/20110929.htm
USA Dollar, Indian Rupee, Stock Market in India, Inflation in India and tax payer's black money parked out side India all are related to each other.Despite booming economy in India inflation is rising in India and that will keep slandered of living lover in particular middle and lower class. Government of India must be accountable for the higher inflation. Stupid Government policy and greedy political leaders as well as corruption in all level robbing Indian every day. USA fed printing Dollars as fast as possible from the thin air and keeping interest rate historical low and still dollar is getting stronger again Indian rupee despite RBI raise the interest rate higher to keep inflation in control, does not make any sense to the common people. Some thing fishy in Indian Government policy. And here the come black money again. Why the government is not taking action again the black money? I am surprised why media is not behind all these important things which affect every Indian every day. But they are behind Narendra Modi every day with tainted Sanjiv Bhatt and Shorabuddin shaikh and all kind a gossip.
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