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Banks, ATMs Not Running in Muslim Areas Modi a 'Tyrant', - Owaisi

Ministry of Home Affairs
25-July, 2017 17:21 IST
Impact of demonetization on terrorism

As per reports of agencies, the demonetisation of bank notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 denomination resulted in significant positive impact on most theatres of violence in the country.

Since illegally held cash forms the major chunk of terrorist funding, after the demonetisation, most of the cash held with the terrorists turned worthless. Demonetisation also led to instant extinguishment of Pak-printed high quality fake Indian currency notes. It also adversely affected the hawala operators.


As per the data provided by NCRB, the denomination wise fake Indian currency notes seized in J & K after demonetisation i.e. from 09.11.2016 to 14.07.2017 are as under:-


State
Denomination wise FICN seized
Value (Rs.in lakh)
Rs.2000
Rs.1000
Rs.500(New)
Rs.500(Old)


Jammu & Kashmir
98
-
68
60
2.60

This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in a written reply to question by Shri Anandrao Adsul, Shri Chandrakant Khaire, Shri Dharmendra Yadav, Shri Shrirang Appa Barne, Shri Adhalrao Patil Shivajirao and Dr. Pritam Gopinath Munde in the Lok Sabha today.


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Ministry of Finance
01-August, 2017 17:47 IST
Recovery of undisclosed income post demonitization

With a view to curbing financing of terrorism through the proceeds of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) and use of such funds for subversive activities such as espionage, smuggling of arms, drugs and other contrabands into India, and for eliminating black money which casts a long shadow of parallel economy on the real economy, the Government decided to cancel the legal tender character of the high denomination bank notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 issued by the Reserve Bank of India on 8th November 2016.

There was no official estimation of quantum of black money in India. However, post demonetization, the Income Tax Department (ITD) conducted searches in 900 groups of persons during November 2016 to March, 2017 leading to seizure of Rs 900 crores and admission of undisclosed income of Rs 7961 crores. During the same period, 8239 surveys were conducted leading to detection of undisclosed income of Rs 6745 crores. Information of various kinds of wrong-doings by about 400 persons was also shared with other law enforcement agencies such as Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation for appropriate action.

Further, during the current Financial year (01.04.2017 to 30.06.2017) the ITD has conducted searches in 102 groups, seizing assets worth Rs. 103 crore. The persons searched have admitted undisclosed income of Rs. 2670 crore. During the same period surveys conducted in 202 cases (01.04.2017 to 31.05.2017) led to detection of Rs. 150 crore as undisclosed income.

The Department has also launched ‘Operation Clean Money’ on 31st January 2017 with the mission to “create a tax compliant society through a fair, transparent and non-intrusive tax administration where every Indian takes pride in paying taxes”. Broad outcome of the operation so far is as under:

i. About 18 lakh persons whose cash transactions did not appear in line with their tax profile were identified and approached through email/sms.

ii. More than 9.27 lakh responses were received giving information on 13.33 lakh accounts involving cash deposits of around Rs.2.89 lakh crore. Out of this record number of 5.27 lakh responses were received in the first 12 days of the operation.

iii. Advance data analytics tools were deployed which further identified 5.56 lakhs new cases and about 1 lakh those cases in which either partial or no response was received in the earlier phase. Besides, about 200 high risk clusters of persons were identified for appropriate action.

This was stated by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Finance in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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Ministry of Home Affairs
02-August, 2017 16:19 IST
Curtailing money supply to anti-India activists

As per reports of agencies, the demonetization of bank notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 denomination resulted in significant positive impact on most theatres of violence in the country including stone pelting incidents in J&K. Since illegally held cash forms the major chunk of terrorist funding, after the demonetization, most of the cash held with the terrorists turned worthless. Demonetization also led to instant extinguishment of Pak-printed high quality Fake Indian Currency Notes. It also adversely affected the hawala operators.

The decision of the Government to demonetize high denomination notes of Rs.500/- and Rs1000/- caused disconcert among Left Wing Extremism (LWE) formations. LWE cadres tried to minimize their losses by having the money deposited into the accounts of the sympathizers or in the accounts of simple villagers on the basis of threats and coercion. Instances of such efforts of depositing of high denomination currency notes of Rs.500/- and Rs.1000/- worth several lacs by LWE cadres have come to notice in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and specific cases have also been reported. As per inputs, security forces seized nearly Rs.97.75 lakh from various LWE groups in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Telangana during demonetization. Besides, LWE affiliates also undertook protests against the demonetization decision.

The Government has constituted a Combating Financing of Terrorism Cell (CFT Cell) in the Ministry of Home Affairs to coordinate with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental international body dealing with anti-money laundering and CFT issues. National Investigation Agency (NIA) has also constituted a terror funding and fake currency cell to focus on terror funding and fake currency cases. Besides, various agencies such as Financial Intelligent Unit and regulatory and enforcement agencies under the Ministry of Finance keep a check on the inflow of foreign funds. In addition to above, a surveillance mechanism has been put in place by the State Government to check cases relating to foreign and suspicious funding, including Hawala and cases under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in a written reply to question by Shri Kiranmay Nanda in the Rajya Sabha today.



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New Delhi/Srinagar, August 16, 2017 10:05 IST
Updated: August 16, 2017 21:06 IST

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...-in-kashmir/article19501219.ece?homepage=true

Sweep covers separatists, hawala operators suspected in ‘terror funding’ case

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday raided multiple locations in Srinagar, Baramulla and Kupwara in connection with the ongoing probe into the alleged ‘terror funding’ to create ‘unrest’ in the Kashmir Valley.

“The NIA conducted searches at 12 locations belonging to separatists and hawala operators in Kashmir Valley in connection with the Kashmir terror funding case. The locations are spread over Srinagar, Handwara, Kupwara and Pulwama,” an NIA spokesperson said.

An official in Srinagar said the driver, Ghulam Nabi, and three houses of the relatives of businessman Zahoor Watali, brother of former inspector general of police Ali Muhammad Watali, were raided in Srinagar and different localities of Tangmarg, Baramulla.

Watali’s Srinagar house was first raided by the NIA on June 3 and he was questioned in the money laundering case.

“A house belonging to Shafi Reshi, advocate and premises related to Zahoor Watali were searched by the NIA teams and a lot of incriminating material, suspect financial records and property-related documents and electronic devices including mobile phones, pen drives and hard drives have been seized during the searches. Some of the documents seized relate to receipt of money from suspect foreign sources and distribution of money so received to certain persons in Kashmir valley,” said the NIA spokesperson.

He said searches are continuing and the suspects are being questioned about the incriminating recoveries made from them.

Mr. Reshi is uncle of ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLC Yasir Reshi. The NIA officials searched the house for several hours.

Most lawyers in Srinagar courts boycotted work to protest against the NIA raids on Mr. Reshi, who is considered close to Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Geelani.

In Kupwara, the NIA sleuths raided the house of a student in Machipora of Handwara. The student is pursuing MBBS from Pakistan.

Two other residences of local businessmen in Handwara’s Bakhiaker area were also raided.

One accountant of a private plywood company was also questioned.


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http://www.thehindu.com/business/Ec...shell-firms/article19502714.ece?homepage=true

Nearly 200,000 shell companies shut, more targeted; hundreds of shell firms located in Kolkata; database being assembled to nail down beneficiaries.


When Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned high-denomination currency bills in a surprise move on November 8, 2016, authorities noticed a surge in shell companies depositing cash in banks, seemingly in a bid to hide who owned that wealth.

The moment, said a top aide to Mr. Modi, was an eye-opener for the government, which had not realised just how much shell companies were being used to hide assets and launder money.

Mr. Modi’s office has formed a team of top law enforcement and revenue officials to go after such companies, according to the aide and a government memo reviewed by Reuters.

In July 2017, the authorities ordered nearly 200,000 shell companies to be shut down, and the aide said the government is examining hundreds of thousands more.

The systematic crackdown on shell companies — which have no active business operations or assets — is perhaps one of the most tangible outcomes of demonetisation, which aimed to hit tax evasion and move India toward cashless, digital transactions that leave a paper trail.

“We are very much at war against black money. The impact of this (crackdown) will be huge on shell companies,” the aide, who cannot be named in line with government rules, told Reuters.

In his Independence Day address on August 15, 2017, Mr. Modi claimed credit for going after these companies, and warned that “looters of the nation’s wealth will have to answer”.

While the move to withdraw 85% of bank notes shook the economy and was widely criticised, the fight against unaccounted wealth carries overwhelming support from ordinary Indians who often have to pay bribes for government services.


Lalbazar Street, Kolkata
INDIA-CORRUPTIONCOMPANIES

Shops and houses are pictured inside the Mercantile office building at 9/12, Lalbazar Street in Kolkata on August 14, 2017. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

A high-level task force leading the investigation has found hundreds of shell companies are registered in a few buildings in the eastern city of Kolkata, according to the government note reviewed by Reuters.

More than 400 companies listed their address in a dimly-lit colonial-era building at 9/12 Lalbazar Street.

In its warren of offices were firms offering services such as earthmoving equipment, infrastructure financing, information technology consultants and many others which had office space the size of cubicles.

Many were locked, with their padlocks coated in dust. Others were grimy residential quarters with laundry hanging from the windows.

Data separately provided by Tofler, a company information database service, identified nearly 3,000 companies in two offices in the building. Some were named after flowers.

A tax inspector said the Kolkata firms were a virtual money laundering industry and drew a parallel to the Panama legal firm Mossack Fonseca that emerged from obscurity last year after the leak of millions of documents from its offices that illustrated how the wealthy use offshore corporations to avoid taxes.

“The Kolkata industry does the work of obfuscating money trails. Kolkata companies are a huge network that take your money from one end and bring it out the other,” said the inspector, who didn’t want to be identified as he’s not authorised to talk to the media.

Fraud and embezzlement
INDIA-CORRUPTIONCOMPANIES2

A man goes down the stairs inside the Mercantile office building at 9/12, Lalbazar Street, in Kolkata on August 14, 2017. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The shell companies support much of the fraud and embezzlement in India, tax authorities say.

The owners of these companies create elaborate smokescreens, including naming personal servants and chauffeurs as board directors, the tax inspector said, adding they are used to obscure the ultimate beneficiaries, conceal political investment, route money to evade tax, commit fraud or manipulate tenders.

Last week, the Securities Exchange Board of India imposed trading restrictions on 162 listed entities as shell companies as part of its broader crackdown on illegal offshore transfers and tax evasion.

Several firms identified in the list of front companies have challenged the decision, saying they were engaged in legitimate business.

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office is creating a database of shell companies, and has so far identified 114,269 as front firms.

The database contains details of those involved in the shell company ‘ecosystem’, from those who set up the companies to the beneficiaries of laundered money and the professional mediators who bring the operators and beneficiaries together, the government note said.

More than 370 front companies were listed at 23A Netaji Subhash Road, another site in Kolkata, according to the note.

Sujit Kumar Mukherjee, the secretary of the 23A Tenants Association, said he was not in a position to say if there were front firms operating from the building. “It is very difficult to say who is doing what behind the front door,” he said.

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New Delhi, August 16, 2017 21:31 IST
Updated: August 16, 2017 21:32 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...got-figures-asks-congress/article19503992.ece

PM had cited demonetisation amount during his Independence Day speech.
The Congress on Wednesday questioned the figures cited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech on the money that came in post-demonetisation.

Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad expressed surprise that Mr. Modi was able to quote the cash amount even though the Reserve Bank of India had said it had not yet finished counting the money.

“The PM said ₹3 lakh crore came back to the banking system post-demonetisation. The RBI has not finished counting yet, how did the PM get this figure?” he asked.

Black money
On Tuesday, Mr. Modi had addressed the nation, praising the note ban decision taken by his government to crack down on black money and corruption. He had said, “According to research conducted by outside experts, about ₹3 lakh crore that had never come into the banking system before, has been brought into the system after demonetisation.” Yet, oddly, Mr Azad said, the RBI is yet to announce how much money flowed into the banks post-demonetisation announced on November 9, 2016 as it is still in the process of counting.

Lashing out at the Prime Minister on his message of uniting India, Mr. Azad said that he would be better served if he told the RSS not to break India: India is already united, he stressed.

PM keh rahe hain Bharat jodo, par Bharat pehle se hi juda hua hai, PM ko sangh ke logon se kehna chahiye ke Bharat mat todo. [The PM is saying that India needs to unite, when it is already united, PM should tell the people from Sangh that do not break India],” he said.

Referring to the deaths of more than 60 children at Baba Raghav Das Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur, located in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Azad expressed surprise that the Prime Minister had, in his speech, included it as a natural calamity whereas it was a man-made calamity.

Stressing that the truth would never come out if the investigations take place under Prime Minister Modi’s supervision, he demanded that a sitting judge of the Supreme Court should be appointed to head the inquiry.

CM’s address
Mr. Azad also said that Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar’s Independence Day address was not broadcast on Doordarshan and All India Radio as his speech did not include the achievements of the Modi government, adding that an undeclared emergency had been imposed on radio, television and newspapers.
 
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If you don't want to buy into his argument, that is fine but let me tell you that muslim dominated areas in hyderabad haven't been getting enough cash as compared to other areas...

Just don't deposit your cash earnings in banks and use it for daily expenses. Banks will be cash starved if people stop depositing their cash in banks.
 
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Just don't deposit your cash earnings in banks and use it for daily expenses. Banks will be cash starved if people stop depositing their cash in banks.
That was always the case until demonitization happened. During demonitization everyone was forced to deposit cash and then got starved for new currency.
 
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Shemin Joy, DH News Service, New Delhi, Aug 17 2017, 20:56 IST
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/628547/kashmiri-businessman-arrested-terror-funding.html

A day after conducting fresh raids in Kashmir, the National Investigation Agency on Thursday arrested businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali in connection with the terror funding case.

The arrest came a day after searches at multiple locations in Srinagar, Handwara, Kupwara and Baramulla belonging to the relatives and employees of Watali.

The NIA claimed the searches have unearthed "highly incriminating material pertaining to receipt of funds" by Watali from foreign sources and its further distribution to terrorists and separatists in Kashmir valley for anti-India activities.

Watali was arrested following his questioning by the NIA investigators in Delhi after the seizure of "incriminating financial transaction details and property-related records" during the searches. Watali, who belongs to Srinagar, is accused of routing funds sourced from Pakistan to top Kashmiri separatists.

The NIA had on June 3 also searched Watali's house in Srinagar and seized documents pertaining to several financial transactions and land deals. The property documents seized have shown a huge amount of cash transactions in sale and purchase, an NIA statement said.

Watali is "suspected of acting as a conduit for illegally remitting funds to the secessionists, terrorists and stone-pelters", it said.

He was earlier arrested in 1990 by the Jammu and Kashmir Police when some anti-India elements activists were found present in his house at Bagat Barzulla in Srinagar. "He was taken into custody along with Yaseen Malik, Sajjad Gani Lone, Bilal Lone and others and was jailed for eight months at Jammu," the statement said.

In 2009, he was accused of illegal encroachment of land and assault and a case was registered against him. However, as per the orders of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court last June, the investigation of the case has been stayed.

Watali was also accused of travelling on an invalid passport "despite having full knowledge of its being invalid/cancelled".

The NIA said instead of surrendering the cancelled passport, he travelled abroad using it in March last year in violation of the law. When he tried to do so again, his invalid passport was seized in Delhi by the authorities.

The agency had registered a case on May 30 against the separatist and secessionist leaders, including members of the Hurriyat Conference, who have been acting in connivance with active militants of proscribed terrorist organisations HM, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and other outfits and gangs.
 
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Ministry of Finance
18-August, 2017 19:37 IST
Clarification regarding number of Taxpayers added after Demonetization

Various news reports/articles have appeared in the media regarding inconsistency in the estimates of the number of taxpayers added after demonetization. It has been commented that the following different figures have been given at different forums by different authorities:

(i) The Prime Minister mentioned in his Independence Day speech that additional 56 lakh people filed Personal Income Tax Returns from 1st April to 5th August, 2017. Last year for the same period, the figure was 22 lakh.

(ii) The Economic Survey Vol.2 released on August 12, 2017 mentions that 5.4 lakh new taxpayers were added post demonetization.

(iii) On May 17, 2017, the Finance Minister stated that 91 lakh taxpayers have been added to the tax net as a result of action taken by the Income Tax Department.

(iv) In reply to Unstarred Question No. 2017 in Rajya Sabha on 01.08.2017, it was stated that 33 lakh new taxpayers have been added to the tax net post demonetization.

It is clarified that there is no inconsistency in the data provided by the Government in the statements referred to above as these are in different contexts and for different time periods. The detailed clarification on each of the above numbers is as under:

(a) The Prime Minister’s speech referred to the increase in number of e-filed Personal Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed from 1st April, 2017 to 5th August, 2017 over the ITRs filed in corresponding period of earlier years. The data maintained by the IT Department shows that during 1st April, 2017 to 5th August, 2017, 2.79 crore e-returns of Individual taxpayers were received as against 2.23 crore e-returns received during 1st April, 2016 to 5th August, 2016. Thus, the additional ITRs received in 2017 works out to be 56 lakh. During the same period of 2015, 2.00 crore e-returns were received, meaning thereby, that in 2016, only 22 lakh (rounded off)) additional e-returns were received by the due date of filing. This data has already been put in public domain by CBDT’s Press Release dated 7th August, 2017.

(b) The analysis given in Table-6 on page 22 of the Economic Survey (Vol.2) is based on the data for the period of 9th November to 31st March of 2016-17 and corresponding periods of last two financial years. Moreover, the growth in the number of taxpayers discussed in the Economic Survey is based on the number of new taxpayers assuming the previous year’s growth rate as the reference growth rate. On the other hand, the growth of Individual return-filers referred to in PM’s speech is with respect to new as well as old taxpayers. Thus, the data used in Economic Survey is different from data referred to in PM’s speech in respect of the period of filing as well as the type of taxpayers and the two are not comparable.

(c) The statement of the Finance Minister regarding addition of 91 lakh taxpayers to the tax-base referred to the total number of new returns filed during the entire financial year 2016-17 and therefore, it is neither comparable to the data in PM’s speech nor with the data in Economic Survey (different period and different type of taxpayers).

(d) The reply to Unstarred Question No. 2017 in Rajya Sabha on 01.08.2017 mentioned that during 09.11.2016 to 31.03.2017 the number of ITRs filed was 1.96 crore as against 1.63 crore filed during the corresponding period of last financial year (2015-16). Therefore, number of additional returns filed during this period works out to be 33 lakh. However, this data cannot be compared with the other data mentioned above. The data referred to in Economic Survey is with regard to new taxpayers or first-time return filers only whereas the data provided in the Rajya sabha Question was in respect of all returns filed.

From the 1st of April to 5th August, 2017, 2.79 crore returns have been filed by Individual taxpayers as against 2.23 crore returns filed during corresponding period of last year. The number is expected to further rise significantly as many more taxpayers are still to file their returns.

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Jaitley1


Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at the cabinet briefing in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: V.V Krishnan

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...f-money-says-arun-jaitley/article19588738.ece

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the objective of demonetisation was not confiscation of money. His comments came in the backdrop of the Reserve Bank of India releasing its annual report, which for the first time mentioned the details of demonetised currency that came back to the central bank since November 2016.

The objective of demonetisation was digitisation and curbing terror finance, said the Finance Minister, who met the press for the second time on Wednesday. “India is predominantly high cash economy therefore that scenario requires to be significantly altered,” Mr. Jaitley said adding: The direct tax base has expanded, so has the Indirect Tax base, that was the prime objective of demonetisation.”

“There are more taxpayers, more tax base, more digitisation, lesser cash in the system, integration of formal economy with the informal economy, which was also a principal objective of demonetisation,” Mr. Jaitley said.

“Demonetisation has also squeezed the flow of cash into terror activities and stone throwing, as can be seen in Chhattisgarh and Kashmir,” he said.

Taking a dig at opposition parties, which have dubbed the note ban a failure, Mr. Jaitley said, “Some have commented that the only objective of demonetisation was to keep money out of the system. Those who never fought against black money were perhaps not clear about the objective of demonetisation.”

Suddenly, the GST target surpassed in first month, income tax returns have gone up. So clearly white money transactions have gone up In the economy, Mr. Jaitley said. “That people have been compelled to deposit even black money into banks is itself a good evidence of the success.”

Mr. Jailey said the government’s next step will be to put an end to black money used in elections.
 
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Ministry of Finance
31-August, 2017 16:52 IST
Impact of Demonetisation on Black Money, Widening of Tax Base and Direct Tax Collections

The Government of India launched a concerted drive against black money with Demonetisation being an important step in that direction. Among the main objectives of Demonetisation was the flushing out of black money and also conversion of the non-formal economy into a formal economy to expand the tax base. The impact of Demonetisation on black money, widening of tax base and Direct Tax Collections is summed up hereunder:

A. Impact on black money:

Quantum jump in Enforcement actions based on Demonetisation data:

Searches

· 158% increase in number of searches (from 447 to 1152 groups)

· 106% increase in seizures (from Rs. 712 crore to Rs.1469 crore)

· 38% increase in admission of undisclosed income (from Rs.11,226 crore to Rs. 1,54,96 crore)

Surveys

· 183% increase in surveys (from 4422 to 12520)

· 44% increase in undisclosed income detected (from Rs. 9654 crore to Rs. 13920 crore)

Operation Clean Money:

The Income Tax Department launched ‘Operation Clean Money’(OCM) on 31st January, 2017 to analyse the data of the persons who deposited large sums of cash and whose returns of income were not in sync with such deposits.

Phase 1:

· In the first phase of OCM, 18 lakh suspect cases were identified through use of data analytics where cash transactions did not appear to be in line with the tax profile of depositors.

· Online verification in these cases was enabled and done in a record time of 4 weeks.

· The success of the first phase was also attributable to the massive taxpayers’ awareness and media campaigns on Operation Clean Money launched by the Department.

· The scale of the Operation may be gauged from the fact that response of 9.72 lakh persons in respect of 13.33 lakh accounts involving cash deposits of around Rs.2.89 lakh crore, as per pre-defined parameters on sources of the cash deposits was captured by the Income Tax Department within a short span of 3-4 weeks. Online queries were raised in more than 35000 cases and online verification was completed in more than 7800 cases.

Phase 2:

· The Operation Clean money has since moved into the next phase that includes enforcement actions in high risk cases, taxpayer engagement through a dedicated website in medium risk cases and close monitoring in low risk cases.

· The high, medium and low risk cases have been identified through use of advanced data analytics, including integration of data sources, relationship clustering and fund tracking.

· The exercise has also unearthed large number of persons and clusters having suspect transactions. These include about 14,000 properties of more than Rs.1 crore each where persons have not even filed Income Tax Returns. The investigations are in progress.

B. Impact on Widening of Tax-base:

· The number of e-returns of Individual taxpayers filed till 5th August, 2017 (due date of filing) increased to 2.79 crore from 2.22 crore returns filed during the corresponding period of last year, registering an increase of about 57 lakh returns (25.3%). This shows marked improvement in the level of voluntary compliance as a result of action taken by the Income Tax Department on the basis of data of cash deposits in the wake of demonetization.

· The total number of all returns (electronic + paper) filed during the entire Financial Year 2016-17 was 5.43 crore which is 17.3% more than the returns filed during FY 2015-16.

· For FY 2016-17, 1.26 crore new taxpayers (return filers + non-filers making tax payments) were added to the tax base (till 30.06.2017).

C. Impact on Direct Tax Collections:

The effect of Demonetization is also clearly visible in the growth in Direct Tax Collections. Collection of Advance Tax under Personal Income Tax (i.e. other than Corporate Tax) as on 05.08.2017 showed a growth of about 41.79% over the corresponding period in F.Y. 2016-2017. Collection of Self-Assessment Tax under Personal Income Tax showed a growth of 34.25% over the corresponding period in F.Y. 2016-2017.


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http://www.thehindu.com/business/Ec...ays-jaitley/article19592548.ece?homepage=true


“The fact that money got deposited in banks doesn’t make it legitimate money,” the Union Finance Minister says.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the fallout of demonetisation was on predicted lines and the economy will benefit in medium and long term.

A day after the Reserve Bank said that almost all of the demonetised currency came back into the system, Mr. Jaitley said the fact that money got deposited in banks does not mean that all of it is legitimate money.


“It’s nobody’s case that black money has been completely eliminated after demonetisation,” he said.

He said demonetisation, coupled with GST, will give a “significant boost” to direct tax revenues as many people have come under the tax net.

Although an overwhelming amount of money was deposited in banks it is not a concern for the government as it is good for the economy that more money has come into the formal system.

“The fallout of demonetisation is on predicted lines ...the fact that money got deposited in banks doesn’t make it legitimate money,” he said, adding the country was ready for demonetisation even though there was political resistance.

The RBI on Wednesday said about 99 per cent of ₹ 15.44 lakh crore demonetised currency came back into the system.

On the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Jaitley said its inflationary impact has been avoided and there is a scope of convergence of tax rates going forward.

The minister also said that consolidation of PSU banks is on cards as the country needs “fewer but stronger banks”.

On bad loans, he said that resolution will take time.

“You can’t have a surgical solution to it”, he said, adding that if private sector cannot pay back its debts then someone else should be allowed to take over.

The RBI has already recommended banks to initiate insolvency proceedings against 12 large defaulters.
 
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http://www.deccanherald.com/content/632794/shell-cos-crackdown-govt-disqualify.html

Press Trust of India, New Delhi, Sep 12 2017, 18:44 IST
632794_thump.jpg

PP Chaudhary said that the removal of shell companies is essential to the fight against black money.

More than 1.06 lakh directors will be disqualified for their association with shell companies, according to the government, as it steps up the fight against black money.

The latest move comes close on the heels of the corporate affairs ministry cancelling the registration of 2.09 lakh companies that have not been carrying out business activities for a long period.

Besides, banks have been asked to restrict operations of these companies' bank accounts by their directors or their authorised representatives.

The ministry has "identified 1,06,578 directors for disqualification under Section 164(2)(a) of the Companies Act, 2013 as on September 12, 2017," an official release said.

Under Section 164, a director in a company that has not filed financial statements or annual returns for three financial years continuously would not be eligible for re- appointment in that company or any other firm for five years.


Signalling that more regulatory action is expected, the ministry is further analysing the data of the 2.09 lakh firms available with the Registrar of Companies (RoCs) to identify the directors and the significant beneficial interests behind these entities.

"Profiles of directors such as their background, antecedents and their role in the operations/functioning of these companies are also being compiled in collaboration with the enforcement agencies," the release said.

Further, money laundering activities performed under the aegis of these companies are also under the scanner, it said.

The ministry, which is implementing the companies law, has also identified professionals, chartered accountants, company secretaries and cost accountants associated with the defaulting companies.

Besides, such people "involved in illegal activities have been identified in certain cases and the action by professional institutes such as ICAI, ICSI and ICoAI is also being monitored".

"The fight against black money shall be incomplete without breaking the network of shell companies. Possibility of using the shell companies for laundering the black money cannot be undermined," Minister of State for Corporate Affairs P P Chaudhary said.

According to the release, there are about 11 lakh companies with active status after deregistration of over 2.09 lakh firms.

The minister is also monitoring the situation emerging out of cancellation of registration of the companies and is holding regular meetings with officials of the ministry and various related organisations.


These include Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), ROCs, Department of Financial Services, Indian Banks Association and other departments involved in the crackdown against defaulting companies.

"The disqualification under Section 164 of the Act is by operation of law. We are identifying the defaulting directors of these shell companies. My officers have assured me that by the end of this month, we would be ready with the relevant details of all defaulting directors of these shell companies," the minister said.

He also said that the whole exercise would go a long way in creating an atmosphere of confidence and faith in the system paving the way for ease of doing business in India.
 
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...ed-currency-seized-2-held/article19679088.ece

14VJCURRENCYSEIZED

Smart work: Rajamahendravaram Urban SP B. Rajakumari displaying the seized currency. | Photo Credit: S_RAMBABU

‘It is meant to be routed to NRIs through middlemen’

The Urban police on Wednesday seized ₹1.94 crore worth demonetised currency and arrested two persons belonging to Tadepalligudem of West Godavari district.

Addressing the media, urban police district Superintendent of Police B. Rajakumari said the police, on a tip-off, raided a house on J.N. Road and arrested Vanga Durga Sridhar (40) and Kodavati Eswara Rao (35). They also seized bundles of ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes of the banned currency. They accused allegedly said they wanted to exchange demonetised currency with new currency on 25% commission basis. The SP said the duo had connections with two persons in the city — Bobby and Shyam — who along with three others were at large. “The accused said that the gang wants to give the demonetised currency to NRIs through middlemen, as NRIs are still having provision to exchange the demonetised currency through RBI,” the SP said. The police team seized two cars which were used by the accused and booked cases under Section 5 and 7 of specified bank notes (cessation of liabilities).
 
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The issue came to light after officials of Kotak Mahindra Bank reported that such devices were found at the bank’s ATM on MG Road.

http://indianexpress.com/article/in...rnataka-cyber-crime-unit-kotak-mahindra-bank/

A Hungarian and a Romanian national have been arrested in Bengaluru on suspicion of rigging several ATMs by cloning debit cards of unsuspecting users by planting devices such as card skimmers and pin cameras at several kiosks in the city. The arrested duo, the police said, have confessed to being part of an organised gang working with a UK-based operator.


Karnataka CID’s cyber crime unit identified the two as Dan Sabin Christian (40) of Romania and Mare Janos (44) of Hungary. They arrived on a tourist visa on September 1 and were scheduled to leave for the UK on September 19, the police said. They have travelled to the US, Mexico, Jamaica, France and Argentina, among other countries, in recent past.


They were arrested this week.

Officials said they have found that Christian and Janos planted devices at five ATMs on eight occasions in the central business district and once at the international airport. The issue came to light after officials of Kotak Mahindra Bank reported that such devices were found at the bank’s ATM on MG Road.

Based on CCTV footage, further probe found that similar equipment was installed at the international airport’s ATM. Police laid a trap for the suspects and waited for them to come to retrieve the devices.

“The duo brought sophisticated equipment and planted it in ATMs to gather data of as many ATM users as possible to later monetise it,” CID Director General H C Kishore Chandra said. Christian and Janos were earlier caught in Jamaica for a similar offence, he said. “No money has been stolen with the data theft in Bengaluru,” CID Additional DGP Prathap Reddy said. The CID will initiate proceedings against the gang’s main operators through the Interpol, he said.
 
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