Kishores

Anthology 2011

2011-09-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

New Asian Writing is publishing Anthology 2011.
Please follow the link to read Subhashree Kishore's short story.

‘Regia Aqua’ by Subhashree Kishore (India)

Short story selected for the 2011 New Asian Writing Short Story Anthology Chitra stepped out of the car. She wore her Indianess well – a bejeweled silk saree and diamonds. She was wont to protest her global visage or Americaness....

Read more »
http://www.new-asian-writing.com/?paged=3

Indian Voices - Indian Launch

2011-05-03T21:37:00.000-07:00

Short story

2011-04-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Subhashree Kishore's short story "Regia Aqua" has been selected for anthology to be published by New Asian Writing later this year. Right now it is e-published and can be seen at

http://www.new-asian-writing.com/?p=547

Article in Taxindiaonline.com

2011-04-30T08:31:00.000-07:00

For those who missed out reading my budget article, the following link can be pasted to go thru the same

http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=12195

2011-03-29T23:04:00.001-07:00

SUBHASHREE KISHORE INVITES
YOU TO ATTEND THE BOOK LAUNCH
OF INDIAN VOICES, VOLUME ONE (includes Subhashree Kishore's short story "Batter and Trade")
and
HEARTS & SOULS BY LEOPOLDO PARADELA

SUPERMARKET ART BAR,
268, AUGUSTA AVENUE,TORONTO M5T 2L9, CANADA
AT 7.00 P.M, ON 7TH APRIL, 2011

“Indian Voices Volume One,” provides a continuing newness, a renewed vision of words and history and makes all of it accessible well beyond the confines of India. Contained in the pages of this anthology is an amazing repertoire of prose and poetry penned by those of Indian descent who are living in different corners of the world. Sixty Six authors from 16 countries bring to life the unique characteristics and myriad feelings associated with this unpredictable, pulsating and colourful country.

Published by: 42bookz, India
www.42bookz.com
Project Manager : Trade Architects (Canada) Inc.
Editor : Dr. Jasmine D’Costa
Guests of Honour : Ms. Preeti Saran, Consul General of India in Toronto, and Ambassador Afonso Cardozo, Consul General of Brazil in Toronto

Project Manager:
Trade Architects (Canada) Inc.
WWW.TRADEARCHITECTS.COM

LIVE MUSIC PROVIDED BY MARK SEPIC AND GANG .
A FUSION OF BRAZILIAN AND INDIAN PERCUSSION WILL BE PERFORMED

Elections in T.N.

2011-03-28T01:59:00.000-07:00

T.N. Elections – Rule by beggars, of beggars
Another round of great victory for democracy is round the corner. A few states including Tamil Nadu are going to polls for State Assembly in April. There is a savage rush between the two Dravidian parties to make the list of freebies that will be offered to the general populace, endless.

Both the parties could not provide drinking water to citizens of the State capital despite being in power for almost 50 years now. About the roads – the less said the better. It is easier to mention how many hours you get electricity daily rather than lament about load shedding. With hundreds of professional colleges churning out engineers and other professionals in thousands every year, under-employment has been rampant. That agriculture has ceased to be a sector providing employment is a long story.

The parties which profess to have their genesis in self-respect movement, have destroyed self-respect of everybody in the State. Instead of giving jobs to jobless so that they can earn their T.V., mixie, grinder, etc., the parties are bent on throwing alms to the ‘self-respecting’ people of the State. The beggars of vote know only how to reduce others to begging – they are just doing that.

It is for the people to stand up and reject the alms and instead, demand water, roads, education, toilet, transport, power, safety and the like. Nothing can come free – everything has to be earned. The freebies today will be liabilities of next generation and they will be taxed heavily and through novel methods like GST. And those will be termed as reforms. We shall be listening to these stories as well but will never learn.

Indian Voices Vol 1 is now available

2011-01-23T05:07:00.000-08:00

Indian Voices is a heart-stirring compilation. An amazing repertoire of prose and poetry penned by Indians from different corners of the world brings to life the unique characteristics and myriad feelings associated with this pulsating and colorful country.

Indian Voices provides a continuing newness, a renewed vision of words and history, and makes all of it accessible well beyond the confines of India. It is a captivating affair which takes charge of the reader and lingers long in the mind, allowing imagination to rule. We invite you to join this soul-stirring journey. Read Subhashree Kishore's short story "Batter and Trade" - we await your critical review.

Check out Indian Voices Volume One : 42bookz.com

2011-01-23T04:43:00.001-08:00

Check out Indian Voices Volume One : 42bookz.com

Letter to the Editor

2010-11-24T22:33:00.000-08:00

Radia tapes
The transcripts of the conversations between Ms Radia and editors, reporters and politicians, do not per se point to any unethical practice. Flaunting political connections for cultivating and nurturing sources, and fishing for information can be cited as professional prerequisites by the media. But what is worrisome is the involvement of corporate lobbyists in Cabinet formation and portfolio allocation. That a few journalists cross the Lakshman Rekha and allow themselves to be used by politicians and lobbyists for building bridges between political parties is a matter of serious concern. The line between information seeking and influence peddling gets blurred by such acts. The media are already under fire in the paid news controversy. The Radia tapes episode has further eroded their credibility.

G. Gokul Kishore,

Bangalore

Mass and inertia

2010-11-16T01:10:00.000-08:00

Mass and inertia
The moment of inertia of an object about a given axis describes how difficult it is to change its angular motion about that axis. Therefore, it encompasses not just how much mass the object has overall, but how far each bit of mass is from the axis. The farther out the object's mass is, the more rotational inertia the object has, and the more force is required to change its rotation rate.

Rodeo is a sporting event that consists of events that horses and other livestock designed to test the skill and speed of the human cowboy and cowgirl athletes who participate. Professional rodeos generally comprise the following events: tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling, saddle bronc riding, bareback bronc riding, bull riding and barrel racing.

Rodeo provoked opposition from animal rights and animal welfare advocates, who argue that various competitions constitute animal cruelty. The American rodeo industry has made progress in improving the welfare of rodeo animals, with specific requirements for veterinary care and other regulations that protect rodeo animals.

NONE OF THE ABOVE MAKES SENSE.

Yes, to those of us who believe in a civilised society comprising of intelligent human beings, the rodeo show that is television with constantly changing slides only evokes revulsion. To make it to the news headlines and establish some form of contact with public opinion, you need certain number – either people have to die in sufficient numbers or the scam has to reach a particular quantum. It is a critical mass without which there is blessed inertia all around. We continue to derive all happiness with the thought of our progress - in terms of number of cellphone users, sensex figures, medical advances, etc.

The spread of microfinance institutions did not attract attention till vast sums of money surrounded it. Even then it was hailed as a saviour of the poor. Servicing rural areas was decried as a money drainer for public banks. Tears were shed over the fact that policy decisions forced banks to sweat it out in places where people had to be educated in banking and pulled out of the clutches of money lenders. Microfinance institutions had innovated enough to make this a profitable sector! WOW!

Only the innovation was old than the system of money lending. Exorbitant interest combined with god-fearing, law-abiding, semi-knowledgeable borrowers. Unlike jet-setting CEOs who could order governments to fill individual coffers with taxpayers’ money, the poor borrowers chose death. Now of course there is some hand wringing and talks of doing something.

One of the participants in a reality show which makes a mockery of the judiciary (of course no one thought of it that way - it was after all entertaining and meant to be non-serious) - died. Everyone had volumes to speak on how bad and how many sleazy, silly shows were being aired. We need not however fear that there will be any stifling of the media. The fourth estate in all its ignominy must be preserved. We need not have any illusions about the deceased participant getting justice. The parties to the show will have all papers in order. Necessary consent and waivers would have been obtained before hand. We have seen marriages being sold (swayamvars), and childcare being mocked (a version of baby borrowers). The right of private individuals to wreck their lives or those of others must be protected.

Adarsh society's problems with environmental clearance came to light only after the spotlight turned on the scam. One wonders how a towering building could come up without anybody checking on it. It is not an isolated case. We have illegal constructions everywhere right upto the Lutyen's Zone in Delhi! Now that people have died in East Delhi in building collapse (on 15th Nov. 2010), perhaps we might wake up to the fact that a building is not about stacking bricks and regularisation. But falling back to slumber is just a few days away – for, the critical mass has not been reached yet in scams, illegal constructions, mockery shows, financial frauds and in everything. - SK

Obama's India visit

2010-11-06T00:16:00.001-07:00

Obama's India visit
The media has its hands full describing, detailing and debating Obama's visit. But as it is with every other news 'story' these days, it is elaborate nothingness. We can expect to be a rehash of every such visit - the mandatory sighting of poor and injured, good photos, great speeches and smiles. After all the American President is quite clear that all he wants is some defence contracts and freer markets to take back to his people. The routing by Republicans has shown that America - its preoccupation with defence as a basic building industry, war and proliferation of arms - is stronger than Obama and his election plank of healthcare, public spending or Iraq.

The decision to ban Let and JeM is as ritualistic and hollow as can be expected. It reminds one of a saying in Tamil which translates as “pinching the baby and rocking the cradle too”. What we have is market economy in full swing. A surge in supply of arms in our backyard (Pakistan) will push India into the lap of American arms industry more.

But even so it appears that Americans have got their math wrong. What they should be pushing for is easy gun-ownership laws like the US. We could build a whole new industry to give more arms, then eleborate mechanisms to regulate and control it, tighter security measures, screenings and so on. And India is not averse to new ideas. We have already started a giant project like the UID which will ensure that every Indian had an identity. Roti, kapada, makaan are old fashioned. Everything has a price. All we need to ensure is the money - micro finance or whatever - reaches the consumer. Goods and services will then flow into his hands.- SK

Kashmir & Arundhati Roy

2010-10-29T01:14:00.000-07:00

Letter to Editor - The Hindu 29th Oct. 2010

Freedom of speech is a fundamental right and all citizens, including Ms Roy, are entitled to it. But the right becomes invaluable only by responsible exercise. While nobody can deny police excesses, particularly in conflict zones, the statement by the eminent writer that the people of Kashmir live under one of the “most brutal military occupations in the world” is unacceptable. She has also said that Kashmir has never been an integral part of India. It could not have been, for the present Indian state is an administrative unit created by the British and politically, the Indian landmass was under the rule of countless kings for ages. Calls for azaadi out of frustration, incitement or police excesses should not be mixed up with misrule by successive governments in the State.

G. Gokul Kishore,

New Delhi

Press - Time for restraint

2010-10-25T02:25:00.000-07:00

Fourth Estate – Time for restraint
It is very unfortunate that almost all the dailies and electronic media carry snap shot of Mr. and Mrs. Dhoni taking bath in Goa [Dailies dated 25th Oct, 2010]. Publishing a blow up of couple taking bath is a shameless act and it cannot be justified by any reason.

Chasing of celebrities by shutter bugs and snapping all their private affairs have become indispensable for the press today to survive in the neck-break competition. It is nothing but a desperate attempt to satisfy the ‘taste’ of readers, to keep the flock together and to ensure revenues do not dwindle. These antics cannot sustain anybody in the longer run.

If you publish something half-naked, others are ready to pay the celebrity and publish even beyond before your print is even out. There is no end to this rat-race. The race killed Diana and it is fast catching up the Indian idols now. Unless the press imposes some self-restraint, credibility can never be redeemed. You can’t point an accusing finger at celebrities for selling all their private wares – from marriages to honeymoon - they perform anything in public for money. It is the so called Fourth Estate that should introspect and conduct itself more maturely.- GK

Ayodhya – Hey Ram!

2010-10-08T04:14:00.001-07:00

“Religion is the opium of the masses” – This Marxian precept is always true as events rush to prove with sickening frequency. Once the addiction rules head and heart, the society gets wobbly and the line between right and wrong gets blurred. The merchants of this opium – from bigots to politicians – can hardly resist investing more and more in this eternally profitable business.

Ayodhya has been a hugely successful venture for these merchants. A fringe party got itself catapulted to the centre stage riding piggyback on this opium-peddling. A generous dose was dished out to masses – and the masses blissfully drank. The merchants basked under windfall gains by capturing power.

A trader should have never-say-die attitude. The latest judgment on the issue brings loads of malt and barrels of intoxicating stuff can be brewed and the brewing has started in right earnest. But this time, aided by neo-liberal brainwashing, materialistic vodka seems to provide more hallucination to the middle class steeped in hypocrisy. The old brew does not command major market share right now and merchants are perplexed.

But the ruling raises several questions. The demolition squad has been rewarded by giving a share of the demolished property thus providing the stamp of approval to the anti-social act. Had the structure been not razed, how the settlement scheme of partition would have proceeded, remains an interesting point. While suit of one of the parties was dismissed on limitation, it has been given a share in the property. One can put hundred questions but the fact remains – the ruling has been a perfect blend of settlement and amnesty with all trappings of extra-judicial solution. For now there is some calm – why worry about the ruling now?- GK

Letter to the Editor - Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony

2010-10-05T01:14:00.000-07:00

By parading thousands of artists for several hours, Indian culture will not get encomiums from international audiences. Many of the artists were tired; maybe due to strenuous rehearsals and the timing of the ceremony. Functions must be brief if viewer interest has to be sustained. These “light and sound shows” degenerate into an exercise in illusory self-aggrandisement, serving little purpose.

G. Gokul Kishore,

New Delhi

Indian Voices Volume 1 to be released in November, 2010

2010-09-01T07:49:00.001-07:00

Subhashree Kishore's Short Story "Batter and Trade" is being published in Indian Voices Volume 1. One of the finest moments to share and cherish. For all our well-wishers - Please get your copy, take some time off to read it and we are waiting to hear from you - all your valuable comments.

Letter to the Editor

2010-07-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

Pleasant surprise

It was a pleasant surprise to wake up on Monday morning to see The Hindu carrying the greatest sports news on its front page. The commendable agility in bringing the news within hours of culmination of the gala event coupled with a full report and picture of the goal which gave Spaniards the FIFA World Cup, were laudable. To print, fold, load and deliver at the doorstep within three to four hours is an achievement of sorts. We are grateful to The Hindu for taking pains to bring to its readers excellent reports, with precision and speed, time and again.

G. Gokul Kishore,

New Delhi

Where are the mangoes?

2010-06-27T04:21:00.000-07:00

Truth No.
1. A developed country exports industrialised goods.
2. A developing country exports agricultural goods, unprocessed goods
3. For some years now, we get only one variety of mango and those are costly
4. India is a roaring tiger and fav. destination for investment.......

The list goes on like six men and the elephant- all are partly right and yet in the wrong.

The whole economic theory of the past few decades has been a colossal blunder. The tag of 'developed' based on GDP and technological growth was conferred on the West and every other economy blindly ran after the indicators - rapid industrialisation, birth control, health care, growth of service sector, goods of ostentation, etc. What we achieved is food crisis and scarcity of even so-called free goods of nature like water and pure air.

India has now great variety of beauty products and shoes to choose from. But where are the mangoes? Either someone in faraway lands is enjoying it or the mango orchard has become a mall. The consumer has no option but for a mango bar - processed good - which is available for Rs.10 than the real-'organic' mango which is priced Rs.50 a kilo.

Everything has been tainted or painted with money band - contract farming and hailing processed goods - which means potato chips are better than potato curry - is perhaps responsible for this. Who decides where the raw materials flow into? It is money or markets. The wild scramble for market share and whirring the wheels of production non-stop results in shelves of unused packets of goods - food. India can soon rank proudly with the West in food wasted, while millions go hungry. Who pays for the wastage?

Given the reality of food crisis,water crisis, global warming or cooling - what's in a name - we know all is not well. Let's have a relook at our development models, our standards of measurement.- SK

Article in Taxindiaonline.com

2010-06-27T04:16:00.000-07:00

DTC Discussion Paper - Ill-begun and Half-done

JUNE 23, 2010

By Subhashree Kishore

THE Discussion Paper to revise Direct Tax Code arrived just as we were beginning to tire of Anderson campaign and football. Going by the euphoria over EEE and the air time grabbed by the new DTC one would expect it to be made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

Alas! We never learn.

Teams of experts and reams of paper later, we have a half filled answer sheet. The Paper solicits suggestions based on hazy outlines and a promise to look into ‘other issues' not part of this paper. The few changes we see are because of administrative difficulties and logistical challenges. Of course it is also mentioned that assessees would benefit. The concern to smoothen the path for Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) and Non-residents (NR) is quite apparent as the paper unabashedly bats for special tax regime to attract investments and promote depth of capital markets.

The Pill

The individual assessee does have a few things to cheer about. Non-taxing of withdrawals from the Government Provident Fund (GPF), Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Recognised Provident Funds (RPFs), pension scheme of PFRDA and approved life insurance products has been proposed. This author in the article published in TIOL when draft DTC was placed in public domain last year [2nd Sep, 2009] had argued that withdrawal failed to satisfy the definition of income and the money had been saved from tax-paid or taxable income and it was not an additional income. The vociferous demand of salaried class including that of staff unions in this regard has been heard at least partly now.

See full article in

http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=11030

Tamil Conference

2010-06-24T23:57:00.000-07:00

No vegetable is available for less than Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 per kg in Tamil Nadu. Rice in rice producing state is selling at Rs. 40 per kg. Once power-surplus state, Tamil Nadu is on load-shedding spree officially. Farmers have been forced to abandon kuruvai cultivation due to lack of power. Mills and industries in Coimbatore and Tirupur are dying without sufficient support and lakhs have been rendered jobless. Water problem in Chennai has not been solved for the past 50 years. Southern Districts of Tamil Nadu are still stuck in caste wars. One need not have any illusion about condition of roads or public health or safety.

Rs. 400 crore of public money is being spent in organizing Tamil Conference in Coimbatore. The parties which have thrived and successfully managed to hold power using language and caste, are not relenting. The masses just don’t seem to wake up from slumber and realize that harping about language or linguistic mega shows will not end starvation or joblessness or discrimination.

Tamil has lived for the past two thousand years without these parties which have sprouted in the past few decades. And with these parties, Tamil will have the same future as that of Tamils. It cannot be anything different. The whole show is just to divert attention of the suffering millions. And when it comes to political parties, sucess is guaranteed. How else one can explain the rationale behind giving TV sets to all households when crops wilt, children are half-naked and under-fed and labour is out on the streets without jobs? For ages, real issues are deliberately obscured by rulers. Tamil Conference serves this purpose in no small measure.- GK

Tharoor's exit

2010-04-20T02:03:00.000-07:00

The exit of Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor shows that while insensitive remarks of a Minister on sensitive issues can be tolerated, improper conduct cannot be. His credibility would have been enhanced had he batted for more funds or campaigned for more industries in Kerala. Taking a spurious version of cricket to his constituency with all attendant drama has cost him dearly. The Tharoor episode has ripped apart the IPL façade. What one wants is pure sport, not a cocktail of speculation, vulgarity and corrupt practices on and off the field.

G. Gokul Kishore,

New Delhi

IPL Stinks

2010-04-16T02:11:00.000-07:00

Just a few days before reservations about IPL were expressed by us. The whole story is now stinking in public with all sorts of drama being played out – of course, of no use to the malnourished or starving millions. This is about paper millions of the avaricious and not about hungry human millions. The glee of media is all too evident. When money, women, conspiracy, politics, bribery et al all combine, no other news is a news.

While news reports point to Lalit Modi having been charged and convicted for drug peddling and kidnapping while he was a student abroad, Shashi Tharoor does not believe in practising what he preaches. He can use his oratorical skills to hoodwink the elite and use his high profile connections to enlist the support of those in power or those who are powerful. But, with so much of stain at his back, he is morally bankrupt to comment on any of our great national leaders. The Mahatma did not think that there can be two different values or ethical framework for public and private lives. But here is an imported Minister who never misses an opportunity to take a dig at the Gandhian values. His official responsibility includes Middle East where his close friend whom he is stated to wed, has business interests. Discussing Cabinet issues in highly irrelevant virtual social networking sites is certainly not the hallmark of a Minister of the Indian Union.

Fans in virtual social network are not the masses for whom and by whom a Minister has been chosen to serve. National leaders of yesteryears did not serve the nation through bits and bytes but by sharing the heat and agony of their suffering brethren. They did not expect encomiums for their erudite speeches. The case of Shashi Tharoor is a classic manifestation of convulsions of our democracy.

The entire episode often reminds us of our mentor Baluji’s skepticism over the educated elite as he says that it is the educated elite who are more corrupt, scientifically.- GK

IPL – Don’t lose heart

2010-04-03T00:28:00.000-07:00

Indian Pathetic League – Indian Prurient League – Indian Plunder League – One can term IPL in so many ways but the undeniable fact is that IPL represents the deadly cocktail of vulgar entertainment, gambling, speculation, alcoholism, etc., to the total exclusion of sport as it is traditionally understood and practised. All things associated with IPL are natural as the whole show is a high voltage corporate marketing glitz. There were some angry voices when price tag was fixed on cricketing demi-gods. But, it was touted as their NAV and not lease money. When the organizers thought that icons alone cannot lure crowds but you need girls in their self-demeaning attire to get the cash boxes ringing, then why not intoxicate the crowd? Vices attract and one is glued to everything else except the game of cricket. Support was also enlisted from new vocabulary – sportainment. Unfortunately neither sport nor entertainment remains – what one gets is casino effect. Branding has reached ridiculous levels and desperation is showing up. Sport is a religion and the rigours of sports are more arduous than penance. When sportsmen party hard, flirt and rock till dawn getting drenched in alcohol, the hands can hardly sustain the craft of reverse sweep or swing in the morning.

Tobacco companies sponsored the game in yesteryears but one could have hardly heard of Benson & Hedges Nights – but IPL nights are here to ‘entertain’ our tired young heroes wielding willows for the nation. IPL corrupts cricket and the masses. Devotees of the pristine game are taken to illusory land of enthralling and explosive show. With night comes darkness and for the dawn, one has to wait. After all, booming IPL is just a business and bust is logical. Let us wait till we can applaud gentle strokes and wonderful strikes in broad day light – no paraphernalia of jerseys, contests, SMSes, branding of anything under the sun. Let us retain optimism - a Benaud will appear and transport us to the pitch rubbing shoulders with those gentlemen.- GK

2010-03-19T10:09:00.000-07:00

Voting cash out
By Subhashree Kishore

The 1000 rupee note has enjoyed more media time than starlets or ‘dynamic’ legislators. For the ordinary citizen who is used to seeing it upclose and personal on notice boards to help him identify the genuine ones, it must have been a good treat. The numerals do not matter. It was obviously far above the statutory favourites of 20000 or 50000.

The Income Tax Act provides for disallowance of cash payments in excess of Rs.20000 for any business expenditure on a single day and this provision also aggregates all cash payments during the day. If an account holder makes a single deposit of above 50000 rupees or aggregates of deposits during the day exceed 50000 rupees he is required to furnish PAN number or details under Form 60. All of this point to cheques, crossed cheques or demand drafts or routing money through banks with adequate safeguards. The ordinary man, even the business man has little option to hoard cash. Of course people find ways to override these through bank safe deposit lockers, benami transactions, a host of accounting wizardry and so forth. But the intent of statute is quite clear. Budget 2010 has proposed to tax non-cash gifts as also cash-gifts in excess of (value of) Rs.50000.

Democracy is all about winning elections and reaping electoral gains. Private donations to political parties have been given legal sanction and 100% deduction is allowed to individuals and companies where donation is made directly to the party. Apparently politics is above religion and vote bank politics like health, sports and public service have to be kept in place. So a generous deduction of 100% has been given, something even gods and charitable trusts or Prime Minister‘s Drought Relief Fund cannot boast about. Of course political parties can be hardly expected to pay taxes. Voluntary donations are tax free.

The Indian National emblem of four lions is also present on the 1000 rupee note. The National Flag, anthem and emblem deserve better respect. It cannot be an article of adornment. The National Flag is seen draped around coffins of officers slain in duty. In a recent case children who refused to sing national anthem were punished.

Cash is as liquid as is elusive and untraceable. It would be a good idea to insist on cheque payments or payment through gift cheques issued by banks where the amount exceeds Rs.50000. A garland of cheques could be as picturesque as a garland of notes. This rule could extend to marriages and other functions as well. It would be true democracy where ruler and ruled would have less resources to punch holes in national emblems or string them or taunt the IT department.

Budget 2010 - Article in taxindiaonline.com

2010-01-27T03:14:00.000-08:00

Dear FM, let Budget 2010 target meeting common man's expectations
JANUARY 27, 2010
By Subhashree Kishore

IT'S again that time of the year
Longing and hope mingle with fear
Yet another briefcase
Prudence and populism jostling for space
Men - moghul and menial try to keep pace
Wondering “ Will I miss or hit an ace?

BUDGETS do not inspire poetry yet people do wish to find a thing of beauty or intelligence in them. There seems to be lesser enthusiasm this time, probably because we had an overdose of budgets and stimulus in 2009-10. Yet there remain problems to be addressed and so long as statisticians, economists and politicians are active the corpus deliciti - the annual budget, well, exists. The plaintiff (common man) always cries for a better deal and the defendants - the ‘men with authority and influence' protest its propriety. No budget is claimed to be a complete success which means it was also a failure for the argument cuts both ways!

The usual plea for lower taxes and more incentives have appeared on the wish lists of the industry and agriculture lobbies. But that apart there seems to be no new direction or novel arguments. This may be due to the haze around the Direct Taxes Code and merger of various indirect taxes. The government has of course stated that it will use resources at its disposal - the glittering PSUs to increase social spending. So, should this budget be more of the same? Not necessary.

Sustaining agriculture

Agriculture, once derided as a less important portfolio is very much in news with over billion mouths to feed, Rs. 7000 crore organized dairy business, booming commodity index and ever increasing prices. Apart from the Third and perhaps the Fifth Five Year Plan there has been little focus on agriculture. We prefer cash cows to milch cows. Impetus to industrialisation and technological advancements and moving to a targeted rather than universal PDS have pushed us into food crisis. Agriculture is not about loan waivers, biofuels, FDI in processed food industry or aiming for higher productivity through GM crops which do not crossbreed and are vulnerable to new pests.

In this budget we could look at increased outlay for agriculture as opposed to the present below 3% levels, to improve productivity and crop diversity - encouraging indigenous varieties. We had the present FM saying that agriculture would do well if there was good rainfall, as late as February 2009. We need to do a better job of water management to avoid the paradox of the flood-hit and the drought hit. This might sound archaic but the sad truth is that over half a century of planning has still not rid agriculture of the old evils.

We could consider a sabbatical on trading in commodities. Food lends itself to speculation while hunger does not. The average Indian investor now executes a quixotic purchase of rice and pulses with profits made on trading in pepper or turmeric! The usual strategy to combat (complaints of) price rise to import or release buffer stocks is not sufficient. Increasing money supply in the hands of people by minimal tax cuts or raising threshold does not help. We may examine the concept of ‘maximum supportive price' - a counterpart to the ‘minimum support price' which protects the producers against loss. Government fixed rates are in vogue in property transactions. We have rent controls, risk assessors and surveyors, registered valuers and government run (fair price) liquor shops. It should not be difficult to fix a price beyond which essential commodities cannot be sold. The argument of value addition in salt/sugar or curd, greens and potatoes which necessitates price increase cuts no ice. We have survived on non-branded, less fancy rock salt or ‘ration' sugar. Units which are not able to hold the price line may get weeded out as dictated by purest of market economics.

Stimulating revenue

There have been pleas for continuing the stimulus (rather stimuli). “It has worked and should continue but it has not worked enough to pay taxes at present rate …”
“Recession has been arrested but industries still need to be pampered…”
“Inflation calls for tightening money supply but industry seeks greater purchasing power to push up demand for its goods…”
The state of economy is about as conclusive as the IPCC report! What is heartening is that in this respect we are on par with the USA. Stimulus has worked and the institutions have prospered enough to repay moneys borrowed but cannot pay tax on banker's bonus…regulatory oversight is acknowledged but that does not call for more regulation!
Saddled as it is with numerous demands on its resources the government cannot afford to extend the stimulus. Of course, it may lead to prices rising again. But if not tax, either currency futures, or oil prices or overheads are bound to push them up. So, no one is worse off for the discontinuance of stimulus.

Click here to continue to read full article
http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=10298

FBT - The new old avatar - Article in www.taxindiaonline.com

2009-12-29T01:44:00.000-08:00

Perks are no light Munch
DECEMBER 29, 2009

By Subhashree Kishore

"WE are a poor nation and must learn to live accordingly…", J.M Keynes advised the Britons in late 1940‘s. The same holds true for us Indians. If as a part of the harried that is salaried class you have been frothing at the lips about the volte face in FBT, vide Notification No. 94/2009, dated 18-12-2009, KINDLY (no pun intended) DESIST.

Tossing it up like Hercules and Lord Atlas

Rapid development comes with industrialisation. Companies, the architects of this growth must be allowed to function in a hassle free environment. It doesn't do for them to be worrying about and footing enormous tax bills. Think of the man hours lost in calculating value of perks, compliance cost and hours billed by tax experts. The employee meanwhile draws his salary rather freely, savours his perks and walks home with a heavy purse and light heart. An unfair world indeed! Shifting the burden on employees and also insisting that dues of the entire financial year be recovered before the taxed can recover from the shock is a master stroke. We can now have employees lean, mean, and hungry working harder to earn more. That would push up productivity.

Resisting winds of change

Some reports have cried hoarse that the new rules are hardly so, and it is just a reinstatement of the pre-2005 position. These cries have nothing new in them. Tax laws are never fair or clear. Besides we need to say something for constancy. The student of tax will, as his counterpart did over a decade ago, struggle with 1.6 L capacity of engine and myriad calculation of personal and professional use of car and value of accommodation.

Making the assessee green (about the gills)

Another fact which has escaped the notice of most of the mourners is that the rules are environment friendly. While perks in form of gas, electricity, air-conditioners and cars are taxable, expenses on mobile phones and telephones, actually incurred on behalf of the employee by the employer, are exempted. So, WALK AND TALK to your heart's content. Sceptics may argue that lobbyists would have asked phones to be exempted because they are indispensable to business, are easy to account and would make up a large figure of expense to set off against company earnings. The booming telecom industry would be hit if employees treated company mobiles like plague. So let us play the deaf adder to these cries.

Pl. click to read more http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=10155

Elite middlemen

2009-11-17T02:27:00.000-08:00

Management graduates from elite B-Schools and top business honchos are turning to vegetables, provisions and milk these days. The scale is different and the presentation is tempting - but the new age business leaders flocking to goods from the farm and stable is something which the poor village kisan would have never dreamt of. And if these big sharks enter and commence their march with merchandise, the unorganized poor get stampeded. Markets are touted as remunerative but the gloss of the malls and its exorbitant overheads hardly conceal the reality of exploitative prices that the tiller has to contend with. Farmers commit suicide but vegetables sell at sky high prices - What else can explain this paradox but for the modern middlemen from big business selling GM vegetables and fruits?- GK

Article in taxindiaonline on new Direct Tax Code

2009-09-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

New Direct Taxes Code: Comforting the comfortable! - Is it Income Tax's H1N1?

SEPTEMBER 02, 2009

By Subhashree Kishore

(H1N1 is a variant of the 1919 Spanish Influenza,and the present Direct Tax Code is a variant of the Income Tax Act of 1961. Both are curable but fatal if left untreated.)

The New Direct Tax Code has been hailed and hollered as per individual tastes. It claims to make the process simpler and intoxicate assessees into compliance.

Well, it begins earnestly enough by merging the assessment year and financial year concepts and removing the resident not ordinarily resident proviso. It seeks to taxon-profit (a much maligned term) organizations at 15%. It is sincere in promotion of economic activities and fuelling investment and growth by bringing down rate of corporate tax, doing away with STT and indefinite carry forward of losses. It is true to industry by relaxing the individual tax slabs so that people have more purchasing power.

Amongst the bright lights and concentrated intellectual exercise of over three years to sweeten taxes, unfortunately at the end of the day, as usual, the individual tax payer has got a raw deal.

Typos

The simplest ‘technical’ error in the carefully drafted code is ‘turst’ an unexplained word which appears in Part D, Clause 101 (3). It may however be overlooked considering that this section could hardly touch salaried classes as the threshold limit for wealth tax has been generously hiked to Rs. 50 Crores.

Renting ideas from Uncle Sam

The bursting of the realty bubble in the US led to a global depression-like (depression is after all a bad word) situation and hence every attempt has been made to deglamourize this sector.
Once the draft code becomes law, an assessee can no longer claim deduction in respect of housing loan interest, should he choose to live in the house that he built. Repayment of housing loan also does not qualify for deduction under the investment bracket. So he should choose to live as a tenant rather than go through the arduous process of building a house, committing himself to EMIs and still end up paying more tax.

Of course, the tax slabs will be enhanced and income upto Rs 10 lakhs attracts only 10% as per the new Code. But factor in the taxable perquisites, denial of exemption in respect of HRA, medical reimbursement and EET regime - his gains are negligible. Again the Code is not clear on treatment of capital gains on sale of residential property. One can only claim residual exemption by investing in the Capital Gains Deposit Scheme.

Firing at elderly with 'Cannon' of Equity

In pursuit of “all being equal before law”, everyone has been placed at equal disadvantage. Retirement benefits have been skillfully deprived of any benefit in the new Code. All new payments into various Provident funds will be taxable on withdrawal. The only relief is if the same is used as a rollover - to buy annuity or invest in the same account or other account with the permitted intermediaries namely

(a) approved provident fund;
(b) approved superannuation fund;
(c) life insurer; and
(d) New Pension System Trust;

All other instruments like the NSCs, bank fixed deposits and equity-linked schemes have been closed out. So everyone, be from public or private sector, who plans for his life after superannuation has few options but to trust the New Pension Scheme or buy whole life policies which are exempt from tax on receipt of money at the end of contract period. In effect, though retirees may enjoy higher threshold limit, they can hardly bank on the money saved in working life to see them though the autumn.

The only way to enjoy your money seems to be to keep it as far from you as possible!

Children with new toys

Exempt-exempt-taxable (EET) was the long-time slogan of the finance ministers. It does have a stylish ring about it. It has no intrinsic merit so as take the pride of place in income tax law.
Withdrawal fails to satisfy the definition of income. The money has been saved from tax-paid or taxable income. It is not an additional income. One may agree with taxing appreciation in value or interest. But principal is not income. It would be better to classify the aggregated savings and withdrawals under wealth. Then most assesses would benefit under the Rs.50 crore umbrella.
Let us be clear. Either something is exempt or taxable. We need not bring in temporal dimension and postpone the pain.

To read full article please click
http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=9606

2009-08-29T05:53:00.000-07:00

Declaration of assets – Much ado about nothing

After Punjab & Haryana High Court Judge Justice Mr. Kannan and Karnataka HC Judge Justice Mr. Shylendra Kumar declared their assets and brought pressure on Apex Court to declare the assets of Supreme Court Judges also, the elite media is elated. While one segment views it as revolution in transparency in respect of those holding public office, others are euphoric over the effect that such disclosure will have on checking corruption or amassing of wealth by extraneous means by others. It is surprising that the issue has bitten the judiciary from the legislators who have been forced to reveal something during the elections. The effect of affidavits filed by our politicians on the levels of corruption is better not discussed. In this ocean of bribery and manipulation, one can well imagine the impact of disclosure of assets. It can be proudly said that we compare with the developed world where such asset declaration is made by the judiciary. Right from election funding to corporate frauds, the so-called developed nations lag no behind in all things shady and loathsome. These voluntary or administrative measures are cosmetic as in the next 100 years you will not get a property deed registered without bribe, you will not get a motor driving license without bribe or your building plan sanctioned without greasing a few. If from next year, no RTO demands speed money, one can laud the campaign on asset declaration. Pessimistic one may say but reality is often synonymous with it.

Independence Day Greetings

2009-08-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day

More than 6 decades – still the debate rages. Only political freedom and no economic independence – the cry has not changed all these years. We may argue on such controversies but there can hardly be any doubt that India as a nation, need to travel a long way before at least a decent majority is guaranteed of basic necessities. The agenda of development has become so twisted that there are as much opinions as the population itself on what is to be done.

On the one side we have all hi-fi analysis touting the invasion of television in rural households as a giant leap in India’s growth story. The mobile phone revolution and use of hi-tech gadgets by the vegetable vendor is seen as second liberation. Somebody suddenly talks of building temple as the only way forward and later wants to bring back all black money stashed in foreign banks. In the midst of all confusion, gay marriage becomes the number one issue – the reforms in this direction is advocated as the panacea to root out all social evils and to bring India in the league of developed nations.

The avaricious Sensex which is the most insensitive index vis-à-vis all social problems, is the only barometer for the pundits to measure our wellness. For some driving out industry is an achievement. For some naxals are a menace while the corrupt babus and netas are not. Installation of statues will improve the living conditions of the downtrodden and of course, others also. Till the other day, global best practices and integration were proclaimed as sine qua non and now, they say Indian economy managed to save its skin from economic chaos because of relative insulation.

All this apart, starvation deaths continue to be reported. Children and women in remote villages suffer and die of malnutrition, hunger and lack of medical attention. No social security for the aged and infirm who must work till they land in the grave. The more we talk about (in)sensitivity, civic (non)awareness, social (ir)responsibility, etc., the more pessimistic it sounds. Independence Day gives us some time to reflect on what we need and what don’t, where we are headed and where we ought to, what are the values with which our individual and social lives have become polluted and what are the values we should yearn to imbibe…Let me think first rather than being preachy.

Run up to Budget 2009-10

2009-06-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

Will Budget Premier League deliver?
JUNE 09,2009
By Subhashree Kishore

IT is time to get glued to the electrified at times frenzied ‘knowledgeable’ gentlemen. They will tell us what to expect, when, why, wherefrom…… they stake their sleep and sanity to get our attention. The privileged few, as always will climb up Santa’s knee and whisper their wish lists during the consultations.

The Budget Premier League is set to kick off in the first week of July.

In 2008, we were booming and beaming and prayed for sweets from a rich uncle. FM - PC did deliver with income tax cuts and farm waiver. But now the mood is sombre and we are caught between the horns of fiscal prudence and fervent populism. At best we can hope that the uncle will be sweet and release a few riches.

The roar for reforms, disinvestment (in profitable PSUs) and jettisoning subsidies (leaving fuel pricing to gods) is deafening. Yes, they are a convenient way out to close the fiscal deficit without borrowing at interest as well as pleasing the industry. Interestingly America’s fiscal deficit is around 12%. But such deficits are dangerous for us - or so we are told.

Well, we can’t borrow, exports are down and we are finding it difficult to create jobs - without direct cost to the exchequer that is. Yet we don’t find homes being sold for one dollar or top industrialists bicycling to office. We find political parties spending hundreds of crores in ad campaigns alone in the just concluded polls. So, there is money somewhere and before reaching for the family silver we may ponder over these...

To read the full article click
http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=9144

Letters to Editor - The Hindu

2009-05-21T08:12:00.000-07:00

Opinion - Letters to the Editor LTTE’s defeat

The Sri Lankan government should engage in a reconciliation exercise and adopt measures to eliminate discrimination against the Tamils. If the causes that gave rise to the LTTE are not addressed, the void created by its defeat will be filled in no time.

G. Gokul Kishore,
New Delhi
http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/20/stories/2009052054791001.htm

Letter in FE

2009-04-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Letters to the editor : Saving grace

The editorial (‘Floor for rate cut?’, Apr 22) argues that the government-fixed small savings interest rates are higher than what banks may be able to offer and hence, distort competition. Small savings schemes offer both safety and stability of income. We can hardly deny the consumer better services by pulling one down to the level of the other. The editorial bats for the industry at the cost of small investors. It cites underbanking, but it’s wrong to say that PSU banks have failed in this respect, as neither foreign banks nor new generation private banks have any rural penetration. Small savings is the best avenue the small investor can ever get. Withdrawal of tax benefits to interest earned, which diminishes the attractiveness of bank deposits, is a point validly made.

—G Gokul Kishore New Delhi

Letters to Editor - The Hindu

2009-04-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Letters to the Editor Politicisation

It is unfortunate that the Sri Lankan Tamils issue is occupying centre stage in Tamil Nadu politics. Every party is trying to outdo the other in portraying itself as the champion of the Tamils’ cause. The ruling DMK is resorting to flip-flops to ensure that even while it remains part of the UPA, it is not compelled to yield ground to other parties.

The real issue has been obfuscated and the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils has become secondary in comparison with the LTTE, which is getting undue coverage and misplaced sympathy.

G. Gokul Kishore,
New Delhi

Vaiko's Speech - Letters to Editor - The Hindu 10-4-2009

2009-04-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

Mr. Vaiko’s inflammatory speech is unacceptable. India, already battered by terrorism, cannot afford to allow such leaders to sow the seeds of discord and misguide the younger generation.

G. Gokul Kishore,
New Delhi

Article on Poll Reforms - Unpublished by media

2009-04-09T02:31:00.000-07:00

Poll time - Debugging franchise

By Gokul Kishore & Subhashree Kishore

It is poll time again in India. And it is time too to put electoral reforms on the agenda again. The Election Commission of India has begun blown the bugle with the proposed curbs on exit polls.

Democracy evolved to counter concentration of power - monarchy or other forms which often ended up in abuse of power. But de jure leaders in today’s democracy remain de facto kings, no matter victorious or vanquished at the hustings. The general decay in moral standards in public life, the perpetuation of dynastic rule cloaked in modern instruments of power and our impassive response to opportunism being ‘politics is refuge of scoundrels’ or ‘politics makes strange bedfellows’ often undermine faith in this form of governance.

Democracy has become all about winning elections, consolidation and staying rather than serving. Of course some incidental progress happens and India manages to be a functional democracy with separation of powers and guarantee of civil rights but good governance remains elusive. Experiences of developed nations reveal that proportional representation or opinion polls cannot combat selfish interests or bad decisions.

Electoral reform is a topic often debated when the polls are round the corner only to be consigned to the backburner later. Asset declaration and general media outcry against criminals in the fray are major developments perceived as having brought semblance of reforms. But the agenda remains unfinished and of course, daunting. Certain measures do suggest some changes but are confined to addressing administrative difficulties and costs. Something concrete is yet to come up to ensure fairer elections. For, a climate of responsibility is a must and elections should be treated with the seriousness and respect they deserve. Not just because of the outgo in monetary terms, but also for the fact that the electoral process is bedrock of the system of governance we have chosen.

Campaign money becomes a quicksand of quid-pro-quo syndrome with candidates seeking to reach maximum voters in a limited time frame and trying to ‘capture’ their imagination. Hardly is there any party immune to corporate lubricants. The largesse from business houses borders on extortion once elections are in the air. State funding has been much talked about and there are no takers as obviously opinion is unanimous that public money cannot be wasted for such ‘undeserving’ exercise. The collection spree gets the tag of voluntary contribution by the loyal supporters and arms of the Indian Income Tax law do not extend in this direction. On a practical plane, campaigning should ideally begin at least six months before elections and emphasis should be on door to door campaign rather than accentuating pollution through loud speakers and festoons, paper handouts and road blocks. Mud slinging and unsubstantiated statements should cease.

Any meeting should be treated sacrosanct. Instead of rabble raising monologues, election meetings can be a two way affair with some time devoted to responding to the queries of voters. Unbridled campaign till the D-Day deprives the voter of his 48 hours of calm to reflect and decide. Campaign restrictions must also extend to other forms of media like private TV channels. Also mandating equal airtime by private channels, if they choose to broadcast political ads, will be a step towards fair campaigns. A code of conduct, self-imposed by the media, may serve the purpose.

Elections cannot be belittled nor electorate slighted by candidates choosing to fight elections whimsically hopping constituency in last minute. Election Commission of India had floated a proposal sometime back to collect cost of resultant bye-election from the candidate. A candidate oblivious of his constituency or its problems, can hardly be represent it and demand measures for its growth. A pre-condition that the candidate should have stayed in his constituency for certain specified period prior to nomination can be explored.

In this era of 24 x 7, the Indian news channels and print media with their battery of psephologists vie to give accurate forecast and analysis. In this process, caste and religion wise vote share is highlighted rather disproportionately. Statistical or scientific analysis may be unbiased but the obsession with such divisive factors is counter-productive and diverts focus from larger issues. Reasonable restrictions must be imposed on such analysis. We don’t need constant reminders about our differences through lens (dis)coloured by caste/religion or social strata. With elections becoming a major law and order issue, staggered poll schedule has become order of the day. In such a scenario, attempt to gauge voting preferences through exit polls, which are inherently unreliable as respondent may not reveal his actual choice, should be regulated effectively. Election Commission has advocated restriction on publishing results of such opinion polls for a particular period.

There is no dearth of suggestions on poll reforms. The political class retains the key to usher them in. Public opinion needs to be mobilized so that the men intending to serve the public, achieve that ‘noble’ end to mutual satisfaction.

Recipe posted in NDTV.com

2009-03-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

Idly Fry - Receipe posted in Ndtv.com by Jayasree Varadarajan (our sister)

Link : http://cooks.ndtv.com/showrecipes.asp?id=4351&dishtype=

Chef: Jayashree Varadarajan
Ingredients:
Idlis (well cooled) - 2 to 3 nos
Red Chilli powder - 3/4 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 2 pinches
Tomatoes medium sized - 2 nos - cut to small pieces
Onion- 1 no - finely chopped
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Green chillies - 2 nos- chopped fine
Urad dal - 1 teaspoon
Coriander leaves finely chopped to garnish
Salt to tasteGaram masala- one pinch (optional)
Cooking oil to roast idli and make gravy.
Method: Cut the idli into small cubes. Pour about 5 teaspoon of oil in a kadai and pop mustard seeds. Then add the cut idli pieces, chilli powder. Roast it for about 5 minutes so that most of the pieces get a golden brown edge. Keep this aside. Again heat oil in kadai. Add urad dal and green chillies, after a minute saute onion pieces. Add the tomatoes, turmeric powder and salt. Keep on medium flame till tomatoes are cooked and all items blend intofine gravy. You may add water if required. Turn off the gas and add the fried idli pieces. Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot.

Letters to Editor - The Hindu

2009-03-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

This letter was published in The Hindu dated 07-03-2009

Gandhian legacy

The incident highlights the need to initiate measures to collect and bring home the invaluable belongings of our leaders. By persuading well-known museums, auction houses and collectors and by seeking the cooperation of governments, India should ensure that national treasures are not commercially bought and sold. The personal belongings of patriots are an integral part of our nation’s legacy.

G. Gokul Kishore,
New Delhi

http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/07/stories/2009030755681002.htm

Letters to Editor - The Hindu

2009-02-19T21:44:00.000-08:00

This letter was published in The Hindu dated Feb 20, 2009

The LTTE has decimated all the groups opposed to it. The Centre should make it amply clear to the political parties of Tamil Nadu that even while we support the cause of Tamils, any support — direct or otherwise — to the Tigers will not be tolerated.

G. Gokul Kishore,
New Delhi

Link : http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/20/stories/2009022052901003.htm

Poem - this too shall pass - (NDTV.com 6/2/09)

2009-02-05T21:55:00.000-08:00

This too shall pass
- Subhashree Kishore

Having a sudden attack of gall,
Raju said, "I'll tell all".
"Less of it, Less of it"
Cried the aces at audit.

Raju blared "I did cook books"
The missus perked up, "What cook books?
Get me one and THE BABY NEEDS NEW SHOES"
"Story of my life", Raju mused.

He weeps behind the bars
Pining for his luxury cars
His mate says "You are a fool"
You forgot the golden rule."

Never worry, never be sorry"
The baba explains looking cross
"Why volunteer to wear the albatross?
"Raju claps his forehead, "Alas!"

...Read more at

http://www.ndtv.com/reading-room/bookspoetrycorner.asp?page=1&frmarchives=&id=3029&nxtstart=

http://www.ndtv.com/reading-room/bookspoetrycorner.asp?page=2&frmarchives=&id=3029&nxtstart=

Letter in FE

2008-12-31T07:23:00.000-08:00

The Financial ExpressPosted: 2008-12-31 00:35:48+05:30 ISTUpdated: Dec 31, 2008 at 0035 hrs IST
Font Size

: The editorial (‘Price growth high’, Dec 20) warns against RBI being too interfering. It also advocates greater accountability for RBI’s actions. The problem is, more accountability often means more interference which is mostly political, an anomaly in these times when state intervention is considered both pious and blasphemous. Effectiveness is preferable over efficiency, as Drucker put it. RBI can be all but unpopular with the cash-rich few who indulge in labyrinthine financial games. No open economy can be immune to market swings. A central controlling agency which can understand them and act is sine qua non. Conservative wisdom that has staggered meltdown effect is preferable to convoluted activism.
—Subhashree Kishore New Delhi
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/letters-to-the-editor-convoluted-activism-wont-do/404738/

Letter in FE

2008-12-26T05:10:00.000-08:00

Letters to the editor :
The wrong parallel
The Financial ExpressPosted: 2008-12-26 23:22:40+05:30 ISTUpdated: Dec 26, 2008 at 2322 hrs

Your editorial (‘By FDI for the poor’, Dec 24, 2008) draws a parallel between the vast volumes in the telecom sector and its promise of prosperity for the poor. With respect to raising living conditions, telecom and insurance are as different as chalk and cheese. Judging by use, telephone is not a necessity in the way medical care or life insurance is. The telecom success story and the mobile phone’s so-called levelling effect or its contribution to GDP may gratify but it doesn’t warrant hiking FDI or rolling the red carpet for reinsurance to the Lloyd’s which has been rocked by losses. Most of the foreign insurance players in Indian market are going through financial nightmares in the countries of their origin. This Bill may be an opportunity for them to cover up problems at home and reap benefits from the more secure Indian market. Shouldn’t we promote domestic Indian insurance firms instead of chasing faulty foreign ones?
—Subhashree Kishore New Delhi
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/letters-to-the-editor-the-wrong-parallel/402891/

2008-12-13T00:10:00.000-08:00

Letters to the editor : Baleful bailout mantra
The Financial ExpressPosted: 2008-12-13 01:00:02+05:30 ISTUpdated: Dec 13, 2008 at 0100 hrs IST
Rama Bijapurkar’s article ‘Problem isn’t consumer demand’ bats for ailing companies. She pleads that the consumer is too small or well-preserved by his/her own prudence and does not need any stimulus. Big companies are cash-strapped and need to be helped. The nice-sounding reason for this is that if companies fail, people lose jobs and current problems will snowball. A few things may have to be put in perspective. Recession implies piling up of stocks owing to dwindling demand. Injecting funds through bailouts or facilitating liquidity through banks to companies will mean that consumers lose from both ends. Price cut is ruled out in seller’s market and private losses are socialised. The fittest survive in a free market. If firms have over-leveraged and made a mess, there is no reason why government should help them to clean up. It’s a win-win for companies who need to give up neither control nor revenues.
Subhashree Kishore New Delhi

Short story by us on the web

2008-10-14T09:32:00.000-07:00

Please visit
http://www.writersblock.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1224001219/0#0
for a short story penned by subha and uploaded in the site writersblock.com

Letter to Editor - Financial Express

2008-08-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

Twisting the welfare logic

The editorial (‘No country for old men’, Aug 21) suggests a cure worse than the disease. It calls for excluding the main stakeholders—employee unions and employer's representatives—on the ground of their ignorance on pension economics. To seek defined contributions to the exclusion of defined benefits is to prefer short-time gains over long-term welfare. This is again evident in the agrument against extending the EPFO cover to firms with 10 or more employees. The basic objective of a pension system is to provide some relief in the autumn of one’s life. How does one guarantee this when benefits are not certain? The entire new policy on pension management is investment oriented rather than welfare oriented.
—G Gokul Kishore, New Delhi

Article in The Hindu dated 10th Aug 2008

2008-08-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

Alcoholism – sipping and slipping
SUBHASHREE KISHORE
The wine industry has grown by nearly 35 per cent last year. This is hardly in the legion of ‘happy statistics of mountains of edible happiness’ as Robert Lynd described the British fondness for chocolates. The varying levels of alcohol content and the health benefits from controlled consumption apart, wine can hardly be hailed as the next best thing to organic foods or sprouts. This is the age of freedom and individual freedom is to be respected, untempered by responsibility or even the best interests. Hence advocating a ban on what is without question a vice would be shouted down as too prudish.

Ill effects of addiction
Addiction is a habit which begins with the most innocuous sip. For all our rocket science and space odysseys, we have very little scientific temper. While judging age-old practices rooted in culture, tradition or religion or changing lifestyles, we are supremely rational and critical. We seek to usher in bold new ideas. Yet when it comes to denouncing alcohol and its milder cousins, we quail.

Alcohol has also made it to the basic necessity list and governments actively participate in its procurement, distribution and control all in the public interest of earning revenue. The wine industry has been nurtured with duty cuts. Hours for serving liquor have been extended in the interest of consumers. The ‘representatives of people’ take cover under such arguments as livelihood, consequences of a sudden closure and public ire and, more specifically, discouraging illicit brewing and prohibition proving fruitless in many countries.

However, the same stories do not appear to hold good while constructing dams across the Narmada, displacing people or closing down vaccine manufacturing units in Kasauli or Coonoor. Ideally, the government should propagate the merits of abstinence, stem the free availability especially near schools and colleges, enforce law regarding location of such shops near temples and residential colonies, but then ideals are unattainable.

Rationing system
The market for wines and the sojourn to harder drinks is set to grow phenomenally in the wake of rising incomes of people under 30s, adoption of a ‘broader’ outlook, global culture and etiquette. Governments may examine rationing of alcohol and all its variants. It has had admirable success in rationing wheat or rice and no one has faced the ill-effects of over-eating. Sweden had reasonable success with the Dr. Bratt rationing system instead of outright prohibition. In Bratt’s words, the fight against excesses was lost to profiteering purveyors of alcohol, and the rise of continental drinking habits when Sweden joined the EU.

We look westward for ideas of progress and to measure up to the various statistics of health or per capita income, legal systems and imbibe without learning from their mistakes. We must learn to separate the chaff from the grain. Equality, fraternity, liberty, punctuality, professionalism are all very well but lack of public censure, shame, flexible morals, money splurging, or problem of underage drinking, ought to be taboo. There is no romance in scarred livers (in cirrhosis), or a riddled esophagus nor any enjoyment in being victim of a drinking bout or brawl as people sleeping on pavements of Mumbai would testify if they could.

We cannot be callous to normal healthy people and in particular generation next wasting away in hangovers and playing with its health and the well-being of a good many others. What we need is an ice-cold resolve and a drop of unadulterated reason.

Future Imperfect - Letter in Financial Express

2008-07-12T10:04:00.001-07:00

This letter was published in Financial Express dated 12.07.08
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Letters-to-the-editor-Futures-imperfect/334427/
The editorial (‘Future in futures’, Jul 8) supports speculation or the euphemism ‘futures’. On paper, anything which could reduce airfares or stem further rise and cut losses for the airline industry is bound to be welcome. Yet, to say that futures is the future and any fear or doubt is an anachronism, is incorrect. For all the cry of business ethics and professionalism, market economy has not given any evidence of self-correction. Experience, as in commodity futures, has shown that financial muscle will dictate the market. Recent stock market oscillations are ample proof that physical supply or real demand would have little say among a host of other intangible factors. Any speculator or market player who can make the extra dime will go for it. It is against the dictates of profit-seeking to act otherwise. Hence, while ‘genuine’ futures with the sole goal of insulation may not increase prices, there are no safeguards to prevent or control artificial escalations.
—Subhashree Kishore, New Delhi

Column in servicetaxindia.com

2008-06-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

You can check the link below for a new column

www.servicetaxindia.com

RBI's Annual Monetary Policy

2008-05-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

Inevitabilities and allocations

The Financial Express Posted online: Friday , May 02, 2008 at 2236 hrs IST

The editorial (‘Cash crunched’, Apr 30) as well as the writeup (‘RBI’s 79-page misreading’) pointed out flaws in RBI’s policy statement. Since inflation is caused by too much money chasing too few goods, consumption-pushed growth is not sustainable. It can distort the allocation of resources. Luxury expenditure is rising and there is a food crisis. So liquidity reduction was inevitable. The argument that raising cost of credit will penalise only small business is weak. Commercial lending has always eluded smaller businesses. It is laudable that RBI has taken steps to regulate the direction of credit. Increasing the quantum of credit for home loans is also welcome. Rising real estate prices have been acknowledged. It may be a valid assertion that the export lobby has asked for the rupee-dollar peg, but then, every sector from software to commodity trading is guilty of seeking pecuniary gains at the cost of others. Why single out exporters?
—Subhashree Kishore, New Delhi

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Inevitabilities-and-allocations/304207/

Letter published in Financial Express, April 08, 2008

2008-04-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

Banking the people can bank on
The Financial Express Tuesday , April 08, 2008 at 2316 hrs IST
The statistics comparing Indian and US banks in your editorial (‘Cart before the horse’, Apr 4) reveal a post-colonial inferiority complex. Also, despite the Bear Stearns or Northern Rock experiences, you advocate deregulation for the banking sector to “be responsive to the needs of the Economy”. The fear that businessmen, left to their own devices, would sell unsafe drugs or shoddy buildings has been proved to be well-founded time and again. In banking, directed lending serves a valid purpose. The primary sector may not be the most profitable, but to feed millions, it deserves priority credit. With demand-supply mismatches in food production looming large, we also need to provide fresh impetus to farm sector. But “consolidation” by “market needs” is a euphemism for closing less profitable rural branches. The mixed Economy model has served India well.
—Subhashree Kishore, New Delhi

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Banking-the-people-can-bank-on/293779/

Pay Panel gives 'Report'

2008-03-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Pay Commission Report
The 6th Central Pay Commission (CPC) has submitted its report and thanks to RTI-age, the report has been made available in the virtual medium also. The positives of the Report are

It has given its Report in time though the same is due to political events on the horizon
The Report has been made available immediately as also most of the discussions are hosted by the CPC in its portal marking rare transparency for a govt. committee
Reduction of holidays to 3 with increase in Restricted Holidays to 8 (in all likelyhood this will not be accepted by the govt.)
A reasonably good hike in pay for top level officers ( who are relatively least affected by inflation)

As usual a body set up in the era of 'new economic order' can only be anti-worker as the negative points far outweigh the good ones:

Starting pay or the pay at the lowest level was demanded as Rs.10,000 while the CPC has recommended around Rs.6000
Introduction of Pay Band concept thus reducing the number of pay scales - effecting bunching of several cadres pay-wise leading to demoralisation
Increment fixed at 2.5% which is far less than the demand of 5% (even the previous Pay Commn had given around 2.3%)
To divide the workers, sops recommended for women employees - can come late to office, take 2 or 3 years leave after delivery, etc
Advances like House Building Advance or HBA being given to banks with govt bearing an interest subsidy of 2% (which will eventually be abolished)
Suggestion to abolish Group D posts - call for using labour on contract
Use of technical or fancy jargons like running pay band, Performance Related Incentive Scheme (PRIS), etc thus obfuscating the real issues of stagnation, better facilities and a decent pay.

Sub-prime mess

2008-03-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

Cross-currents in the gale

The Financial Express Posted online: Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 2326 hrs IST

Your article (‘Surviving the subprime gale’, Mar 19) provided a specious analysis of the crisis. The statistics are fine, but the prescription of opening more windows is ill-advised. We need to determine how many and how far to open. The suprime mess in the US was the result of poor regulation, refusal to recognise the crisis early and, of course, corporate irresponsibility. The article concedes that public sector banks are awaiting NPAs and there could be more in the crash than meets the eye. We need to learn from others’ mistakes. The 1997 East Asian crisis was triggered by a similar property bubble burst, excessive dependence on short-term foreign capital and hasty financial liberalisation. Common sense dictates that things too good to be true are not. The informed and uninformed alike chase the Sensex or sumptuous financial products without applying conventional wisdom. The government’s or regulators’ action is always corrective, never preventive. Yet, it is these so-called “autonomous” banks that we turn to for interest rate relief to help the economy.
—Subhashree Kishore, New Delhi

Write-up about GNK in Dinamani 9th March 2008

2008-03-08T23:05:00.000-08:00

Pl. check the link below for an article on Gandhiadigal Narpanik Kazhagam, a voluntary organisation in Kumbakonam with which we are associated.

http://www.dinamani.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=DNK20080306011454&Title=Kadhir&lTitle=%A7%5DU%A6+L%A7o&Topic=0&dName=No+Title&Dist=0

Budget Impact - Service Tax

2008-03-08T07:49:00.000-08:00

Budget 2008-09 and Service Tax
By Dr. G. Gokul Kishore

The grand annual event of Budget on the nation’s financial theatre has been staged with a neat performance by the hero our F.M. The pre-budget expectations heavily leaned on populist theory due political factors and events on the horizon. Budget 2008-09 has turned out to be a mixed bag and a preliminary assessment can lead to terming it as fair. It has caused ripples in certain quarters but then economics is hardly a ‘please all’ matter. The upward revision of slabs in case of personal income tax has made the FM darling of the middle class though it has been battered by rising inflation. The backbone of the nation viz., the farming class increasingly dominated by preference to death over life has been taken note of. Leaving direct taxes and other macro issues aside, this article attempts to take stock of Budget 2008-09 changes in the case of Service Tax.

Small Scale Exemption hike – Is it too little?

Small Scale Service Providers enjoy value-based exemption upto Rs. 8 lakhs. In the last Budget this exemption limit was raised from Rs. 4 lakhs to Rs. 8 lakhs i.e. 100% hike. This year it has been increased to Rs. 10 lakhs, effective from 1st April 2008. Such threshold limits would have made some sense when the number of services taxed was less and sundry services were also brought under the levy. Today, you can hardly have a Works Contract with such meagre amounts. With the proposal to tax cash-rich IT industry by bring new entry in this budget, the nature of taxable services has become diverse with several services involving huge stakes. The limit is not in consonance with industry transactions and it certainly merits far more. But then, the government hurriedly taxes but holds up exemptions on some pretext or the other. Anyhow, a hike in such petty threshold limit shall do a world of good for administration too. It need not waste resources on surveys for netting potential assessees or those outside the net and collection cost should come down further.

No rate change but Works Contract bears the brunt

The fear over rate increase for eventual merger with GST rate in 2010 (GST rate is widely believed to be around 20%) can abate for now. The general rate of Service tax remains unchanged at 12% and with no new Cess proposed/imposed, it remains at 12.36%. But the Works Contract industry has been hit with a 100% hike. Many opted for Composition Scheme as it provided a profitable rate of 2%. With the increase in 4% from 1st March 2008 and with absence of clarification on applicability of new rate to on-going contracts, such optees are certain to experience nightmares now. A sovereign pledge by the FM on the floor of the Parliament to bring WC under the net last year like 2% rate is breached now. Such changes midway do not inspire confidence among the honest tax payers over the designs of the government.
For more pl. see 1st March 2008 Service Tax Review (S.T.R.)

Article in The Pioneer - 28th Feb 2008

2008-02-28T00:20:00.000-08:00

24x7 news on the idiot box
Second Opinion: Subhashree Kishore
With the flourishing of a plethora of television channels devoted to particular interests, one might be prompted to say that now television viewers in the country are spoilt for choice. They are no more dependent on a single state-owned channel as was the case more than a decade ago. But a closer look at the programmes shown on these channels tells a different story.
Almost all news channels are TRP-driven. They seek to get maximum public attention by whipping up mass hysteria and offer people what is easy and sensational and not what is desirable. This commercialisation has reached a new high as seen in the recent IPL player auction. The electronic media seems totally out of sync with the real India and its problems like food crisis, pollution, malnutrition, diseases, etc, except when forced to fill footage with stories of human grief or natural disasters. Aiming to give the stories a human face, the media makes hapless victims undergo televised trials with pointed, intrusive questions and insensitive language.
Of course, there are a handful of news channels that have debates and discussions. But sandwiched between promos of the latest films and never-ending interviews with celebrities, their kin and sycophants, they dilute the focus.
Despite its other failings, Doordarshan did its bit and still does so with programmes for farmers, coaching for school students, anti-drug addiction drives, content for family audience and children-specific programmes. Today children are made showpieces, conscripted to behave like adults with emotion-fraught mothers and relatives fighting on shows, termed as talent hunt. Quiz programmes have become a rarity. Games of chance, reality shows and film-based song-and-dance shows have become commonplace.
The saas-bahu sagas are retold with killing monotony. The jewellery, the make-up, the vamps and scheming ladies do not change. Programmes of the genre of Great Expectations, Surabhi and the like are always welcome. Sadly, nobody has the courage to ignore formulas.
Classical arts have become an anathema to most channels. Surely, if a director can effectively market a highly regressive image of the Bharatiya naari far removed from reality, he must also be able to popularise art, some real unsung heroes in society or, just for a change, happiness and triumph instead of tears and mean minds.

Letter to Editor

2008-02-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

Pvt Players begging for sops

by Dr.Gokul Kishore on 06-02-2008 - Financial Express
It is not ironical that demand for separate exemption limit for long-term savings like insurance comes not from salaried class but from the private insurance companies. Unable to penetrate or compete PSU behemoths and not able to push FDI ceiling, private insurance players have taken the 'cause of salaried class' now. Service delivery in terms of prompt settlement will be acid test in years to come and given the U.S. experiences, better service will be at an exorbitant premium which the middle-class Indian will hardly be able to cough up. Let there not be a separate exemption for long-term savings but an overall increase without any discrimination as to product as consumer is the king in a market and he can decide which one is better.

Retailing & entry of biggies - Letter to Editor

2008-02-24T23:59:00.000-08:00

Some circumspection please

Financial Express February 25th, 2008

Lipstick, lapis lazuli and louki under one roof is perhaps a gem of an idea (‘Open the entry point to foreign players’, Feb 16), though one could set out to buy louki and end up buying all three! Marketing revolves around demand creation and satisfaction. The economic delineation of goods as “necessities”, “comforts” and “luxuries” still persists. People pay for various levels of satisfaction, and business strategies are such that cost advantages do not always accrue to the consumer. Further, in an oligopolistic situation, in a market dominated by big brands, the customer does not have a “none of the above” option. Big retail could mean indigenous products are forced to make way for global merchandise. The soft drinks market is a case in point. Contract farming, likewise, can result in overbearing dominance by a few purchasers. What happens to the free interplay of demand and supply? It recedes. Farmers in Ghana and Thailand only get 5% of the retail realisation, while retailers and distributors garner 40%. The existence and effectiveness of legal measures to check hoarding or predatory pricing will remain doubtful. Land use patterns will certainly begin to change in favour of these biggies. So, before we open the country to such large forces, circumspection is in order.
—Subhashree Kishore New Delhi

Article on Budget in The Pioneer

2008-02-19T00:06:00.000-08:00

Why people don't care for Budget
Second Opinion: G Gokul Kishore

(Article published in The Pioneer (Daily) on 19th Feb 2008)

With the date for the announcement of Annual Budget approaching, one wonders if the pre-Budget and post-Budget debates will make any sense to a majority of our countrymen this time.
Average citizens seem to have resigned to fate as budgetary consultations don't accommodate the concerns and needs of the majority. Nor do the farmers, having left with no choice but to end their lives, have any say in the process. The vast majority of labourers in the unorganised sector are not even in the reckoning. Despite myriad schemes, the perennial paradox of intended beneficiaries caught in the vicious circle of lending, usury and sporadic relief persists. Sloppy implementation of NREG does not help them either.
A robust eight per cent growth and soaring Sensex - never mind the occasional dips - try to reinforce an image of all-round prosperity. But cars, colas and creams cannot substitute food, houses and medicine. Education and health still manage just a minuscule percentage of the GDP. Public schools are nakedly commercial today where the net worth of a family determines whether its children will have access to quality education. A hospital with minimum facilities is a mirage in most places.
Income generation is conspicuous by its absence. Unless the per capita income of rural households also registers an increase through substantial employment generation, consumption will stagnate. The sheen of IT/ITES or call-centre jobs cannot combat unemployment; such sectors remain irrelevant to the rural and semi-urban youth.
Equities are touted as 'patriotic' investments today. Government-backed savings schemes give low returns; ironically, the Government, too, is looking up to the market for parking its pension funds. Capital markets are risky and regulatory bodies can hardly protect small investors and senior citizens.
Catchy phrases like millennium goals and four per cent growth in the farm sector sound hollow as they appear more like strokes of fortune rather than result of policy. The overwhelming opinion seems to be to encourage industry, which will take care of all social needs through linkages and trickle-down effect. People forget that the corporate sector can supplement but cannot run a welfare state.
At a time when tax collections are extremely buoyant, Finance Minister P Chidambaram can afford to look beyond mere economic progress. Will he?

Letter to Editor, Financial Express

2008-02-13T00:23:00.000-08:00

Letter to Editor, Financial Express, Published on 13th Feb.

Tax breaks still lure savingsThe Financial ExpressPosted online: Tuesday , February 12, 2008 at 2354 hrs IST

The article (‘Self-sustained savings’, Feb 11) argues that it’s time to do away with tax breaks or bring pension products in line with tax treatment of small savings. But savings, investments and returns are not synonymous. As a safely regulated stockmarket is a myth, it’s irresponsible to suggest that we leave senior citizens and small investors at the mercy of bulls and bears. We have had enough bad experiences with NBFCs. Every investor would like security and returns, in that order, and not as mutually exclusive benefits. Also, private sector life insurers’ clamour for tax rebates (under Sec 80C) for their products, and the demand to grant a separate exemption upto Rs 1 lakh for insurance policies, defy the contention that tax breaks don’t affect investment decisions. Note how the extention of 80C cover to equity-linked schemes has improved their desirability at the retail level.
—Subhashree Kishore, New Delhi

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Tax-breaks-still-lure-savings/272291/

Budget fever - New article

2008-02-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

EVEN as Delhi shivers in cold wave, the North Block is probably warming on a teeming, beaming cup of joy, for tax collections are up by 40% and direct taxes at that. So have Indians become more prosperous, honest and law-abiding? Perhaps yes. There is also optimism among tax-payers that the FM will keep his promise of simplification of tax laws and easing of tax burden now that compliance has improved. Of course, corporates, their organized associations and professionals are probably ready with their wish list - respectably labeled ‘suggestions’. Despite the sporadic enhancement of threshold limits and progress towards a three-tier system on par with world economies there is still much to be done to make personal income tax sufficiently ‘personal’ rather than apathetic as it is viewed to be now. This write-up proceeds to propose a few changes aimed at easing the squeeze of individual assessees, more particularly the salaried class. For more...............

Check out the article with this link for Budget suggestions on Personal Income Tax front.
http://www.taxindiaonline.com/RC2/inside2.php3?filename=bnews_detail.php3&newsid=6718
If you have problem in accessing the webpage, please check "Budget Run-up" [Inside "More Articles"] in the website
http://www.taxindiaonline.com/

south indian dishes

2008-01-13T09:14:00.001-08:00

Chat

2008-01-13T09:12:00.001-08:00

Snack

2008-01-13T09:10:00.000-08:00

Pongal kolam

2008-01-13T09:09:00.001-08:00

Pongal kolam

2008-01-13T09:08:00.001-08:00

Pongal kolam

2008-01-13T09:06:00.001-08:00

Flora and Fauna

2008-01-11T07:09:00.001-08:00

Flora and Fauna

2008-01-11T07:08:00.000-08:00

Flora and Fauna

2008-01-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

Flora and Fauna

2008-01-11T07:04:00.000-08:00

Flora and Fauna

2008-01-11T06:54:00.001-08:00

Chimps on Treadmills
In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Sockol and Raichlen compared how much energy humans and chimpanzees use while walking. Five chimpanzees were taught to walk upright on treadmills while wearing oxygen masks. Raichlen said that the training was done over four months, but only when the chimps were cooperating. "These guys are smart enough that they would hit the stop button on the treadmill when they were done. If they didn't want to walk on the treadmill, they'd just hit the stop button or they'd jump off."

(Source : http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/bipedalism/)

C.Ex.Inspectors Assn recognised

2008-01-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

It is the greatest news this week - the All India Central Excise Inspectors' Association (formerly AIFCEEO) has been granted recognition by the Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India. Recognition under the CCS (RSA) Rules has been one of the urgent pending issues for the organisation which is the fulcrum of the staff side of the Central Excise machinery.
After crossing numerous hurdles and non-cooperation of a few units, the organisation has achieved its goal of statutory recognition. Though recognition per se does not add any extra strength to the organisation, nevertheless, it provides a legal status to the organisation. Such status becomes mandatory in judicial fora. It is also sine qua non to advance certain demands before the Revenue Dept. It can also contain the disparate elements within the organisation and among the cadre.
Now that statutory recognition has been obtained, it is hoped that more members will take active part in the activities and make the organisation more vibrant and help it and other government employees and workers get their just demands accepted. Com Manimohan, Secy. General, AICEIA rightly states "Organisation should be recognised by its members first." The Central Board of Excise & Customs (C.B.E. & C.) known for its anti-staff attitude and policies, should reorient itself and begin a fresh chapter in striking a chord with its own employees.

State of affairs in Developed U.K.

2008-01-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

Pension safeguards 'inadequate' - European court says Government failed thousands of workers
William Green
THOUSANDS of British workers who lost their pensions because of company insolvency received "inadequate" protection from the Government, a European court ruled yesterday.The European Court of Justice (ECJ) said the system in place prior to the establishment of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) was "incompatible" with European law.But the ruling fell short of demanding that workers receive direct recompense from the state, with the case now being returned to the UK courts to decide.The ECJ also stated that employees whose pension schemes went bust would not necessarily be entitled to full compensation – an implication that the current system does offer sufficient protection to workers.
The court's judgment will come as a relief to firms that had feared their annual contribution to the PPF would soar if the ECJ ruled compensation would have to be 100 per cent. But it will mean staff whose pension schemes went bust before the PPF was born in April 2005 are still in with a chance of some compensation.The ECJ ruling follows a case brought by trade unions Amicus and Community on behalf of pension scheme members at Allied Steel and Wire, which went bust in 2003. It found the Government system at that time was "incompatible with community law". The judgment also comes after more than 550 workers lost their jobs – and many their pensions as well – after the Hibernia Foods factory in Bridlington closed in January 2004.
The unions claimed the ruling as a victory. Derek Simpson, Amicus general secretary, said: "This judgment vindicates our decision to take this case all the way to the ECJ. We want the Government to reconsider its position. We believe that today's ruling demonstrates they have a moral obligation to reimburse the many thousands of people who ... have lost all or substantial parts of their pension savings."The case will now return to the High Court in London, which will decide if workers who lost out prior to the setting up of the PPF are entitled to compensation. But in a move that will allay the worst fears of UK firms the ECJ ruling implied the PPF did serve as a sufficient safety net for staff. Under the present system, members below retirement age only receive 90 per cent of their pension when they retire, with the amount capped at £26,050 every year.This appears to be in line with the ECJ ruling that member states will be given "considerable latitude which excludes an obligation to guarantee in full".
If the ECJ had called for a 100 per cent compensation level, UK firms could have seen their levy to the PPF rise by 500 per cent, analysts felt. In some cases, firms could have seen their levy rise 20-fold, leading to many going bust, experts said.The Department for Work and Pensions said yesterday's ruling was a "common sense" judgment that recognised current EU laws did not require states to ensure pensions were guaranteed in full.

Coldest Day in Delhi

2008-01-02T07:41:00.001-08:00

Today (2nd Jan 2008) is the coldest day of the season so far with mercury touching 1.9'C as I type this piece. Weatherman says the night temperature is likely to be around 1'C for a few days. Last year the minimum temperature did not dip below 2'C but then this year it's becoming bit unbearable. Of course, after a week things will improve.

New Year Greetings

2007-12-30T05:21:00.000-08:00

2007 -
Politically the year was dominated by 123 agreement
Economically Sensex went through the roof
Culturally even Tamil TV channels joined the reality bandwagon
Sportingly India won 20-20
Electorally mud-slinging touched new highs
Geographically God (Ram Sethu) was served with eviction orders
Socially amidst SEZs, suicides and starvation continued
Let 2008 give the poor and the needy their economic and social dues and the rich the strength to bear it and will to concede - Best wishes for a great year 2008.

2007-12-30T05:19:00.000-08:00

Please check this URL
http://www.geocities.com/gnkcontact/

Article published in www.taxindiaonline.com

2007-12-29T07:59:00.000-08:00

PERK UP! YE SALARIED CLASS
By Subha

The Sunday siesta got disturbed when my friend dropped in and fired a salvo – “What’s common between me, Anil Ambani and Shah Rukh Khan?”

I almost blurted ‘age’ but that would have been a little rude so I tried “olive oil…?”

“Hell! We are in the same tax slab – income tax”, he retorted. I responded with a polite laugh and that fuelled him into “Yes, it’s a cruel joke. Anyone who earns above Rs. 2.5 lakhs per annum pays 30%. I just got a pay hike of 7K p.m. and a month’s pay as bonus – that means I pay around Rs.35000 – the entire bonus as tax. Imagine even a small time businessman gets away – so much depreciation, incidental expenses. My boss is saving 30% on my salary – it is an expense.”

He would have gone all till I could see 30% everywhere so I interrupted – “But you have insurance, housing loan, children’s education expenses – I pay only around 6K in tax. Surely……”

“For you lady folks it’s a big advantage. Anyway, you have Ashok’s salary too. I’m the sole earning member.”

All this outburst pushed me into taking a closer look at income tax. This is usually reserved for eleventh hour in February or March when we try to frantically pull up our socks and try to save something to ward off the taxman. Come June-July we try to play the pompous upright honest tax-payer, left of course, with hardly any alternative. “Thin chance to avoid (read evade) in salary”, my husband had remarked once, dryly.

I gathered from my friend, some tips in planning (this annual exercise is more complicated than Five-Year Plans) and preparing (mentally at least) to part with our hard-earned money.

· Familiarise yourself a little with your tax rules – you don’t need God to help you there. Just check out some good websites/books.

· Start as early as Nov-December (earlier the better even if it is at the cost of some domestic peace) to work out actual liability. It gives time to save something and invest in tax saving instruments like bonds or deposits, if necessary.

· It’s true that in order to save Rs. 1000 on tax paid you have to invest 1000 x 100 / (your slab %), which is locked up for 5 years if deposited in banks or at least for 3 to 5 years in most Unit Linked Insurance Policies (ULIPs). If you are looking for security plus savings, the traditional insurance policy may be attractive.

· If your office/employer regularly torments by deducting tax (TDS) monthly you may not feel the pinch. Else better start keeping a sum apart every month so that you need not lament at the 12th hour.

· In respect of income from house property where house is let out interest on loan is deductible without any limit. In case of self occupied property it is limited to Rs.30000/-. But if the property was acquired or constructed with capital borrowed on or after the 1.04.1999 and the acquisition or construction was completed within three years from the end of the financial year in which capital was borrowed the limit is Rs 150000/-. “Of course if you have two or more houses, you can choose any one them, the most favourable to you to be self-occupied”, my friend counselled. “ This is hardly beneficial to me, I’m squeezing the maximum for my EMI my flat”.

My friend spoke at length about the Fringe Benefit Tax or the FBT - some of it was beyond me, but I gathered that you need to look at the structure of your salary and also whether your employer is deducting FBT correctly. Further, FBT is a presumptive tax and actual expenses or reimbursement in respect of the list of expenses which attract FBT, is immaterial. The liability to pay the same is on the employer. Reimbursement of medical expenses upto Rs 15000/- per annum is not taxable in most cases and also does not attract FBT. Children education allowance upto Rs.100/- per month and children hostel expenditure upto Rs.300/- per month is not taxable. Statutory payments like Group Personal Accident, Workman Compensation Insurance, payment to approved gratuity fund or provident fund are also out of FBT. So you need to watch out for expenses like telephone expenses borne by the employer, use of club facilities, gifts given by employer, scholarships given to children (of employee), entertainment expenses, hotel boarding and lodging. You can see the complete list under the relevant section in Chapter XIIH of Income Tax Act.

My father-in-law had a question for him regarding gifts and capital gains arising out of sale of land. Much to my chagrin, our ignorance came in full view, for we contended that since my father-in-law was a senior citizen and he was not even a pensioner he could get away by transferring some amount to my mother-in-law’s account or take refuge in Section 80C [Total taxable gains worked out to Rs 3.1 lakhs]. Apparently Long Term Capital Gains are taxed separately at a flat rate of 20% irrespective of other taxable income. In respect of individuals (including the nebulous entity of HUF), where total taxable income as reduced by Long term capital gain (that is without adding LTCG) is below basic exemption limit, the shortfall can be used to reduce the taxable Long Term Capital Gains and only balance is subject to the flat rate of 20%. The only two ways to save on tax on LTCG in this case would be to either invest in bonds of National Highways Authority of India or Rural Electrification Corporation Limited. Another option is to deposit in Capital Gains Account in notified banks and invest in residential property within 3 years from the date of transfer.

The sermon went on thus - If he were to transfer the amount to his wife, say to a bank account or some investments, income arising from such transfers would be clubbed with his income. Section 64 (1)(iv) essentially provides for clubbing of income of spouse unless it is attributable to some technical or professional qualification. He cited an interesting case of R. Dalmia v. CIT [1982] 133 ITR 169 (Delhi) wherein the High Court had held a wife could make savings out of household expenses received from the husband and the income arising from investment of such savings would be separate property and should not be clubbed.

Though tax law usually does not provide anything which can be music to our ears, my friend managed to cull out one. Gifts received from certain specified relatives as per Section 56(2)(v) will not be considered as income and taxed in the hands of the recipient. The limit of Rs.50000 in aggregate does not operate in this case and it is only for non-relatives. If this amount exceeds by even one rupee, the entire amount becomes taxable when it comes to non-relatives. As recipient is liable in case of gifts, better be cautious of who is giving and how much he is gifting. Of course, gifts in kind are out of purview.

Going back to my friend’s contention of being in the same boat as high profile millionaires, I felt he was slightly off the mark because income above Rs.10 lakhs carries a 10% surcharge on tax. But yet, he has a point given the fact that disposable income in the hands of the individual presents a picture in contrast to his tax slab. A gentleman with income of say Rs. 3 lakhs will have Rs 2.5 lakhs after taxes (assuming there are no savings) while another with 4 times his income will have Rs. 8.8 lakhs after tax and as we go higher the effective rate of tax increases by less than 0.25%. That doesn’t seem to be a really progressive tax. While relief to working women and senior citizens is welcome, we do need some rationalization in the limits. In recent years there has been just minimal tinkering with the basic exemption, the upper limit of Rs 2.5 lakhs has not been changed. Thus those with income upto say Rs 5 lakh will get hardly any relief. As always the too poor and very rich are insulated from these changes. It is the middle bracket which is taxed more. We need to look for tax structure which will be fairer and really progressive in terms of the assessee’s capacity to bear. After all income tax is a direct tax and more specifically it is the salaried class that lives from one payday to the other, which records maximum compliance.

One of the articles published in Excise Law Times

2007-12-29T07:56:00.001-08:00

VAT - PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
By G. Gokul Kishore

The voices uttering the word 'VAT' are gaining strength as days pass and it has taken roughly thirty years to deliberate on the subject on such a scale since introduction of a Value Added Tax in Brazil in 1966. Though by way of 'proforma credit' and other such schemes, some form of reform was attempted, the acronym came with a bang in 1986, when a modified version, in that it was confined to excise duties levied and administered by the Union Government, was introduced and within excise, it was restricted to input tax credits. The concept of a single commodity levy encompassing both the administrative units viz., the Union and the States is fraught with multifarious and multitudinous effects and counter-effects which have been analysed by tax administrators and experts of Public Finance. The objective of this article is to throw light on the problems in implementing a complete VAT and the possible options to make the process workable.

VAT literally means 'Value Added Tax' i.e. a tax on the value added. Addition of value means the incremental intrinsic monetary value of a commodity which is scientific, objective and quantifiable. While multi-level taxation of a particular goods is economically undesirable in that it would cause an upward spiralling of the prices over and above the true and real worth of an article, yet the indispensability of a regressive tax like excise with its equal incidence forces injection of some progressiveness in such a levy. The result is the taxation of value additions at every stage till the goods reach the ultimate consumer. VAT provides the much needed veil of progressiveness to commodity taxes as in a developing economy like India, the ideal predominance of direct taxes over indirect taxes is a distant dream.

There are three stages in the process of VAT. First stage involves making the federal commodity tax as 'value-added'. The second stage relates to co-existence of a state level VAT alongwith the Central VAT. The final stage is the integration of the value added levies administered at both the federal and local levels into one single tax. The Union Excise has been termed as Central VAT (CENVAT) which is a rebatable levy for the taxable industrial consumer extending to almost all the commodities irrespective of the differentiation 'inputs' and 'capital goods' with the 'difference', till its obliteration recently, costing crores of rupees in litigation for the assessees and locking up revenue for the exchequer. While at the federal level the tax at the manufacturing stage, the Union Excises have been converted into a 'VAT', the Frankenstein of conversion of sales taxes of States into VAT and their integration with the Central VAT has made the entire process a non-starter. The various problems associated with the introduction of a total VAT regime in India logically take us to the second stage in the process i.e. dual VAT as advocated by economists and the Tax Reforms Committee. It is the realistic and workable formula in the Indian context since taxing the same base by various tiers of administration is unavoidable. The narrow tax base of both direct and indirect taxes, though considerable efforts have been taken to widen the same in both of them by bringing a host of services in the net of the latter, is an indicator of limitations in the commodity taxes reforms.

As Dr G.K. Pillai notes in his book 'Value Added Tax', the various studies of incidence of such reformed commodity tax reveal that regressivity of indirect taxes is reduced to a great extent only when essential commodities are not taxed and in countries where such a system could not be introduced, the progressivity has been very marginal. For a country like India where, even according to official statistics, more than a quarter of the population survive below poverty line and where the established social security measures such as Public Distribution System and fertilizer subsidies are being done away with, exemption of a few essential goods from the purview of commodity taxes should be seriously considered. The revenue foregone by such a measure would be offset by VAT, as experiences with such steps point out.

The Central Sales Tax, collected and appropriated by the exporting states in the case of inter-state trade, may have to be rebated by the importing state. This revenue has to be reimbursed by the Centre taking into account the recommendations of the Finance Commission and also the increasing revenue accruing to the Union Government from the service sector tax-base which has widened significantly in recent times. In this connection the idea of leaving the service sector for the states may operate against the interests of under-developed states where the tertiary sector has not picked up on a cognizable scale. The suggestion of abolition of CST altogether would be opposed tooth and nail by the taxing states which invariably belong to the developed class. The importing state would suffer from 'double- jeopardy' (in the literal sense) if it were to provide abatement for the levy in that while on the one hand the tax revenue from finished goods is reduced, these under-developed states which are more of consumers would be left with very little space for value-addition and consequently tax revenue gets deflated.

If the rough ride of passing through to a system of uniform sales tax among all the states which is the starting point is any indicator, the authorities concerned will encounter stiff resistance given also the pressures of neo-liberal processes of liberalisation and privatisation on the near-bankrupt states. The pauperised states could ill afford to think of tinkering with the single largest contributor to their coffers. The constitutional pre-eminence of the two levies, excise and sales taxes and their role in the finances and hence that of the governance in a loose federal setup like India only leads one to safely conclude that VAT in toto, is utopian.

Introduction of a total VAT regime when many centrifugal forces are at work in a heterogeneous federal polity can only spell greater danger to India as a nation-state. The developed states with wider tax base and better administrative resources to ensure compliance would significantly gain at the cost of the lesser developed states and the disparity in the growth rates would widen. The effectiveness of the role of the Centre in the wake of emergence of coalition governments in such a scenario is doubtful, to say the least.

The idea of transferring almost all the excises to the states, with the Union retaining only a few commodities and then providing for a legal frame-work to ensure horizontal distribution is, prima facie, not necessary as buoyancy in revenue collection would neither get improved significantly nor is it workable. The experiences of the intransigence exhibited and the spectacle of the Centre being a mute witness to sharing of river waters in spite of awards of legally constituted tribunals would definitely point to replication of such a performance by the states. The consequences of choking of finances by cash rich states to the under-privileged states would be disastrous for the country as such.

After extension of VAT to the state-level which may be a calibrated exercise by restricting it to whole-sale stage, price effect should be studied which may provide valuable conclusions in the direction for further reforms. For this purpose, the valuation machinery should be geared up. Incidence of such Value Added Tax should be analysed as non-economic aspects of reforms are as important as economic ones. The dwindling state social security further reduces the tools of control available with the administration to counter the onslaughts of market forces and the time is more suitable to retain taxation as one. Taxation as a tool of re-distribution to ensure the betterment of the impoverished masses gains currency under such circumstances. Conservative it may sound, yet the paradoxes of the New Economic Policy like withdrawal of the State from business activities reserving the right to interfere through regulatory mechanism which may extend to takeover in 'public interest', do not obviate the welfare obligations of the State.

Transparency and right to information being the modern day hymns of the public bureaucracy, sufficient publicity should be given before implementation is contemplated and the proposals need to be discussed with all the interest groups such as chambers of commerce, traders forum, consumer action groups and others. In this direction it is to be welcomed that to take on board all the states without any differentiation, the date for introduction of VAT in states has been put off till 1.4.2003. Preparatory time is very crucial and even if it means travelling beyond the scheduled time, it is sine qua non for the reforms to succeed. With all the necessary information being made available, the apprehensions and inhibitions of the states would give way to realistic approach tempered with rationality.

An area that needs crying attention is reforming the sales tax administration of the states which vary in every aspect. Variation may be explained as necessitated by circumstances peculiar to that particular state. But that does not condone the effects of an archaic regime contributing, in part, to the skewed development pattern obtaining in the country. While competition among the players may be beneficial for the economy, yet the same among states is neither politically nor economically desirable. Hence the state governments should whole-heartedly agree over comprehensive reforms of their sales taxes aimed at achieving uniformity, certainty and equity. Making those levies vatable would require enforcement of document-oriented business practices which is feasible only upto a certain point. With misplaced enthusiasm, trying to capture all and sundry to include even the remote retailer would make the levy meaningless given the literacy level and collection and compliance costs.

Full-fledged VAT in states is not practicable in the near future. Integration of state VAT with central VAT would further require, inter alia, coordinating machinery with efficiency of highest order for matching of sale and purchase invoices, detection of evasion and ensuring better compliance. With the governments at both the levels unable to rein in their expenditure and with augmentation of resources through rate revision ceasing to be an option, any reform measure with multiple, arduous and often non-feasible factors in full play is bound to be jinxed. As discussed, a middle-path in this context, a dual VAT, is the more practicable proposition as the Central VAT is already in place and reforming the states' sales tax to make it vatable should lead to an improved system

Article published in www.taxindiaonline.com

2007-12-29T07:51:00.000-08:00

Large Taxpayer Units - A bird's eye view
By G Gokul Kishore
''AS a measure of facilitation, I propose to follow international practice and establish LTUs. To begin with, these units will be set up in major cities. I would like to invite large taxpayers, whether of corporate tax or income tax or excise duties or service tax, to participate in the programme and avail of the single window service." (Budget Speech by Hon’ble Finance Minister). The past decade and a half has been witness to injection of heavy doses of reforms into the Indian Tax system, both direct and indirect at national as well as state levels. While the Chelliah Committee Report formed the basis of reforms in the 1990s, the Advisory Group on Tax Planning and Tax Administration (AGTPTA) for the 10th Plan and Kelkar Task Force sustained the reform process in first decade of this millennium. The implementation of VAT in majority of states from 1st April 2005 based on the roadmap worked out by the Empowered Committee of State Finance Ministers was the moment of glory for Indian Taxation as the commodity taxes were infused with the much-needed progressivity since reduction in regressivity of indirect taxes has been a constant endeavor of tax economists. Measures like e-filing of returns and Help Centres have dominated the attention of everyone, but the announcement of the FM on establishment of separate offices to cater to Large Taxpayers and constitution and submission of Project Report by the Action Group (CBEC & CBDT) on such Large Taxpayer Units (LTUs) remains elusive from media glare. This article is an attempt to throw some light on the LTUs as proposed by the Action Group and to fine-tune the proposed set-up and its processes. What is an LTU? As the nomenclature itself provides the etymological connotation that they are units or offices exclusively for catering to the tax needs of large assessees, the next logical step is to provide the criterion to define the term ‘large’. As per the Project Report of the Action Group, corporate assessees paying excise revenue of Rs 1 crore or more are the ‘Large Taxpayers’. The much-touted adjective for these units is ‘self-contained’ and the objective is to provide a single window in respect of all tax matters, whether direct or indirect. The concept of LTU has its genesis in the discussions of IMF which recommended the same for reforming tax administration in countries facing revenue crisis. In Canada, entities with gross annual revenue of $ 15 million or more are classified as LTUs. In Poland, certain type of businesses like banks, insurance and foreign ventures are categorized as Large Taxpayers. Gross income, tax due and tax paid are some of the criteria adopted in some countries to define and Large Taxpayers. Functions of LTUs LTUs are tax offices which will provide facilities for scrutiny and assessment of returns, recovery of short-levied or short paid taxes, adjudication of disputes and an appellate authority. They will provide tax advisory services. As per the proposed scheme, Corporte Tax, Central Excise and Service Tax will be dealt with by LTUs and Customs is excluded for the reason that assessment takes place on real time at the port of importation. These units are intended to collate and integrate information contained in returns filed by major assessees under various tax statutes. Trade facilitation is the primary function from the point of view of the assessees and for the taxman, LTU will assist in checking evasion by enabling access to variety of information as contained in returns and accounts and guarantee better compliance. Excise duty is levied at the stage of manufacture and other levies such as sales tax, corporation tax, etc., only follow. Non-reporting/Under-reporting of the value of the manufactured goods results in excise evasion further leading to evasion of sales tax to the extent of that portion of value which is depressed and consequently ending up with payment of lower corporate tax and the net income tax. It obviously flows that excise evasion has a cumulative and cascading effect on almost all the types of other levies. By focusing on a particular segment of excise assessees, leakages in revenue are anticipated to be plugged. While the preceding paragraph would point to LTUs being a necessity for the taxman, the tax-payer angle also needs to be highlighted. The role of such big business in creation of wealth, foreign trade, overseas investments, R&D and the like demand some special treatment in the form of better service delivery, client education, extensive consultations and mediation in dispute resolution. LTUs are designed to perform these functions. Administrative set-up The proposed LTU will be set up in 12 cities selected on the basis of the concentration of major assessees. Phase 1 will commence with the establishment of LTU in four metros and considering the number of major assessees in Mumbai and Delhi, two LTUs will be set up in these two cities. There will be a Member (LTU) in both CBEC and CBDT and every LTU headed by a Chief Commissioner either from Income Tax or from Central Excise will report to the said Member. One or more Executive Commissioners and an Appellate Commissioner from both I.T. and Excise form the next rung and Additional and Deputy Commissioner to be assisted by ITOs/Superintendents and Inspectors form the last middle tier in the hierarchy. The supporting ministerial staff along with Group D will form the last layer. The only factor that differentiates an LTU from a regular IT or Excise office is that at the Commissioner’s level, there will be functional specialization and each of them will be responsible for a specific sector (Industrial vertical, as the Group puts it) viz., textiles, pharma, oil, automobiles or I.T. A common tax portal will be launched which will integrate the data bases of all the tax departments. Economic Rationale: The rationale for going for exclusive tax offices for a category of assessees is the basic principle of economics i.e. majority is contributed by minority and minority enjoys the majority. In statistical parlance, 5493 assessees pay more than one crore by way of excise and their contribution to the total excise revenue is more than 70%. To put it more precisely, around 5% of the assessees contribute about 70% of excise revenue and the balance 95% contribute 30% of revenue. For optimal utilization of resources, instead of a thin spread of the entire tax administration over a vast majority, a section of the bureaucracy will dedicatedly cater to the big business thereby significantly reducing both collection and compliance costs. LTUs – Certain Imperatives The concept of LTUs is to aid the taxman to look into big business with a magnifying glass and check evasion and fraud by better sharing of information. While establishing such units, the government should make it clear that it is only as a matter of priority that they are set up and the usual offices and other assessees, particularly, SSIs, should not be made to feel unwanted or neglected. The conventional offices are expected to provide all support for LTUs in respect of any information and audit and such a functional arrangement may give LTUs the big-brother attitude. The field formations and the trade to which they tend to, may feel demoralized and sidelined which is neither economically preferable nor socially desirable. Also, overemphasis on LTUs may tend to aggravate economic distortions in that choices of production and consumption may get altered thereby causing negative revenue impact, a danger pointed out by Shri Parthasarathi Shome in his Paper “Tax Administration & the Small Tax Payer: Concepts, Concerns and Corrections”. Medium and small scale assessees should be provided all the advantages available to LTUs and in this direction, LTUs should serve as pilot projects for conducting feasibility studies in respect of tax reform measures. Time and again, including by KTF, codification of accepted decisions of the judiciary has been stressed to avoid frivolous litigation and to stop exhuming settled issues. No action has been taken so far and when LTUs are in place, such codification may become sine qua non as otherwise, the purpose of trade facilitation will be reduced to a mockery and LTUs will end up as yet another set of government offices. Large discretion should be given to C.C.s in LTUs while deciding to appeal or not against orders not favourable to Revenue. All relevant amendments to the statute and the rules should be put on the website of the Boards for pointing out any lacunae and to minimize the fodder for litigation on interpretation owing to poor or faulty drafting. According to IMF Paper ‘Improving Large Taxpayers’ Compliance: A Review of Country Experience’ [ Katherine Baer, et al, 2002], LTUs have been effective where highly centralized organization is in place and they are least effective where greater decentralization has been allowed. This read with another suggestion of clear reporting lines between the LTUs and the Board point to the necessity for evolving major administrative arrangement which ultimately may replace the Revenue Boards. Possibilities of introducing real time audit i.e. auditing before returns are filed, should be explored as such as suggested in Canada by Canada Customs and Revenue Agency [CCRA: Working Group on Large Business – External Consultation Paper (2001)] as the inherent defect of audit of being a post-mortem job can be removed to an extent. Any organization, to achieve unity of purpose should have unity of command. In the proposed scheme of things, major assessees who will be under the LTUs will be under dual control i.e. one of the LTU and the other being the usual Ranges and Divisions. The reason cited for concurrent jurisdiction appears very facile. The Ranges and Divisions are expected to provide assistance in export clearance and physical scrutiny of records (if required). It is too well-known that majority of major assessees opt for self-sealing save for DEPB clearances where such units prefer to have Excise supervision rather than Customs in view of the lower ‘opportunity costs’ in Excise vis-à-vis Customs. Physical scrutiny of records are required only for raising demand for short payment or for audit purposes and hence once the LTUs are in place, the existing offices exercising ‘control’(just to satisfy the bruised ego of excise men) over such large units will, at one stroke, be rendered redundant. There will then be a reorganization of the ranges and divisions. In view of the impending obsolescence of such conventional excise offices where LTUs constitute the raison d’etre, a clear and unambiguous roadmap for reorganization of such offices should be in place before 1st January 2006. The Project Report is silent on sourcing of staff and their service conditions. It can be safely presumed that a section of the existing officers and staff will be re-designated as LTU staff or they will be on ‘deputation’ to such agency. The expansionist drama staged by the Revenue Boards during the last cadre-restructuring providing for 100% to 200% increase in Group A posts should not be re-enacted and all Group A posts should be diverted from the existing strength to LTUs. With the reduction of number of appeals, the posts of Commissioner (Appeals) can be restored to pre-restructuring number and the excess posts need to be diverted to LTUs. Though these excess posts are now camouflaged with the executive cloak, identification and diversion are not insurmountable tasks. Since the officers are going to be saddled with extra-responsibilities in that they are expected to be abreast with law and procedures to take the big bulls by their horns, pay and perks should be commensurate with such posts. Let the LTUs be the forerunners of ‘generation next’ government offices which attract the best of talents through lucid job description and lucrative compensation package. Learning from the past experiences, Cadre-Control functions should be clearly demarcated to the concerned zonal Chief Commissioner or to a Committee of Chief Commissioners (the new blue-eyed boy is the committee system). The problems of infighting among the Chief Commissioners after cadre restructuring and consequent tossing of officers should be kept in mind so that such avoidable things do not recur. When the Report conjures up an image of swanky private-sector like offices for LTUs, retention of the long discredited Control Room, protocol work and uniform for officers will present the units in a very bad light. The CBEC should come out with clear-cut decision that such colonial vestiges will not find a place in the LTUs. Let us hope that the LTUs become model government offices which will achieve the seemingly impossible i.e. keeping both the taxpayer and the taxman happy and smiling.

Paper presented in All India Criminology Conference

2007-12-29T07:49:00.000-08:00

PROSECUTION AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESPONSE IN CUSTOMS AND CENTRAL EXCISE – A STUDY
By Dr. G. Gokul Kishore & Mr. T.M. Kothandaraman

Crime-prevention through punitive action is sine qua non for the existence and sustenance of society and the human civilisation. In any society, more so in the modern era, the consequences of criminal acts determine the magnitude of correctional actions. With Politics leaving the centre-stage in Inter-national relations and economics occupying its place, economic crimes assume more significance as the latter increases in geometric proportion compared to the development of a monetised and complicated economic structures both in the canvass of nation-states and in the international horizon. The damage that is inflicted by economic crimes to a national economy and hence the society mandates the need to prevent them. The trial and punishment of such offences by the judicial system secures two ends i.e. the offender is reformed (reformative end) and the potential offenders are deterred from indulging in such activities (deterrence effect). Thus prosecution of an economic offender serves at both the individual and social levels.

Indirect taxes contribute the maximum ( 50 % of Gross Tax Receipts of Govt. of India during 1997-2001)(CMIE 2002) among all other tax revenues to the Central Exchequer and every leakage in such revenue has far-reaching implications. K.D.Gaur ( 1987) identifies, inter alia, (i) inadequate prosecution machinery (ii) lack of adequate legal advice on potential prosecution cases (iii) lenient judicial attitude towards tax evasion as causes of tax evasion. The Indirect tax laws, viz., the Customs Act, 1962 and the Central Excise Act, 1944 provide for prosecution and punishment by the Judiciary in addition to the financial penalties imposed by the department. With the advent of New Economic Policy in 1991, the overall climate in so far economic offences are concerned, has become more of ‘fine-only’ offences with the criminal intent/effect receding to the back-stage. The role of the Criminal Justice System has been under greater strain in such a scenario. This Paper, therefore, attempts to study the present-day statutory provisions pertaining to prosecution in respect of evasion of Customs and Union Excise duties as provided in the relevant statutes, the performance of the Indirect Tax Administration in bringing tax offenders to book and the Criminal Justice Response in this sphere. An evaluation of the prosecution performance is also made along with a discussion of relevant recommendations of various committees constituted by the Government of India. The extent of implementation of various reforms and consequential results in tackling such crimes also form part of the discussion.

Paper presented in All India Criminology Conference

2007-12-29T07:43:00.000-08:00

Tax Crimes in India - A study of Union Excise Duty evasion
By Dr Kishore and Sri Kothandaraman

Introduction:

Taxes are 'imposed' and this nature of tax substantiates the fact that Economics is not divorced from Physics in that tax evasion exemplifies Newton's Third Law of Motion. It is common knowledge that the tendency to evade a tax is as old as the tax itself. The nature, characteristics and consequences of such evasionary acts in monetised economy vastly differ, from a largely individual-oriented barter economy of the earlier era. The modern day evasion represents a direct, deliberate and informed attack of an individual or group on the State or the society at large. Tax crimes are part of economic crimes and are violations of fiscal laws of the land in the course of occupational activity by persons who are respectable and of high status in the eyes of the society. Edwin Sutherland, a noted Criminologist described these as "crimes committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of occupation. First proposed by Edelbery (1970) and later figuring in a legislation in USA, 'economic crimes' is defined as 'an illegal act or a series of illegal acts committed by non-physical means and by concealment or guile, to obtain money or property, and avoid the payment of loss of money or property, or to obtain business or personal advantages.'

Paper published in Indian Journal of Political Science

2007-12-29T07:37:00.000-08:00

INDEPENDENCE AND PRISMATIC FACTORS IN QUASI-JUDICIAL SPHERE OF UNION REVENUE ADMINISTRATION- A STUDY
(BY DR. KISHORE AND DR SURESH BABU)

ABSTRACT

Rule- orientation, neutrality and anonymity are few of the hall-marks of bureaucracy. Such Weberian characteristics can be obtained in a complete manner only in ideal situations which, often, are far removed from reality. Absence of such factors lead to great deal of formalism and lack of independence in many spheres and this is more marked in Union Revenue Administration. Among the sources of revenue to the Government of India, Union Excise duties occupy a pride of place constituting the largest percentage averaging 35% of the gross tax revenue receipts from 1997-98 to 2001-02. The significance of the levy points to the urgency in addressing the problems in its administration. The Paper extrapolates Riggsian concepts to comprehend such problems in the sphere of adjudication. It begins with an introduction to functioning of quasi-judicial system in the Central Excise Administration and then proceeds to analyse the extent of prevalence of such factors followed by an attempt to understand the causes of their existence. A solution which is both administratively feasible and economically viable has been suggested for imparting greater independence in the adjudicatory proceedings. The Paper also considers the views of various Tax Reforms Committees constituted by the Union Government in so far as adjudication is concerned and evaluates the relevance of criticisms of Riggsian concept of Prismatic society to the identified problem and suggested solution.

2007-12-29T07:34:00.000-08:00

Rhythm Divine

2007-12-29T07:30:00.000-08:00

2007-12-29T07:29:00.000-08:00

Nature

2007-12-29T07:26:00.000-08:00

Nature

2007-12-29T07:24:00.000-08:00

south indian dishes

2007-12-29T07:23:00.001-08:00

south indian dishes

2007-12-29T07:21:00.001-08:00

south indian dishes

2007-12-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

Check out these links

2007-12-29T00:14:00.000-08:00

Articles published in The Hindu
http://www.hindu.com/op/2007/11/11/stories/2007111150031400.htm
http://www.hinduonnet.com/op/2007/09/02/stories/2007090250031400.htm
Check out the pages of Inspectors' Assn.
http://aiceia.blogspot.com/

some culinary efforts

2007-12-28T06:46:00.000-08:00

some culinary efforts

2007-12-28T06:44:00.001-08:00

some culinary efforts

2007-12-28T06:41:00.000-08:00

some culinary efforts

2007-12-28T06:39:00.001-08:00

some culinary efforts

2007-12-28T06:37:00.000-08:00

some culinary efforts

2007-12-28T06:34:00.000-08:00

some culinary efforts

2007-12-28T06:33:00.001-08:00

some culinary efforts

2007-12-28T06:31:00.001-08:00

some culinary efforts

2007-12-28T06:28:00.000-08:00