Asia

Banks in Singapore agonize over rich clients in tax evasion clampdown

"The Southeast Asian city-state has grown into the world's fourth-biggest offshore financial center but, with U.S. and European regulators on the hunt for tax cheats, the government is clamping down to forestall the kind of onslaught from foreign authorities that is now hitting Switzerland's banks. Before July 1, all financial institutions in Singapore must identify accounts they strongly suspect hold proceeds of fraudulent or wilful tax evasion and, where necessary, close them. After that, handling the proceeds of tax crimes will be a criminal offence under changes to the city-state's anti-money laundering law." Continue reading →

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India gives top security protection to country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani

"The Indian government is to provide the country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, head of energy giant Reliance Industries, with full-time security from armed commandos, media reports said Monday. India’s home ministry approved the move, the Times of India said, two months after a letter threatening to harm Ambani was hand-delivered to his office in Mumbai, allegedly from the banned Indian Mujahideen militant group. Citing an unnamed government source, the newspaper said Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had approved the so-called 'Z category' top-grade security for Ambani, which is usually reserved for prominent political leaders." Continue reading →

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‘No frills’ Indian hospitals offer $800 heart surgery

"What if hospitals were run like a mix of Wal-Mart and a low-cost airline? The result might be something like the chain of 'no-frills' Narayana Hrudayalaya clinics. Using pre-fabricated buildings, stripping out air-conditioning and even training visitors to help with post-operative care, the group believes it can cut the cost of heart surgery to an astonishing 800 dollars. Already famous for his 'heart factory' in Bangalore, which does the highest number of cardiac operations in the world, the latest 'Temple of the Heart' projects are ultra low-cost facilities. 'Our target is to build and equip a hospital for six million dollars and build it in six months.'" Continue reading →

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Wary of China, Companies Head to Cambodia

"Foreign companies are flocking to Cambodia for a simple reason. They want to limit their overwhelming reliance on factories in China. Problems are multiplying fast for foreign investors in China. Blue-collar wages have surged, quadrupling in the last decade as a factory construction boom has coincided with waning numbers of young people interested in factory jobs. Starting last year, the labor force has actually begun shrinking because of the “one child” policy and an aging population. Foreign investment in China slipped 3.5 percent last year, after rising every year since 1980 except 1999, during the Asian financial crisis, and 2009, during the global financial crisis." Continue reading →

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Chinese Soldiers March Into Indian Territory, Pitch Tents, Declare Land For China

"An equally plausible explanation is that ambiguity and an unwillingness to retreat was the cause of all the fuss. Troops from both the Chinese and Indian militaries cross the unmarked border on a regular basis, sometimes unaware of having done so. 'This sort of situation happens easily because the two sides have different understandings of the Line of Actual Control,' said Zhang Li, a professor at Sichuan University. Indian politicians disagree, saying that Chinese troops deliberately crossed into Indian territory and have since refused to leave. The government has promised to defend Indian interests, while opposition parties accuse it of cowardice and inaction." Continue reading →

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India central bank introduces more policies to curb gold imports

"India's central bank announced more stringent measures for gold imports by banks in it's annual monetary statement. Analysts said the move is likely to impact country's gold imports this year. The central bank said banks will be allowed to import bullion on a consignment basis to meet only genuine needs of exporters of gold jewelry. RBI will issue detailed guidelines on gold imports by authorized banks by the end of this month after it sees banks also import gold on an unfixed price basis and loan basis, according to the central bank." Continue reading →

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The Market Shall Set North Korea Free

"Today, when North Koreans are ordered by their state employer to take part in political activities, they know their time is being wasted. Fewer North Koreans show up for their state jobs. This growing economic and psychological independence among regular people is becoming the greatest thorn in the regime’s side. It is also the key to change. Instead of focusing on the regime and its agents as possible instigators of reform, we must recognize the power of the flourishing marketplace to slowly but definitively transform North Korea from the bottom up." Continue reading →

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Indian gold smugglers take body route to outwit customs

"Smugglers and couriers who bring gold into the country illegally, have usually been known to bring the commodity by hiding it outside their body through various means. But with air intelligence units of the customs wising up to myriad modes of concealment, smugglers have resorted to reshaping gold to get it through. In Monday’s incident two men who arrived from Sri Lanka at the airport had shaped crude gold bits to fit inside the base of their mouth under the tongue. In another incident, a buxom lady was arrested after sleuths found that her bosom appeared extra-large as she had sewn 4 kg of shaped gold into her brassiere." Continue reading →

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Slump in gold price releases years of pent-up retail demand

"Gold retailers struggled to cope this week as parents buying dowries, casual shoppers and tourists snapped up bars, coins, nuggets and jewellery as a slump in the price of the yellow metal released years of pent-up retail demand. The price decline in the past week, the steepest in 30 years, has tarnished gold's appeal for the portfolio investors whose money had fuelled a 12-year bull run. As investors rush out, consumers that were priced out of the market for years have rushed in. In the United States, sales of American Eagle gold for two days this week topped the volumes for the whole of March." Continue reading →

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Japanese police ask ISPs to block Tor

"Japanese citizens who want to use Tor for whistleblowing or simply to stay invisible don't have to worry quite yet about the agency's desire to crack down on Web freedom. One industry insider told The Mainichi that 'Communication privacy is our lifeline. We won't be able to accept such a request,' and with any luck, an industry backlash could force the agency to look at more sensible ways to combat cybercrime and piracy -- or they could simply go back to chasing cats." Continue reading →

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