"Eight days into demonetisation, the death toll has reached 47. These are confirmed deaths reported in the national media. The number of unreported deaths may be higher. While most deaths are of the elderly waiting in long bank queues, there are quite a few suicides, especially of housewives." Continue reading →
"Thousands of Indian citizens in the US – from IT workers, health professionals, students and everyone else under the sun – will soon be innocent victims to snooping by the Indian government. If an Indian citizen holds a bank account in the US, minute details about his/her bank account will be shared with New Delhi by Washington. Although India gets access only to bank account information of Indian citizens, the US can get access to even information of 'non-US entities' operating in India if it has even one American working for them. That means information about any Indian corporation or organisation would be provided to Washington on request, if it has an American on rolls." Continue reading →
"In two years--since government increased duty on gold to 10% to rein in a yawning current account deficit—gold smuggling has grown by 900%. That as an accepted principle seizures could be less than 10% of actual smuggling, the figures look even more ominous. Sources say gold has also begun to be smuggled in ever unique ways and from rather unexpected corners. There is a silver lining to the grim story though. There is an unexpected drop in Nepal which had seen a massive spurt in gold smuggling in the past couple of years. The reason: the kingpin of illicit yellow metal trade in the Himlayan nation died under the rubble of his house in Kathmandu during the recent quake." Continue reading →
"The group of emerging economies signed the long-anticipated document to create the $100 bn BRICS Development Bank and a reserve currency pool worth over another $100 bn. Both will counter the influence of Western-based lending institutions and the dollar. The new bank will provide money for infrastructure and development projects in BRICS countries, and unlike the IMF or World Bank, each nation has equal say, regardless of GDP size. Each BRICS member is expected to put an equal share into establishing the startup capital of $50 billion with a goal to reach $100 billion. The BRICS bank will be headquartered in Shanghai." Continue reading →
"Last week gold was boosted by news that the Reserve Bank of India is relaxing the much-maligned 80-20 import-export measure. Hopes that the measure could be fully phased out by October, ahead of the Diwali festival in October and the crucial gold-buying wedding season, has already seen the rupee price of gold drop to nine-month lows. Last month Rajesh Khosla, managing director of the country’s biggest refiner which is expanding capacity to 200 tonnes of gold per year, predicted the relaxation of the 80-20 rule, but added that 'while the form of restrictions may change, the government will continue to restrain buying.'" Continue reading →
"As per the report, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had filed 40 gold smuggling cases in the last year whereas it has increased to 148 cases in the past 12 months. The aggregate value of the seized illegal gold from 464 people in 2013-14 is estimated at Rs 245 crore. Most of the gold smugglers are arrested from the nation’s international airports. The customs officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport said that they have nabbed 353 kg of gold worth at Rs 90 crore in this current financial year whereas it was 20-25 kg of gold in the last year. India had witnessed a dangerous increase of CAD to $88.2 billion which is about 4.7% of the country’s GDP in the year 2012-2013." Continue reading →
"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →
"Indian officials are in discussions to cut a record high import duty on gold and relax rules on exports, government sources said, after the measures helped narrow the country's trade deficit and now threaten to encourage smuggling. With three duty hikes last year to a record 10 percent and onerous restrictions tying purchases to exports, official arrivals shrank almost 90 percent in the six months to November, helping China displace India as the world's top gold buyer. The decision to cut the import duty is likely to be taken anytime this month, said one of the government sources, who has direct knowledge of the deliberations but did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue." Continue reading →
"Following a press conference organised by Bitcoins Alliance India, Unocoin, one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in India has been given the green light allowing users to continue accessing their accounts as of today (6th of January 2014) with regular trading commencing on the 8th January. The conference was headed by India’s top taxation and legal expert Mr Nishith Desai, Founder & Managing Partner of Nishith Desai Associates. Mr Desai has meticulously analysed the techno-legal perspective of Bitcoin inline with current payment and currency laws and concluded that Bitcoins are in fact a legitimate currency and could provide many benefits to India’s economy." Continue reading →
"Following a press conference organised by Bitcoins Alliance India, Unocoin, one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in India has been given the green light allowing users to continue accessing their accounts as of today (6th of January 2014) with regular trading commencing on the 8th January. The conference was headed by India’s top taxation and legal expert Mr Nishith Desai, Founder & Managing Partner of Nishith Desai Associates. Mr Desai has meticulously analysed the techno-legal perspective of Bitcoin inline with current payment and currency laws and concluded that Bitcoins are in fact a legitimate currency and could provide many benefits to India’s economy." Continue reading →