It is certainly a matter of concern. And, I don't think any body has a different view on that. Consequently, there's no need for any debate on the matter, whatsoever. All that's required is to make out a petition, say, to the President of India, get all civil society leaders as well as the general public to sign it, send it across, and periodically make a noise about it.
An RTI exercise may also be started simultaneously. Muralidhar Rao On Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 9:44 PM, Mathew Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > Dear All, > > Many mails on this subject. Let me add my two paise worth! > > May be we [CAF] needs to see Rajashekaran's mail in a slightly different > light; not as a criticism of politicians or bureaucrats or others. > > CAF's objective is transparency, accountability and people's participation. > Now evidently, the Govt needs to be transparent about what it is doing or > proposing to do regarding the black money of Indians in Swiss banks. The > Govt should be made accountable for acting to unearth this hoard of > ill-gotten wealth. > > We were all, and rightly, agitated about Rs 50,000/ spent of biscuits for > the Abide seminar, the "circumventing" of rules to make each expenditure > less than Rs 1 lakh, to make them come within the sanctioning authority of > some official who was responsible for organizing the meeting etc. > > Should we not be concerned about a 1500 Billion Dollar tax-evaded money > that our country's elite have hoarded in foreign banks? May be, some may > think, 'this is beyond our capability'. Perghaps, true. But then, so is > getting the Govt to be transparent or accountable! Should we pre-judge and > stop acting? > > > > On Mon, Sep 29, 2008 at 10:11 PM, Promod Kapur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > >> Dear Mr. Rajashekharan, >> >> Permit me to respond. I agree that this mail has been doing the rounds for >> several months now. I treat such negative mails in the only way they should >> be - DELETE. There is no point in putting the blame on any one section or >> more. We are all a part of the same system and contribute in some measure or >> the other. If we dont like what is happening around us, we look the other >> way, and if we are up against a corrupt official, we get intimidated and >> acquiesce. Yes I too see a lot that I do not like, but that is no reason why >> I should become negative myself or pass on negativism to others. Even though >> in my twilight years, I still stop and protest, and some times act. I >> believe we can all stop and then should act. >> >> Regards, >> Major Kapur >> On Mon, Sep 22, 2008 at 12:41 AM, RAJASEKHARAN P K <[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> > wrote: >> >>> *Dear SIR, >>> THIS MESSAGE WAS SEND NOT TO HURT ANYBODY. THIS IS ON CIRCULATION FOR >>> LAST MANY MONTHS, THE INTENTION IS FOR SCIENTIFIC MINDS TO THINK WHAT IS THE >>> REAL PROBLEM WITH INDIAN GROWTH SINCE INDEPENDENCE. >>> IS OUR CAPABILITIES BEHIND WORLD STANDARDS, IS OUR VISION RETROGRADED, DO >>> WE WANT OUR FUTURE GENERATION IN PAR WITH OTHERS AND SO ON............* >>> *SO IF YOU AGREE THAT WE ARE IN PAR WITH ANY OTHER SOCIETY IN TERMS OF >>> CAPABILITIES WHAT IS IT THAT HOLDS US UP? WHY IS IT THAT WE GET SUBSTANDARD >>> INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITIES EVEN AFTER SPENDING MUCH MORE THAN OTHER SIMILAR >>> PROJECTS ELSEWHERE?. >>> HOW IS IT THAT OUR FARMERS PRODUCE MUCH LESS PER ACRE OF CULTIVABLE LAND. >>> WHY WE HAVE 20% (22 CORORE) BPL PEOPLE WHEN RICE WHEAT AND CEREALS ARE >>> ROTTEN IN GODOWNS. HOW IS IT THAT WE HAVE MORE NUMBER OF BPL PEOPLE COMPARE >>> TO 1947 LEVEL ( AS PER GOVERNMENT STATICS IN 1947- 40% OF 40 CORORE = 16 >>> CORORE WHERE BPL WHERE AS NOW 20% OF 110 CORORE = 22 CORORE ARE BPL >>> CATAGORY). WHAT A MAGIC OF PERCENTAGE. So what is it that holds us back. >>> just think and decide* >>> regards >>> >>> On Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 1:13 PM, Pranav <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> Personally, I hate such articles, esp this line "DISHONEST >>>> INDUSTRIALISTS, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, >>>> IPS officers ..." >>>> >>>> Do all these people, politicians, IAS, IPS, industrialists etc drop >>>> from the heavens? They are "us", they just reflect "us". Look at what >>>> me and you do everyday, bribing around to get our work done, and >>>> leading life in our middle class slums like educated ignoramuses, and >>>> living with century old feudal system and mindset, and waiting for >>>> someone else to come and set all this right for us. >>>> >>>> I like to say "*we* are a corrupt nation". But I don;t like hearing - >>>> we are good, only they (politicians etc etc) are corrupt and source of >>>> all problems. >>>> >>>> [Not a personal remark sir, not on any person on this list or >>>> anything] >>>> >>>> On Sep 15, 8:51 am, "RAJASEKHARAN P K" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>>> > PLEASE READ AND BE POSITIVE????????????? >>>> > >>>> > MERA BHARAT MAHAN (My India is great!) >>>> > >>>> > INDIA SHINING%u2026 >>>> > >>>> > NO 1 IN CORRUPT $ in Switzerland! >>>> > >>>> > Source:merinews >>>> > >>>> > Black money in Swiss banks -- Swiss Banking Association report, 2006 >>>> > details bank deposits in the territory of Switzerland by nationals of >>>> > following countries: >>>> > >>>> > Top five >>>> > >>>> > India------ $1,456 billion >>>> > >>>> > Russia ---$ 470 billion >>>> > UK -------- $390 billion >>>> > >>>> > Ukraine - $100 billion >>>> > China -----$ 96 billion >>>> > >>>> > Is India poor, who says? Ask Swiss banks >>>> > >>>> > With personal account deposit bank of $1500 billion in foreign reserve >>>> > which have been misappropriated, an amount 13 times larger than the >>>> > country's foreign debt, one needs to rethink if India is a poor >>>> > country?. >>>> > >>>> > DISHONEST INDUSTRIALISTS, scandalous politicians and corrupt IAS, IRS, >>>> > IPS officers have deposited in foreign banks in their illegal personal >>>> > accounts a sum of about $ 1500 billion, which have been >>>> misappropriated >>>> > by them. This amount is about 13 times larger than the country's >>>> > foreigndebt. With this amount 45 crore poor people can get Rs 1,00,000 >>>> > each. >>>> > This huge amount has been appropriated from the people >>>> > of India by exploiting and betraying them. >>>> > >>>> > Once this huge amount of black money and property comes back to India >>>> , >>>> > the entire foreign debt can be repaid in 24 hours. After paying the >>>> > entire foreign debt, we will have surplus amount, almost 12 times >>>> > larger than the foreign debt. If this surplus amount is invested in >>>> > earning interest, the amount of interest will be more than the annual >>>> > budget of the Central government. So even if all the taxes are >>>> > abolished, then also the Central government will be able to maintain >>>> > the country very comfortably. >>>> > >>>> > Some 80,000 people travel to Switzerland >>>> > every year, of whom 25,000 travel very frequently. 'Obviously, these >>>> > people won't be tourists. They must be travelling there for some >>>> other >>>> > reason,' believes an official involved in tracking illegal money. And, >>>> > clearly, he isn't referring to the commerce ministry bureaucrats >>>> who've >>>> > been flitting in and out of Geneva ever since the World Trade >>>> > Organisation (WTO) negotiations went into a tailspin! >>>> > >>>> > Just read the following details and note how these dishonest >>>> > industrialists, scandalous politicians, corrupt officers, >>>> cricketers, >>>> > >>>> > film actors, illegal sex trade and protected wildlife operators, to >>>> > name just a few, sucked this country's wealth and prosperity. This may >>>> > be the picture of deposits in Swiss banks only. >>>> > What about other international banks.? >>>> > >>>> > Now do the math - India with $1456 >>>> billion or >>>> > $1.4 trillion has more money in Swiss banks than rest of the world >>>> > combined. >>>> > Public loot since 1947: Can we bring back our money? It is one of the >>>> > biggest >>>> > loots witnessed by mankind -- the loot of the Aam Aadmi (common man) >>>> > since 947, by his brethren occupying public office. It has been >>>> > orchestrated by politicians, bureaucrats and some businessmen. The >>>> > list is almost all-encompassing. No wonder, everyone in India loots >>>> > with impunity and without any fear. >>>> > >>>> > What is even more depressing in that this ill-gotten wealth of ours >>>> has >>>> > been stashed away abroad into secret bank accounts located in some of >>>> > the world's best known tax havens. And to that extent the Indian >>>> > economy has been stripped of its wealth. Ordinary Indians may not be >>>> > exactly aware of how such secret accounts operate and what are the >>>> > rules and regulations that go on to govern such tax havens. However, >>>> > one may well be aware of 'Swiss bank accounts,' the shorthand for >>>> > murky dealings, secrecy and of course pilferage from developing >>>> > countries into rich developed ones. >>>> > In fact, some finance experts and economists believe tax havens to be >>>> a >>>> > conspiracy of the western world against the poor countries. By >>>> allowing >>>> > the proliferation of tax havens in the twentieth century, the western >>>> > world explicitly encourages the movement of scarce capital from the >>>> > developing countries to the rich. >>>> > >>>> > In March 2005, the Tax Justice Network (TJN) published a research >>>> > finding demonstrating that $11.5 trillion of personal wealth was held >>>> > offshore by rich individuals across the globe. The findings estimated >>>> > that a large proportion of this wealth was managed from some 70 tax >>>> > havens. >>>> > Further, augmenting these studies of TJN, Raymond Baker -- in his >>>> > widely celebrated book titled 'Capitalism's Achilles Heel: Dirty >>>> Money >>>> > and How to Renew the Free Market System' -- estimates that at least $5 >>>> > trillion have been shifted out of poorer countries to the West since >>>> > the mid-1970. >>>> > It is further estimated by experts that one per cent of the world's >>>> > population holds more than 57 per cent of total global wealth, routing >>>> > it invariably through these tax havens. How much of this is from India >>>> > is anybody's guess. >>>> > >>>> > What is to be noted here is that most of the wealth of Indians parked >>>> > in these tax havens is illegitimate money acquired through corrupt >>>> > means. >>>> > Naturally, the secrecy associated with the bank >>>> > accounts in such places is central to the issue, not their low tax >>>> > rates as the term 'tax havens' suggests. Remember Bofors and how India >>>> > could not trace the ultimate beneficiary of those transactions because >>>> > of the secrecy associated with these bank accounts? IS THERE ANY ONE >>>> > WHO WOULD SAVE INDIA ? >>>> > God... No No No, even he can't...........!! >>>> >>>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> > > > -- > Regards, > > Mathew > > 9880000401 > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Citizens' Action Forum" group. 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