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The truth about 200% penalty and losing all your money to taxes if you deposit old cash

Gaurav
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The truth about 200% penalty and losing all your money to taxes if you deposit old cash

There are some things the media just doesn’t understand. You may have seen various reports which range from the scary to the alarmist on the topic of demonetization of the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. In fact, here social media warriors must also take the blame for spreading grossly exaggerated news. Yes, I am talking about the reports and memes which say that you will have to pay almost 95% tax on the old cash you deposit in banks. Some in social media even interpreted that the 200% penalty is on the income, thus you need to pay more than your income!

Is this completely false? No, there is a small grain of truth in this which makes believing such news even easier. But the fact is, to reach this stage where you have to pay 90% + as taxes, you need to go through a lot of stuff. And in the age of instant news and meme-worthy material, such nuances are always lost. So here is what should happen (in the normal course) to a person depositing excessive amounts of cash:

1. Say Mr A has Rs 1 crore in cash of old currency notes. He has time till 30th December 2016 to deposit the same in banks (extended till 31 March 2017 with additional documentation)

2. As soon as Mr A deposits this money, he needs to have an explanation ready for the source of this cash. Note here the explanation needs to be ready, neither the banks nor the Income Tax will ask for it as of now.

3. So the explanations can be any of the below or a combination of the below options, depending on each case:

a. Mr A’s cash is entirely “white”, on which he has already paid tax i.e. this is cash which has been declared in his books of accounts or he has withdrawn this from the bank. Can there be such cases? Any business which is heavily based on cash for business reasons can surely have such a balance of cash, depending on the day to day volumes.

b. Mr A’s cash is entirely “black”, so to speak, which means he has never paid any taxes on the same.

4. So once Mr A deposits such “white” cash, he has no problems what so ever since he has already paid taxes on the same. He just has to collect evidence of the source and keep it ready.

5. If the cash is “black” though, it becomes “white” as soon as he deposits it into the bank. Thus, now Mr A will have to include this in his annual income, and think of a source for it. Since he has added it to his annual taxable income, he has to pay taxes on that (assumed to be 30% for simplicity).

6. Once he pays the taxes, comes the year end in March 2017. He collates all his financial data, and files an income tax return by July or September 2017 depending on his volume of business etc. Here, he should make sure that the money he deposited is shown in the returns. Please note, in the ordinary course, the Income Tax Department will not bother you even till September 2017.

7.  Now since Mr A had huge cash deposits, his transactions would have been reported to the Income Tax Department by the bank. The IT Department will wait till Mr A files his returns, and will probably issue him a notice post September 2017 announcing that they want to scrutinise his books of accounts.

8. This notice will start a series of hearings, proceedings etc where Mr A has to prove things such as where in his tax returns are the cash deposits shown as income, what was the source of income etc.

9. If the officer is not satisfied with his explanations, he can then issue an order which levies a penalty on him. The penalty can be either 50% of tax amount (for under-reporting) or even 200% of tax amount (for mis-reporting) depending on the nature of default. If the officer wants to levy the heavier 200% penalty, the onus lies on the officer to prove that mis-reporting has taken place. Please note by the time this order will be passed, we would be well into 2018.

10. So is the end of the road? No. Mr A can appeal against the decision at multiple levels. He can appeal to the Commissioner (Appeals), the Income Tax Tribunal and even the Courts. Some of the legal means of avoiding penalty are given here.

So to lose 90% plus of your cash deposited in your bank accounts, all the above needs to happen, and as anyone in the industry will tell you, there are many a slip between the cup and the lip. Still, there are some important points to note here:

1. I am not an expert in Income tax assessment proceedings and the above article has been significantly dumbed down for public consumption. If you are in a Mr A type situation, please consult an expert with the exact facts of your case.

2. All of the above holds true in “ordinary course”. The IT Department can at any time decide to change the ordinary course by either taking a more harsh stand and investigating in advance, or a softer stand by framing a policy to let go a class of tax payers mildly.

3. This does not constitute legal advice.

4. Most importantly: Do not take tax advice from WhatsApp forwards.

Congress IT cell caught spreading lies on Twitter, again

OpIndia Staff
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Congress IT cell caught spreading lies on Twitter, again

So-called IT cells of most political parties are engaged to trending hashtags on Twitter or pushing out some information of the party on the social media. This is especially true for BJP. However, the IT cells of Congress and AAP go beyond this routine and rather insipid role – they spread rumours, photoshopped pictures, and engage in targeted attacks on people not agreeing with them.

While the mainstream media had often accused the BJP of indulging in such acts, surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, they have kept mum over repeated instances of such behaviour by the Congress and AAP IT cells.

We had earlier reported how AAP targets dissenters on social media and how Congress spreads photoshopped pics and lies. Congress has done it again now, this time trying to discredit BJP over its “surgical strike” on domestic black money.

Twitter user named Gaurav Pandhi, who by his Twitter bio is a “Nehruvian Congressman” and part of the digital communication at the Indian National Congress, today spread a rumour that not only had false information, but was defamatory to many people.

He tweeted that a certain Nalini Maurya, apparently the daughter of UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya, was found holding Rs 10 lakh in new Rs 2000 notes.

Congress IT cell worker spreading defamatory rumour on Twitter
Congress IT cell worker spreading defamatory rumour on Twitter

Through the tweet, he tried to insinuate that people related to BJP were being allowed to break the rule where one is not allowed to withdraw or exchange more than 10,000 rupees in one go, and that this could be being used for upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

This was a serious accusation that not only suggested that people related to the BJP were being favoured by banks, but that the government’s attempt to curb black money was compromised and the ruling party was indulging in cash hoarding.

However, it didn’t take more than a few minutes to find out that the Congress IT cell member was propagating a blatant lie.

The election affidavit (pdf link) of Keshav Prasad Maurya as well as his profile on the Lok Sabha website mentions that he has two sons and no daughters. It should be noted that any wrong information in the affidavit can lead to disqualification of an MP.

So it was clear that the information claimed in the tweet by Gaurav Pandhi was a lie. Apart from that, it was defamatory not only to Keshav Prasad Maurya, but to the unidentified girl too, whose picture was being circulated as daughter of a politician holding cash through unethical means.

The Congress IT cell member realised that his defamatory tweet could land him in trouble, and after some time he deleted his tweet. However, he didn’t publicly apologise or clarify.

Most probably because his job was done? The lie was spread, and as you read this, most probably it is being circulated as a fact on WhatsApp and Facebook (see this) by AAP and Congress volunteers. In fact, it is being spread even on Twitter through other accounts such as this one:


This defamation of the girl comes at a time when banks have been told to extend working hours and also work on weekends to help the common man exchange the old notes. The girl most probably works in a bank and was holding the new 2000 rupees note bundle that would be used to help people exchange their old notes.

This is confirmed by a close look at the picture, which shows that the girl is holding the bundle from Jhandewalan chest in Delhi, and not somewhere in Uttar Pradesh:


//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Indian left liberals’ reactions to Trump win: From the hilarious to the obnoxious

OpIndia Staff
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Indian left liberals’ reactions to Trump win: From the hilarious to the obnoxious

On one hand there was a candidate who was part of the system, was politically correct and the darling of all the liberals. And on the other, an outlier, who didn’t smile pretty, didn’t think twice before speaking about the ‘politically incorrect’ issues, dubbed a Bigot, racist, xenophobic, misogynist etc. He didn’t even get unanimous support from his own party! Yet, the latter won. In many ways this election felt like a repeat of our 2014 Lok Sabha elections where a man who was vilified by the media, finally won.

There were also certain points which were also comically repeated in the recently concluded US elections. Many here vowed to go to Pakistan once Modi won, this apparently also caught up in the US with celebs like Bryan Cranston and Miley Cyrus declared their intention to leave the county of Trump won.


Polls created analytically by eminent psephologists miserably failed. Media there went a step further and outright endorsed a candidate. Predictably the reaction of those who thrive with the blessing of the establishment, was anything but pretty. Even though the establishment getting toppled was in another part of the world. Here are some of the reactions we managed to capture:

Probably the same fear which people felt when they thought Intolerance was rising?


Yes that’s why everything should be scripted, no matter what.


The same way the inherent nature of liberals was exposed when they cried for SIMI terrorists killed in an encounter?


And NDTV might have also gone off air today had it not been for the government’s stay.


Some had already declared the US as “racist” and “bigots” just because it voted against what they wished:


Some had a literal melt-down:


While some others just ran to the nearest corner to cry:


On one hand they wanted a women to set an example by becoming the 1st president of the US and on the other hand objectifying another who is part of the opposition.


Maybe he was just following the global left liberals, like this “historian”:

And this: Barkha was all set to wager her money on Hillary, but she ended up in the wrong camp:


Our very own MSG street-fighter turned Octopus Paul had made some strong predictions:

rajdeeo

And it appeared, he was found talking to himself yet again:


Finally what might sum up the American media’s modus operandi for the elections

The best, worst and most WTF reactions to the “surgical strike” on Rs 500 / Rs 1000 notes

OpIndia Staff
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The best, worst and most WTF reactions to the “surgical strike” on Rs 500 / Rs 1000 notes

For long one of the pastimes of thinkers was to comment and lament about the lack of big bang reforms by the Modi Government, especially in the financial sector. With PM Modi’ address to the nation yesterday, regarding banning the existing 500, 1000 rupees notes which in short would be a lethal blow to black money, counterfeit currency and it’s across the border patrons, the government has embarked upon one of the boldest reform in recent times which is as big bang as it gets.

Though as pointed out by many, implementation remains key and the authorities might be walking a thin line between seamless transition and utter chaos. This move was welcomed by many though some in the media and politics chose to take up their usual position. Here are a few we picked out:

Sarada scam, or the recent sting  showing TMC leaders taking cash?



Surprisingly the original anti-corruption crusader turned twitter troll Retweeted Mamata Bannerji’s tweet. What has he got to hide? Is this why the AAP donors list is off the site for months now?

kejri

Wouldn’t forewarning ‘citizens’ meant they would have taken countermeasures to nullify the threat?


Rahul Kanwal couldn’t figure out why people were heading to the ATMs. Maybe to withdraw Rs 100 notes? Oh Rahul…


The film industry, which is said to have crores of black money, was also unanimous in supporting the decision.

bolly

Even the aggressive Kashyap, was seen in different moods.


Arjun Kapoor too had a say, but sadly it was like most of his movies: illogical

arjun

No not Indira Gandhi it was Moraraji Desai, it’s the 3rd time such an exercise has taken place, but with digital cash transactions gaining traction yesterday’s move might have the maximum impact. Nice try at monkey-balancing though



And the ultimate endorsement, case closed now?


What now for the ordinary public? Read this primer. But in a nutshell all the money in 500 and 1000 rupees notes can be deposited or exchanged in any bank till 31st December. And yes those planning on launching a multi-million dollar startup which would take black money from people and exchange for a commission, the banks will be recording the identities of exchangers.

All you need to know about the ban on Rs 500 / Rs 1000 notes

Gaurav
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All you need to know about the ban on Rs 500 / Rs 1000 notes

In May 2014, in its first decision after taking charge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe black money, mostly stashed abroad. In 2015 they followed it up with the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act to further tap black money abroad. But the popular refrain among experts was that the Government should focus on the domestic black money since the foreign black money would have gone places by now.

In 2014, we also saw the launch of the world’s biggest financial inclusion scheme: the Jan Dhan Yojana, under which, till 2nd November 2016 almost 25.50 crore bank accounts were opened. This scheme brought a huge number of people hitherto untouched by the banking sector, into the banking net.

Then in 2016 came the big squeeze for the big guns: The Income Declaration Scheme of the Income Tax Department which gave people one last chance to come clean, pay taxes at a slightly concessional rate (after factoring in penalties etc) and be done with it. The Prime Minister was in fact categorical in his warning in September 2016:

“No one should blame me if I take tough decisions after the 30th (of September)”

And yesterday, he lived up to his promise. Yesterday, 8/11/2016 was when India effectively nuked the scoundrels within its geographical boundary. The PM, in an address to the nation, announced that in order to fight black money and counterfeit money which is used for corruption, terror activities and drugs etc, all existing notes of Rs 500 & Rs 1000 would be “demonetised” i.e. they would stop being legal tender from 8/11/2016 midnight.

So here’s whats going to happen:

1. Banks will be shut on November 9 and ATMs on November 9 and some also on November 10, to prepare for this massive exercise including stocking up on the new notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 which have been printed in advance by the RBI.

2. Since Rs 500/Rs 1000 notes are no longer valid, people have been given upto 30 December to deposit this money into their bank accounts. Those unable to do so by 30 December for some reason, can change them till 31 March 2017, but they will have to furnish an ID proof.

3. Upto Rs 4000 worth of such old notes will be allowed to be exchanged for new notes of same value. ATMs will dispense upto a maximum of ₹2,000/- per card per day upto 18th November, 2016. The limit will be raised to ₹4000/- per day per card from 19th November 2016 onwards. One can also withdraw cash against withdrawal slip or cheque subject to ceiling of ₹10,000/- in a day within an overall limit of ₹20,000/- in a week (including withdrawals from ATMs) for the first fortnight i.e. upto 24th November 2016.

3. All other currency notes will continue to be legal. There will be no change in any other form of monetary exchange — cheques, demand drafts, credit and debit cards and electronic fund transfer.

4. For 72 hours from midnight of 8th November, old notes can be used for paying for hospitalisation charges at government hospitals, for bus tickets at government bus stands, train tickets at railway stations, and air tickets at airports. The old notes will also be accepted at petrol stations, Government approved Consumer Cooperative stores and milk booths authorised by the Government, and at crematoriums.

5. Foreign tourists can purchase foreign exchange equivalent to ₹5000 using these old notes at airport exchange counters within 72 hours after the notification, provided they present proof of purchasing the OHD notes.

The implications of this move are multifold:

a. 9th November will be the most painful day, with majority of old notes (Rs 500 and Rs 1000) worthless and the new notes not yet available.

b. From 10th onwards, new valid currency will be available but in limited quantity, so even then, high value cash transactions (egs tendering fees at the local registrars office) would be difficult.

c. Anyone depositing old notes into their bank account will have to be careful of one thing: The Income Tax Department can (and most probably will) demand to know the source of such cash, especially if the amount is substantial. If you earned “white” income and withdrew cash from that, then you are safe, but if this was unaccounted income, then you may have some explaining to do. In effect, this is a quasi-income disclosure scheme, where you have to deposit your unaccounted “black” cash and pay taxes on it to make it “white”.

d. How will the IT Department know of your deposits? It has been reported that banks will keep a track of such deposits. The IT Department too will keep track of deposits over Rs 2 lakhs. Further, the tax department already has mechanisms in place such as compulsory quoting of PAN for cash deposits above Rs 50000 and a requirement that banks report to the department details of customers who deposited more than Rs 10 lakhs in cash during the year.

e. Who will this hurt the most? Medium level businessmen and traders, since the lower level guys probably do not have substantial black money, and the upper level guys usually have to keep transactions above board since they have to comply with more regulations. This incidentally will hit BJP’s core support base hard, who are mostly traders.

f. The nation’s biggest state election, Uttar Pradesh, is just around the corner, and this large scale flushing out of cash from the economy will have a huge impact on the calculations of all parties including the BJP.

g. Although in the short term, black money dealings, hawala etc will come down, in the longer run crooks will manage to find loopholes. .

Is this plan free from flaws? No. There is always the risk that the infusion of the new currency notes is not sufficient to satiate the demand for notes. What happens then? Near term there may be some chaos, but over a period of time things will return to normal. Businesses which depend largely on black money will suffer, egs real estate. Banks will have an interesting quandary: Deposits would increase since new money would flow in. But this money comes with the obligation to pay interest. Can they mobilize these funds fast enough and disburse loans, especially in a sluggish economy?

One of the biggest concerns is this: The entire rationale to withdrawing larger denomination notes was to stop encouraging black money deals: Its significantly harder to carry around 5 to 10 times more number of Rs 100 notes. Then why has the Government introduced the Rs 2000 note? Wont this make it easier?

Firstly, the Government has declared that careful monitoring and care will be taken to ensure that the proportion of high denomination (Rs 2000) notes in terms of value does not become as high as it is now. How this will work out exactly, remains to be seen.

Secondly, this could be just round 1, where the Rs 2000 notes are used just to make it easier to exchange the old notes of lower denomination. We could have a round 2 later on when these notes to our withdrawn.

The Government really needs to be applauded for various points:

1. First of all, the political capital expended in this is huge. BJP’s core support base includes businessmen and they are going to be hurt bad. Also, political parties will be hit badly, including the BJP.

2. This plan was presumably in the works for a long time, since the printing of the new notes would take time. So to keep this move under wraps for such a long time is commendable.

3. The Jan Dhan Yojana by itself was a big move, but looking at this latest step, the scheme becomes even more crucial. Imagine the pandemonium if 25 crore odd people had no access to bank accounts.

4. In the larger scheme of things, when one combines all the moves such as the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) Act, Jan Dhan Yojana, Income Disclosure scheme, highly network based GST, and now this, it reveals the single focal point of tackling the black economy head on.

All said and done, this is a revolutionary move. Barely 4 hours of notice, and boom, in one stroke the decades-long planning of crooks has been undone to a large extent. Sure there will be a few who will find loopholes to an extent, but for the most part of it, this move will be drive a dagger through the heart of the black economy in India. And GST which is expected to come soon, could very well be the nails in the coffin of  black economy. Suit-boot ki sarkar anyone?

The curious case of Twitter accounts getting suspended soon after anti-AAP posts

Shantanu
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The curious case of Twitter accounts getting suspended soon after anti-AAP posts

Full time Twitter troll and Chief Minister without any portfolio – Arvind Kejriwal – is hardly a sport when it comes to handling criticism. From employing bouncers to suppress dissent to taking vindictive actions against journalists who don’t toe the party line, Arvind Kejriwal has displayed great intolerance his short political journey. The latest targets for Kejriwal and his twitter army seem to be influential users who poke fun at the Troll CM.

It all started when @babu_bhaiyaa – a popular fan/parody account of Paresh Rawal – got suspended for “abusive behavior”, as claimed by an AAP supporter went by the name @shikaari_aapiya (this account is now suspended).

Screenshot posted by @shikaari_aapiya
Screenshot posted by @shikaari_aapiya

This action by Twitter shocked Twitterati, as @babu_bhaiyaa has always been known for his non-abusive tweets. He has more than 180,000 followers including Paresh Rawal himself. babu_bhaiyaa’s account was restored after a few days, but it remains a mystery what “abusive behaviour” Twitter discovered in his tweets.

Next to face the wrath of Kejriwal’s twitter army was the user @india_policy. His mistake was calling Kejriwal a ‘megalomaniac’ when the Troll CM was getting a royal beating from Capt. Amrinder Singh in a twitter fight. Kejriwal retweeted a screenshot of @india_policy’s tweet and within a few minutes, the account was suspended. Another AAP supporter – @SurgicalHero07 – claimed to have reported @india_policy for “abusive behavior via multiple accounts”.

Retweet by Kejriwal just before @india_policy's account got suspended
Retweet by Kejriwal just before @india_policy’s account got suspended
AAP Supporter Reported @india_policy
AAP Supporter Reported @india_policy

@india_policy’s account was also restored, but he claims to have not got any satisfactory answer as to why the account was suspended.

Then we had @gabbarsingh – a popular twitter account with more than 400,000 followers. The account got suspended soon after his tweet taking a jibe at Arvind Kejriwal went viral on twitter.

@gabbarsingh's reply to @arvindkejriwal
@gabbarsingh’s reply to @arvindkejriwal

The account did come back online, and the user said that the official reason given to him by Twitter was that his suspension was unrelated to his tweet about Kejriwal, but was linked to some flimsy copyright issue. He had posted a tweet about Shahrukh Khan fans celebrating inside a Malegaon theatre by bursting crackers during the Ae Dil Hai Mushkil screening. Then a Fox Star India employee reported it to Twitter saying it’s copyright infringement. Twitter sent a notice. And as the tweet got multiple Retweets, each Retweet was reported as a separate violation, and because of “multiple violations” Twitter suspended his account.

Note the pattern: A major account gets suspended soon after posting an anti-AAP or anti-Arvind Kejriwal tweet, but the reasons given by Twitter are completely unrelated to AAP. Coincidence? If it is a coincidence, then it may have happened again today.

Another account leaning towards BJP, was suspended today. @RajuDasOnline posted this message on Gab.ai, an alternate social network:

raju

Soon, an account called “Bhakt cleaner” claimed responsibility for suspending RajuDasOnline for”abusive behaviour”:


For the record, RajuDasOnline was never known to use any abusive language. As of writing this post, he has not received any official word on why his account was suspended. As with the previous cases, the official reason could be something minor. But is a bigger plan afoot?

5 bombs in 5 courts in South India: New terror group “Base Movement” emerges

OpIndia Staff
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5 bombs in 5 courts in South India: New terror group “Base Movement” emerges

7th April ‘16: A crude bomb goes off in the Court complex in the Andhra town of Chittoor, injuring 3 and damaging several vehicles. A letter dated 12th April issued in the name of the Base Movement was sent to the Deputy Commissioner (Commercial Taxes-Chittoor) which also contained a picture of Osama Bin Laden and words Al Qaeda written at the bottom.

15th June ‘16: One man injured after a country-made ‘steel bomb’ explodes at the collectorate-cum-district courts complex in Kollam, Kerala.

1st Aug ‘16: Loud explosion in the toilet of the Mysore Court complex. No one injured.

12th Sep ‘16: An IED goes off in the Nellore court complex.

1st Nov ‘16: A bomb blast near the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Malappuram, Kerala. A letter similar to that of the one sent to the authorities in Chittoor back in April was found near the site which attributed the blast to the Base Movement and also contained a photo of Bin Laden.

Five explosions at different court complexes in the country since April 2016, with an approximate gap of 45 days. All the blasts are suspected to have a common link between them, the Base Movement.

Base Movement is believed to be a transformation of terror outfit Al Ummah with the possible backing of Indian sub continental wing of the Al Qaeda or AQIS. The phrase “Base Movement’’ is suspected to be a reference to Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), formed in August 2014 with the official name of “Jamaat Qaidat al-jihad fi’shibhi al-qarrat al-Hindiya’’ or “Organisation of the Base of Jihad in the Indian Subcontinent’’. Al Qaeda has also incidentally been active in recruiting youths form Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Al Ummah, a terror outfit based in Tamil Nadu founded in 1993, was responsible for a blast near the RSS office, Chennai in 1993 which killed 11 people and the 1998 Coimbatore bombings which killed 58 people and whose chief target was LK Advani.

Al Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent: Ayman al-Zawahiri an al-Qaeda leader, announced the establishment of a new branch in the Indian Subcontinent on 3rd Sep 2014. It has most notably claimed responsibility for the deaths of Bangladeshi Bloggers.

All the explosives in the first four cases were strikingly similar in having the same trigger mechanisms and detonators, which led many to believe, were the work of the same organization.

They reportedly sent 3 mails to authorities to warn of attacks early this year and one of it was sent to the French Consulate in India in January 2016 before the visit of French Prime Minister Francois Hollande.

In the last two attacks pen drives with similar contents were found near the bomb sites which contained a message from base movement warning of more blasts and contained pictures of terrorists Burhan Wani, Afzal Guru, Yakub Menon and the man lynched over eating beef, Mohammed Akhlaq. According to police sources they also contained the images of Narendra Modi and other political leaders.

By keeping their attacks low profile, they have so far managed to avoid high attention to their deeds and possible heavy crackdown by the authorities. But five attacks in eight months all targeting the courts might signify an increase in their influence and intent. With no lives lost in the attacks, there doesn’t seem to be adequate impetus on part of the authorities to act and the media to extensively report the issue. By carrying out all the attacks in court complexes, they have quite possibly launched an attack on our judicial institutions much more so made evident by the deaths of Afzal Guru and Yakub Menon who were tried and convicted by our courts.

Kejriwal releases CCTV image of a masked Modi spreading smoke across Delhi

Manithan
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Kejriwal releases CCTV image of a masked Modi spreading smoke across Delhi

New Delhi: The capital city has been gasping for breath as it has been blanketed by Smog for the past few days. And today, the entire nation has gasped in shock after Kejriwal released images of a nonchalant Modi spotted spreading smoke sporting a mask.

Smoke has enveloped the capital and people are struggling to steer their vehicles on roads due to thick smog inhibiting their vision. Many were forced to wear surgical masks to not inhale those dense smoke.

CCTV grab of Modi spreading smoke across Delhi.
CCTV grab of Modi spreading smoke across Delhi.

Taking the task at hand, Delhi’s Chief Minister with no powers, Arvind Kejriwal took some immediate measures to contain the smog. With just one or two lines about the measures, Kejriwal dived rightly into the area that we were expecting from him – Modi. Holding a printout, Kejriwal said, “Dekhiye ji! Whenever I used to say that Modiji is hindering our progress and not allowing us to work, many used to mock me. Modiji and Jungji, both have been fiddling with the development path of AAP and it is now evident. We all might think that this smoke is due to some crop burning or higher pollution levels. But No!”

Waving the printout before the press cameras, Kejriwal bellowed, “The reason is Modi. Yes! He had been going around the city with masks and cylinders and been pumping it with smoke. Don’t believe me? Here is the CCTV grab of Modi spreading smoke in some unknown section of Delhi. He is wearing a mask, but you can make his face out of that hairstyle and his glasses. He promises of Swachch Bharat but destroying our Swachch Svaas. Why is he not allowing us to work? Why is he punishing Delhi because of me?”

The released CCTV screen grab of Modi spreading smoke has shocked the whole country and there were calls from all parties asking for Modi to resign.

A neutral political commentator commented, “It is not something new that Modi will go out of his way to achieve his ends. Look at Khaki dress which is usually worn by such workers. He is ready to give up his suit-boot to bring down Kejriwal. And look at the time, he even sacrificed his 4-hour sleep and went around smogging Delhi.”

Meanwhile, an AAP minister praised Kejriwal, “If our CM had not installed lakhs of CCTV across Delhi, this crime of Modi would have gone unnoticed.”

(This is a satirical piece)

The Government has a lot to answer on why NDTV India ban was suddenly put “on hold”

Gaurav
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The Government has a lot to answer on why NDTV India ban was suddenly put “on hold”

I had once said that the only political party which can defeat BJP, is the BJP itself. I was alluding to the fact that time and again, BJP has scored self-goals and put itself in a quandary from a seemingly winning position. Last night too, BJP and along with it the Government of India found itself in a similar situation.

For once it had seemed that the Government had found a spine in acting against errant media houses, when an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) of the I & B Ministry had decided that NDTV India should be taken off air for a token one day, due to its broadcast which was deemed to have revealed “sensitive” information regarding national security, during the anti-terror operations at Pathankot. We had put out all the evidence and rationale of the IMC, based on the order of the IMC exclusively accessed by us, and had asked the readers to judge for themselves.

Even as BJP’s supporters were triumphant that NDTV India would have to finally pay for its errors (or sins), the media, editors guild and other allied characters were crying victim and shrieking emergency.

NDTV India itself took a very aggressive stand when its prime-time anchor Ravish Kumar tried to spin the entire issue from “revealing sensitive information about national security” to “NDTV being banned for questioning authority”. Not only did this move smack of arrogance and the tendency to misguide, but it also showed that NDTV India was unrepentant. NDTV also moved the Supreme Court to challenge the Government’s order.

While this was the public posturing, privately NDTV was apparently working on track-2 initiatives. Yesterday evening Prannoy Roy along with other NDTV staffers met with I & B Minister Venkaiah Naidu asking the Government to have a re-look at the order. The I& B ministry also issued a brief statement about the meeting:

So while NDTV’s public posturing was quite different from what it did privately, I & B Minister Venkaiah Naidu too back-tracked from his press conference just hours before this meeting where he justified the ban, and decided to put the ban “on-hold” till the “decision is reviewed”. It was a climb-down for both sides, but since NDTV got the better deal, it was a loss of face for the Government.

It wasn’t clear exactly what had transpired between the two sides: Had NDTV privately accepted their error? Had they pleaded with the Government to reconsider? Had they promised to be on better behaviour in the future? At least NDTV’s staffer who are on Twitter vehemently denied any such moves and claimed that they had only appealed to the Government to given them another hearing.

To make matters worse, Venkaiah Naidu took to Twitter to give out the reasoning behind this change in stance, and ended up embarrassing the Government even more. In a confusing statement, in one tweet he reiterated that the IMC was clear that NDTV had violated due process & procedure & compromised national security in their coverage of Pathankot attack. But he followed this statement with tweets invoking “the Government’s liberal democratic ethos & principles” and the Government’s belief in “freedom of expression”. How can “compromising of national security” and “freedom of expression” go hand in hand?

Even the Supreme Court of India, when hearing the case of similar transgressions by NDTV and other media houses for their coverage of 26/11 had this to say:

nd7

The Court clearly distinguished between “freedom of speech” and actions “putting national security in jeopardy”.

Further, this entire episode throws up more questions like:

1. Is this form of personal appeal (used by NDTV) to ask for a review, sanctioned by any law or code?

2. If not, has the I & B minister set a precedent where in any channel in the dock can come to the I & B Minister and at least put an order “on-hold”?

3. Where does this leave the IMC which had initially ruled against the channel? Is this a curtailment of their powers?

4. Most importantly, what exactly did NDTV representatives say to Naidu to make him change his mind? NDTV India had been given 2 opportunities, one in writing and one in person to present their case before the IMC, then why did Naidu afford them another opportunity? What had changed?

5. What happens to the other channels which are facing similar orders, for far less serious offences? Can they also use this route to seek a review?

6. Why did NDTV approach the Government, when they had already moved the courts? Were they not sure their case would be up-held by the courts?

In any case, this episode has left the Government look weak and indecisive. If the Government was afraid of the back-lash and did not have the spine to execute an order (which was in fact softened from a 30 day ban to a token 1 day ban), then they shouldn’t have ordered such a ban in the first place. And when they did, they should have shown the courage to stick to it.

Even as we discuss, some quarters are wondering why the words “on-hold” were used instead of words like “cancelled” or “rolled-back”. Has it got something to do with the fact that November 9th is when the results of the US elections are likely to be out, and losing out on a potentially high TRP day would hurt NDTV India a lot? Hence, has the Government chosen to give a temporary reprieve, in effect postponing the ban? Only time will tell.

(With inputs from @shwetankbhushan)

WikiLeaks revelations about Ford Foundation, India and some important questions

Ashutosh Muglikar
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WikiLeaks revelations about Ford Foundation, India and some important questions

Wikileaks last month released thousands of emails sent/received by John Podesta. He is the campaign head for Hillary Clinton, the Presidential Nominee in the upcoming elections in the US.  OpIndia.com had highlighted how Ford  Foundation had funded Teesta Setalvad’s NGO and Companies in the past. The leaked emails highlight how Ford Foundation got embroiled in the Controversy and was “rescued”  by John Podesta himself.

John Podesta, Center For American Progress & Ford Foundation India

John Podesta is considered very close to the Clintons. He served in the White House during Bill Clinton’s term. After that he founded the “Center For American Progress” (CAP) a “progressive” ‘think tank’ considered powerful enough to give recommendations on policy matters. In 2014 he quit CAP and joined the Obama Admin as a Counsellor on environmental issues. He quit this post and joined Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Ford Foundation entered India on an invitation by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1952. It was then their first office outside the USA. They had then signed an MoU and do not have any formal registration as an NGO in India. Since then they concentrate on funding projects ranging from Women & minority development, education, administration & planning.

Here it is pertinent to note that Center For American Progress received 8 grants totaling $2,565,000  from Ford Foundation in the year 2015.

The Present Case

In 2015 the Government of Gujarat while investigating Teesta Setalvad’s embezzlement case came across funding by Ford Foundation to her entities. Based on a letter by the Gujarat Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) intended to probe the activities of Ford Foundation as well. This probably set off a chain of events, most of which happened in the background and are now revealed by Wikileaks.

As per the leaked emails, Ford Foundation claims that they got embroiled into a controversy over its funding to Sabrang Trusts managed by Teesta Setalvad. The letter titled Ford Foundation in India: Notes to John Podesta dated May 26, 2015 also mentions their funding to Arvind Kejriwal’s NGO before he got into politics as a possible reason for Government’s action. This letter highlights that their activities were questioned on “CIA Links” in both “right wing press” and on Social Media. The Letter particularly mentions a news debate by TimesNow channel held on April 13th which set off the debate against Ford India’s activities.

Information Via a “Reporter” & Social Media Monitoring

The letter to John Podesta mentions that the Foundation received a letter effective 25th April via “a Reporter” indicating it was placed on a “watch list” by the MHA. Who was this reporter is not clear and why would they assist Ford Foundation too.

Ford also highlights in its letter that they have appointed an “international firm to assist with media monitoring” and a prominent Delhi-based law firm to assist them in responding to government requests. In a separate Email to John Podesta the President of Ford Foundation Darren Walker sends across tweets by Social Media users as well. It seems that Social Media activity was closely monitored by them. The tweets quoted in the Email are from Social Media users who generally seem to be supporting Modi Government. In one communication Darren Walker even calls a newspaper “mouthpiece of the Government.”

In the last week of May, frantic activities and movements seem to have happened as could be gauged from the emails. Ford India representatives met Richard Verma US Ambassdor. In an Email dated 27th May 2015 written to Darren Walker, it is specifically mentioned: “And Modi is no fan of Nehru. Invoking that personal invite (read: invite by Nehru in 1952) long ago is not our best card to play. Acting privileged is not our approach to this.”

The Breakthrough:

podesta

The Breakthrough seems to have happened around 1st week of July after “John Podesta’s “Magic Touch.” Ford Foundation agreed to get itself register under Indian laws and Modi Government even de-froze the bank accounts. The internal letter to Podesta quoted below was the analysis by the Foundation on happening which give an insight:

When the Gujarat police contacted Home Affairs, the Indian Intelligence Bureau also got involved and flagged Ford’s perceived transgressions in the Setalvad funding to the PM. It seems it was indeed the language accusing the state government and appearing to ‘take sides’that led the authorities to conclude there was political over-reach by the foundation. That and the fact that they had been eager to find something on Setalvad, one of Modi’s worst critics, for some time. So the powers that be were inclined to interpret our past actions in that negative light.

PM’s initial reaction seems to have been to send us packing, de-authorize us fully. IB warned that it did not have strong enough evidence to justify that. The political team then began to calculate the risks of, say, an embarrassing defeat for the government in court.

Thus the decision to place us on a watch list, a relatively standard move related to the treatment of Greenpeace and others.

It is very possible that the interventions by the USG did not go down well at all, especially those carried out in public. It was all delivered as very general concern, tied to respecting civil society and the usual American narrative about threats to democracy in other countries and how other governments should behave, not “we understand and respect your concerns about Ford, but it would be great to resolve this in ways that serve all our interests.” Lack of subtlety and nuance—or at least none perceived.

Bureaucratic over-reach is an important part of the current conundrum, too. Even senior bureaucrats tend not to be sure what the highest-ups want, what would suffice in the way of a resolution. So the bureaucrats who operate the machinery lean toward the most conservative course until given some clear, unambiguous direction.

There is no reason to think that the Modi administration, including the PM himself, know exactly what would satisfy them. And this is hardly their top priority. It’s therefore reasonable to assume that government will let the very vagueness of the MHA directive make us sweat on the financial-operational front, knowing we have limited time. Why not let us feel the squeeze some more?We need to change that calculus.

Some advisors, however, suggest that the worst – in the way of official action – has been done by now. The points have been made, the financial squeeze is in place. From the government’s perspective, why risk defeat through formal charges, for example.

The issue too seems to have settled as “elements of resolution” as highlighted by the letter.

What remains to be answered is Why did Nehru invite Ford Foundation to India? Why did no government before Modi’s question them for not registering under any laws in India? Who was the journalist who helped Ford India with information from the MHA? Why was Ford Foundation so desperate to retain its India offices if government was unwilling to let them continue? Why would they pull strings from powerful people to maintain their roots in India?

We might need some  more email leaks to answer these….

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