-The Hindu Since 2005-06, taxes and duties for the corporate world and the rich have been written off at the rate of Rs.7 million a minute on average. Duties waived on gold and diamonds in the last 36 months equal the 2G scam amount Forbes has just added an “errata” to Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram’s budget speech. The Minister had found a mere 42,800 people in the country with a taxable...

-The Hindu Even as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) frets over the high rate of inflation and wards off pressures to cut interest rates, it is faced with another challenge. Balance of payments data for the second quarter of 2012-13 show that the current account deficit continues to rise, and has touched a record 5.4 per cent of GDP. Both of these developments that would be considered signs of “overheating”...

-The Indian Express Contrary to the perception that money laundering is widespread across the country's banking sector, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has found an average of only about 700 cases annually over the last four years on which investigations could be initiated. The FIU is the national agency responsible for tracking information related to suspect financial transactions. Finance ministry data shows that during the last four years, banks and other entities have...

-Outlook Taking note of a sting operation that alleged money laundering by three leading private sector lenders, the Finance Ministry today said that it has asked banks for more details on the issue. "RBI has contacted the banks invloved...We have asked banks for more details on the expose," Banking Secretary Rajiv Takru said here. Meanwhile, RBI Deputy Governor Urjit Patel in Mumbai said the central bank is in touch with the concerned banks...

-The Times of India An undercover sting investigation across India has shown up startling videos of bank executives of three leading private banks - HDFC, ICICI and Axis - providing ready assistance to a reporter, posing as a minister's aide, for laundering black money into white through the banking system in clear contravention of banking norms and laws. Shaken by the disclosure, the three banks asserted that they were committed to transparent...