-PTI Indians are the largest depositors in banks abroad with an estimated 500 billion US dollars (nearly Rs 24.5 lakh crore) of illegal money stashed by them in tax havens, the CBI director said on Monday.  India, in particular, has suffered from the flow of illegal funds to tax havens such as Mauritius, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, British Virgin islands etc.  "It is estimated that around 500 billion dollars of illegal money belonging to Indians...

-The Indian Express   Pranab Mukherjee should use his waking hours to signal bold reforms Until a few years ago no one really thought that governments could go bust. But the deepening sovereign debt crises of Europe have now persuaded us that governments can go bust if their debt levels cross a certain danger mark. What is that danger mark remains a matter of research by economists around the world. Some studies have concluded...

The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to apprise it on the action taken against former Chief Justice and NHRC chief KG Balakrishnan in the disproportionate assets case against him. The court has asked the government to reply by March 12 on the actions that it has taken or intends to take against the former CJI. "We want to know what was done on the representation (before the government against ex-CJI)...

-The Hindustan Times   The government is drafting the framework of a “white paper” on black money that it is likely to present before Parliament in the forthcoming budget session. The white paper, however, is unlikely to disclose any names of individuals or entities, despite the opposition’s demand to make public the names of those who are found have to stashed money in banks in overseas tax havens, sources told HT. The finance...

-The Financial Express   Come next financial year, the PAN card is likely to become the most potent tool for the Income Tax Department to unearth black money, tax evasion and instances of criminal financing in the country. A recent directive of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to the I-T Dept has asked its officials to launch a special drive against those who have "not furnished their PAN (Permanent Account Number)"...