Black money: SIT asks agencies to share data on ongoing case

June 29, 2014

New Delhi, Jun 29: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has sought details of all major cases of tax evasion and criminal financial fraud being probed by various investigative agencies which are mandated to keep a check on such instances.

Black moneySources said that the SIT headed by retired Supreme Court Justice M B Shah has asked the 11 departments on its panel to furnish fine details of these cases and the status of their probes, including any problems being faced by investigators in taking the cases forward for prosecution or penalty.

The member departments/agencies of SIT are the Department of Revenue (under the Ministry of Finance), RBI, Intelligence Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, CBI, Income Tax department, Narcotics Control Bureau, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Financial Intelligence Unit, Research and Analysis Wing and the Foreign Tax and Tax Research wing under the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

The sources said the SIT has asked for the data in order to understand the trends and magnitude of the menace of black money and generation of illegal funds in the country, which is done through a variety of ways like evasion of taxes and duties, flouting of foreign exchange laws, creation of disproportionate assets, creation of 'benami' properties within the country and outside and laundering of wealth obtained through illegal and corrupt means.

The departments, they said, are in the process of submitting these details in the stipulated format to SIT and these will be taken up during the next meeting of the panel, expected to take place some time next month.

RBI has recently directed all banks and financial institutions to provide the information and documents sought by the high-profile panel.

The SIT, formed upon the directions of Supreme Court, had its first meeting earlier this month here at the North Block office of the Finance Ministry.

The high-level team has also decided to look into the contentious issue of secrecy clauses in India's tax treaties with Switzerland and other countries.

Retired apex court judge Arijit Pasayat is the Vice Chairman of the SIT while top officials of the 11 high-profile agencies and departments are its members.

After the first meeting of the SIT, the government had said the detailed modalities of proceeding further with the Supreme Court mandate were discussed and the road map decided.

The SIT's mandate, as notified, requires it to go into "all issues relating to matters concerning and arising from unaccounted monies of Hasan Ali Khan and Kashinath Tapariah".

Pune-based Khan, a stud farm owner, was arrested by Enforcement Directorate in connection with money laundering and tax evasion cases. Tapariah is his aide.

The other tasks of SIT include all investigations already started and pending or awaiting to be initiated with respect to any other known instances of the stashing away of unaccounted cash in foreign bank accounts by Indians or other entities operating in India.

The panel has also been empowered "to further investigate even where charge-sheets have been previously filed and SIT may register further cases and conduct appropriate investigations and initiate proceedings for the purpose of bringing back unaccounted monies unlawfully kept in bank accounts abroad."

The SIT will also keep the apex court informed about all major developments by filing periodic status reports in this regard, the government notification had said.

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Agencies
August 3,2020

New Delhi, Aug 3: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the timely supply of food and medical assistance to meet the requirement in Afghanistan.

During their telephonic conversation, PM Modi also reiterated India's commitment to the people of Afghanistan in their quest for a peaceful, prosperous and inclusive Afghanistan, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement on Monday.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the evolving security situation in the region and other areas of mutual bilateral interest.
Both leaders also exchanged greetings on Eid-Al-Adha. 

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Agencies
July 23,2020

Ahmedabad, Jul 23: Private schools in Gujarat have suspended online classes for an indefinite period from Thursday, after a state government order said they should not collect fees from students until the schools reopen.

In a notification issued last week, the Gujarat government directed self-financed schools in the state not to collect tuition fees from students as long as they remain shut in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It also asked these schools not to hike fees for the academic year 2020-21.

Unhappy with the move, a union of representing nearly 15,000 self-financed schools in Gujarat decided to put on hold online classes, an alternative arrangement started earlier this month for students.

Majority of these schools informed the parents through SMS on Wednesday night that there will not be any online classes for their wards from Thursday.

Self-financed School Management Association's spokesperson Dipak Rajyaguru on Thursday said almost all the self-financed schools in the state refrained from imparting online education.

"If the government believes online education is not real education, then there is no meaning of imparting such unreal education to our students. Online education will remain suspended until the government withdraws that notification," Rajyaguru said in a statement.

He said the association will also approach the high court against state government's decision.

Jatin Bharad, a prominent educationist and member of the association, said there is no alternative to online education in the present scenario.

"Self-financed schools need to pay salaries to the teachers and other staff. No state in India has taken such decision that fees cannot be collected despite conducting online classes. If we adhere to the state notification, it will be impossible for us to pay salaries and run the school.

Thus, we have decided to suspend the online classes," said Bharad said.

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Agencies
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said that CBSE board results can be declared by August 15. The results of both class 10 and 12 will be declared at an interval of just a few days.

However, the decision to open schools will be taken after August keeping in mind the current COVID-19 situation. At present, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has not set any date for reopening schools.

Nishank said during a discussion "We hope that the results of both 10th and 12th class will be declared by August 15. These include the results of previous exams and the results of examinations in July."

On the issue of reopening of schools, Nishank said "after August the process of opening schools will be started."

A final decision in this regard will be taken only after assessing the prevailing conditions. According to the HRD ministry, after August, new sessions will also start in universities.

Meanwhile, the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi has also written to the HRD ministry on the subject of reopening schools. Delhi Education Minister Manish Sisodia said in the letter, "Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said some time ago that we have to learn to live with coronavirus. So it would be better to open schools with proper safety measures."

Sisodia said that first of all, we have to assure every child that they are important to us. Everyone has equal rights over the physical and intellectual environment of his school. Education cannot progress beyond online classes only. It would be impossible to pursue education only by calling older children to school and keeping younger children at home.

Several private schools have also suggested measures to the HRD ministry to open schools and safety in schools during this period. However, the ministry is not in a hurry to reopen schools at present. According to senior officials of the ministry, at present, preparations are being made to conduct the remaining board exams of class 10 and 12 between July 1 and 15.

After the examinations, the first priority is to declare the results. Only then can the process of reopening school colleges begin.

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