On 8th November 2016, Mr. Modi announced on all national television channels that 500 and 1000 currency notes would not be legal tenders from midnight. Like a thunderbolt, it struck many, from tax evading businessmen and corrupt officers stashing money in their lockers to terror funding organizations causing bloodshed and massacre with help of fake Indian currency and black money. Demonetisation jolted the nation out of its slumber after decades.

Demonetisation is the act of stripping a currency unit of its status as legal tender. The Union (Parliament) has the sole power to make laws regarding currency, coinage, legal tender and foreign exchange under entry 36 of first list of schedule 7 of the constitution. Demonetisation took place in India in 1976 as well as in 1978 when 10,000 notes were demonetised along with 1000 in 1954 and along with 1000 and 5000 by the Morarji Desai Government in 1978. This is the third time, similar decision has been taken.

The decision of Demonetisation was taken mainly because of three reasons. The first one was to tackle black money, the second was to check corruption and cash circulation and the third was to stop terror funding. Is these problems are considered in as grave manner as they really are, this move had in fact been due for a long time. In India, all sections have been accustomed to using cash for all petty transactions and even high value transactions for a long time. This has resulted in a parallel economy and has caused inflation and grave problems like insurgency, black marketing, terrorism etc. Inflation has sent the price of land and building skyrocketing and owning a house has become a distant dream for a common man.

This weapon of Demonetization shall be used to fight against undisclosed income which is converted into assets like gold and real estate. Government officers have their palm greased and the money find its way to properties usually benami. Within days on his decision on Demonetisation, our PM attacked benami properties. These properties are those that are bought by people with black money on fictitious names or names of other people but enjoyed by the black money holders. Under the Benami Transaction Prohibition Act 2016, a transaction is termed benami, if a property is owned by one and paid by another. The act prohibits recovery of the property held benami from benamidaar by the real owner. Also benami properties are liable to be confiscated by the government.

Demonetisation has severely attacked terrorism too. Where earlier the antinational elements had a free run through India’s security apparatuses, now the absence of cash will hit all terror activities that thrive on black money and fake notes for their survival. Lack of hawala transaction will hit activities of Maoist and other insurgent groups too as the stocked currency has become useless and the availability of new high-value notes is not in abundance.

Demonetisation though has multifaceted positive effects on the health of our country yet it brought hardships in the life of the common man. While black money hoarders and tax evaders are finding ways to make their black money white; a common man is still standing in long queues wasting thousands of productive hours. Besides this, the black money stashed in terms of gold, properties, foreign assets, foreign currencies and in foreign banks are still out of purview. The large fishes are at large while the small fry has been trapped. Several labourers and hawkers have lost their livelihood as there is no cash to pay them. A daily wager committed suicide as he wasn’t getting work and a few old and feeble died while waiting for their turn in queue.

No pain, No gain may be the right phrase to sum up this discussion on demonetisation. With a windfall of approximately 12 Lakh crore back to the banks and people’s support to this move of cleaning the system, Mr. Modi is raring to go ahead. Only time will tell us how this step has been taken by the history of India. Of course the government, its spokesperson and pro-demonetisation economists constantly speak of intangible long term benefits such as a move to a cashless economy and widening the tax base while the analysts are asking, “Did the achievement of this whole process merits the pain and disruption caused by the demonetisation exercise?”

Childhood memories are engraved in our mind, heart and soul. Some lines stay there forever and one such tag was ‘Made in India’. Usually on most of our things, we had this line printed and then came a time when we grew up. We then got colored in the culture of malls and international brands and then ‘Made in UK’, ‘Made in USA’ and certain international brands superseded ‘Made in India’. The youths today are flamboyant and like to show off the tags of international brands on their shirt, jeans, and jackets and on every small thing they buy or use.

On 25th September 2014 the PM Narendra Modi launched the Make in India program. The ‘Make in India’ has not only its Tense changed, but also the attitude. This initiative ‘Make in India’ emphasizes to transform India into a global manufacturing hub. It is a powerful galvanizing call to business leader of the world to come and invest in India. This slogan is an inspiring call to all global business leaders by the government of India with a promise to facilitate the growth of the companies they bring into India. The logo of ‘Make in India’ a lion made of gear wheels, reflecting the government’s vision of manufacturing India. This initiative is based on 4-pillars:

1. New processes that would replace outdated policies decade old long procedures and red-tapism 2. New infrastructure that will comprise smart cities with state-of-the-art-technology 3. Identification of new sector to attract FDI in them 4. A new mindset where the government won’t be a regulator but rather a facilitator to woo global manufacturing giants to invest in India.

Make in India is the single largest manufacturing initiative undertaken by a nation in recent history. It has been built by collaborative effort. The department of industrial policy and promotion initiated this process by inviting participants from union ministries, secretaries and various knowledge partners. Various sectors have been opened up for investment and sectors like defense, railways and space have also been open for FDI. Make in India has to be a movement rather than an initiative to be successful in a policy-ridden country. It has to be beyond full-page colored advertisements. It must be informative and must inspire and infuse confidence in the business world, inspiring them to become potential partners of the Indian business communities and reforms.

Make in India till now has been lauded by the manufacturing world. The government within a short span of time has replaced obsolete obstructive framework of the past and has replaced it with user-friendly system to drive investment and increase in FDI. Till March 2016, 44% (percent) increase in FDI equity inflows was seen. The rise in FDI points towards stronger investors’ interest in India on the back of robust economic growth. Higher inflows also suggest that the government’s liberal policies are bearing fruits.

Today India’s credibility is stronger than ever. There is a visible enthusiasm, momentum, energy and raring to go attitude in the business world. India has opened its investment doors and world’s largest democracy is well on its way to become world’s most powerful economy.

    Indians having undisclosed property abroad will have to pay tax and penalty on the basis of the current market value of the asset, and not at the purchase price, as per the new black money bill.

    However, the tax and penalty would take into account the part-disclosure, if any, made by the taxpayer with regard to the purchase of the concerned property.

    Giving an illustration on how the tax would be charged, ’The Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) bill 2015’ says that the tax liability on an overseas property would be computed on the basis of its current market price, and not the price at which it was acquired.

    The calculation takes into account that tax assessment was made on an amount of Rs. 20 lakh after purchase of the property, meaning a non-disclosure of assets worth about Rs. 30 lakh at that time. Since the total value of the property has doubled to Rs. 1 crore, in the same ratio the quantum of undisclosed asset also doubles from Rs. 30 lakh to Rs. 60 lakh.

    The undisclosed assets according to the Bill would include the overseas property in the name of the assesse and those in which he is the beneficial owner.

It would also include those property about which the assesse failed to give explanation about the source of investment to the tax officials.

    The Bill provides for a separate taxation of undisclosed income abroad which will be no longer taxed under the Income Tax Act.

    The bill says that concealment of income in relation to a foreign asset will attract penalty equal to three times the amount of tax (90 per cent of the undisclosed income or the value of the undisclosed asset). This would be over and above tax at a flat rate of 30 per cent.

    It also provides for a rigorous imprisonment of up to 10 years for concealment of overseas income.

source: the hindu