18 December 2014

India exported $94 billion illegal capital in 2012: Study

The total illicit financial outflows from India between 2003 and 2012 were $439 billion —$94.8 billion of that in 2012 alone — shows a study by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington DC-based research and advisory organisation.

On the list of the world’s biggest exporters of illicit financial flows from 2003 to 2012, India currently ranks fourth — after China, Russia and Mexico, in that order. Compared with the previous rankings, India and Malaysia have switched positions in terms of cumulative illicit financial outflows, with India moving to the fourth spot and Malaysia to fifth. This was due to a continuation of India’s upward move, which began in 2009, and Malaysia’s downward move, which began the next year. To put the figures in perspective, the $439 billion of outflows come to about 23 per cent of India’s gross domestic product in 2013 ($1.87 trillion).

GFI President Raymond Baker said: “The most troubling... is the fact that these outflows are growing at an alarming rate of 9.4 per cent a year —twice as fast as global GDP,” adding “it is simply impossible to achieve sustainable global development, unless world leaders agree to address this issue head on”.

The study estimates illicit financial outflows from two sources: As a result of deliberate trade misinvoicing, and due to leakages in the balance of payments (known as illicit hot money narrow outflows). According to the study, while trade invoicing accounted for 77.8 per cent of illicit flows from all developing countries over the period, this number was 85.3 per cent for Asia.

The report says it is likely the repatriation and surrender requirements create strong incentives for exporters to under-invoice exports as a way to circumvent these requirements. While the report provides an estimate of illicit flows, it is difficult to say with certainty what is the exact quantum of funds currently stashed abroad. That is because many allege a substantial portion of these illicit outflows are routed back into the country, often via tax havens. But Aman Aggarwal, director, Indian Institute of Finance, disagrees.

India ranks fourth among the world's biggest exporters of illicit money, the study says

GST Bill gets Cabinet nod; likely in Parliament this session Govt aims to roll out the GST from April 1, 2016

The Cabinet today approved the Constitution Amendment Billon Goods and Services Tax (GST), clearing the way for its introduction in ongoing session of Parliament to bring about long-pending indirect tax reforms.

The Bill was approved by the Cabinet late this evening and it is likely to be tabled in the ongoing winter session of Parliament that concludes on December 23, sources said.

The government aims to roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from April 1, 2016.

The revised Constitutional Amendment Bill was brought before the Cabinet after the Centre and states earlier this week reached a consensus on contentious issues, including those related to petroleum product taxation, which were holding up the proposed nation-wide indirect tax regime for about seven years.

The GST will subsume most of the indirect taxes like excise duty and service tax at the central level and VAT and local levies on the states front.

The GST Bill was last introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2011 by the then UPA government but lapsed, requiring the new NDA government to come with a new Bill.

Earlier this week in a compromise deal, the Centre decided to keep petroleum out of GST in return for states agreeing to entry tax being subsumed in the new tax regime.

On the issue of compensation to states for revenue loss because of subsuming of all indirect taxes in the GST, the Finance Ministry was to seek legal opinion on how it could be accommodated in the Constitution Amendment Bill that it wants to table in the ongoing Winter session of Parliament.

States, which earn over 50 per cent of their revenues from taxes on petrol and other petro products, wanted it to be out of GST so they could continue with levying different tax rates on these products.

In the three rounds of talks that held last week, states insisted that the compensation part should be included in the Constitution Amendment Bill.

The idea of moving towards the GST was first mooted by the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram in his Budget for 2006-07. Initially, it was proposed that GST would be introduced by April 1, 2010.

GS1,IAS MAINS-2014 PAPER,SAMVEG IAS

Analysis

HISTORY(10Qs,100marks)

Culture - 4Qs (40m)

Indian History- 3Qs (30m)

World History - 3Qs(30m)

Social issues-5Qs (50m)

Geography -10Qs (100m)

Industrial Location-3Qs (30m)
Physical Geography -2Qs(20m)
Climatology -3qs(30m)
Resource distribution -2Qs(20m)

GS2 ,IAS MAINS-2014 ,SAMVEG IAS

Analysis

Constitution -:5Qs(62.5marks)

Governance, Administration, Bodies-:3Qs (37.5marks)

Policies: Economic sectors : 2Qs(25marks)

Policies: HRD /Welfare type: 5Qs(62.5marks)

IR/Diplomacy : 5Qs(62.5marks)

17 December 2014

GS4 ,IAS MAINS -2014 PAPER,SAMVEG IAS DEHRADUN

Paper was easier than last year but was little bit lengthy.but like last year,aspirants will get higher marks in GS4 Paper this year also..

Analysis

SECTION—A -130m

SECTION—B -120m

Case: Environment degradation (20m)
Case: Ethics not essential (20m)
Case: Bogus rape complaint (20m)
Case: give bribe or end career (20m)
Case: disillusioned UPSC topper (20m)
Case: Why villagers migrate? (20m)

Who are the Pakistani Taliban

A look at the Pakistani Taliban, a militant organisation that has claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a school in the northwestern city of Peshawar:

WHO ARE THE PAKISTANI TALIBAN?

The extremist group is made up of fighters who largely have been based in North Waziristan, a northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan. They have been battling government troops in the northwest since Pakistan aligned itself with the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. But the Pakistani Taliban didn’t officially form until 2007 as an umbrella organisation that included various militant factions, all aligned against the government. In recent months, the organisation has fractured amid a Pakistani military offensive and U.S. drone strikes that have raised tension in the ranks. Known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, it is headed by Mullah Fazlullah, a militant commander who claimed responsibility for trying to kill education activist Malala Yousafzai in 2012. The teenager survived the shooting and won the Nobel Peace Prize.

WHAT ARE THEIR GOALS?

The TTP has vowed to overthrow the government and install a harsh form of Islamic law. The extremists are aligned with the Afghan Taliban a group fighting U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan as well as al-Qaeda militants who also live in the rugged northwest. They have frequently attacked Pakistani troops, government targets and civilians to help carry out their goals. Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the violence, but Tuesday’s school assault was one of the deadliest in more than a decade of fighting.

WHAT HAS PAKISTAN’S GOVERNMENT DONE TO STOP THEM?

Pakistan’s military has carried out numerous operations in the tribal areas over the years, and more than 4,000 soldiers have been killed, with thousands more wounded. But many Pakistanis are tired of the operations and question their effectiveness. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, elected in 2013 partly on a platform of promising to negotiate an end to the violence, has tried for months to talk to the militants with little result. When militants attacked the Karachi international airport in June, the violence shocked the country. The government began an offensive in the militant hub of North Waziristan the last remaining tribal area where the military had not launched an operation. Pakistan says it has killed more than 1,000 militants in the operation, which displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

GS3 UPSC MAINS-2014 ,SAMVEG IAS DEHRADUN

MOSTLY CURRENT AFFAIR BASED QUESTION THAT CAN BE ATTEMPTED IF you are reading samvegias.blogspot.com
Economy-5Qs-62.5 marks
Infrastructure and investment -2Qs-25marks
Agri-2Qs-25 marks
Science and tech-3Qs-37.5 marks
Environment -3Qs-37.5 marks
Security 5Qs-62.7 mark