YEH MERA INDIA
Over 30,000 pieces of info on black money under I-T scanner
New Delhi: More than 30,000 pieces of Information about black money in India have come under the scanner of the Income Tax Department. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), under the Finance Ministry, has gathered voluminous data on suspicious transactions, the department informed a global OECD conference held here recently.
Black money hoarders have also disclosed more than Rs 430 crore of unaccounted funds to the I-T department after the government received classified information from various countries on stashed funds under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).
"30,765 pieces of domestic information about suspicious transactions has been obtained by FIU which are under investigation," Director General of I-T Investigations (Delhi) K V Chowdary said while speaking at a conference.
Black money hoarders have also disclosed more than Rs 430 crore of unaccounted funds to the I-T department after the government received classified information from various countries on stashed funds under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).
"30,765 pieces of domestic information about suspicious transactions has been obtained by FIU which are under investigation," Director General of I-T Investigations (Delhi) K V Chowdary said while speaking at a conference.
‘Indians pay $700m yearly as bribe’
A whopping $700mn (about Rs.3,700cr) is paid annually as bribe in India for land administration services, a joint study by United Nation’s body FAO and Transparency International has observed.
According to the working paper ‘corruption in the Land Sector’, jointly prepared by Food and Agriculture Organization and global anti-graft body Transparency International, weak governance has increased instances of corruption in land related issues.
The working paper, which includes studies conducted in more than 61 countries, found that corruption in the land sector varied from small-scale bribes and fraud to high –level abuses of government power and political positions, FAO said in a statement.
Land administration services include land legislation, registration, valuation/ taxation, land –use planning, land allocation and information. The paper reveals that land related corruption was not confined to India but is a worldwide phenomenon.
According to the working paper ‘corruption in the Land Sector’, jointly prepared by Food and Agriculture Organization and global anti-graft body Transparency International, weak governance has increased instances of corruption in land related issues.
The working paper, which includes studies conducted in more than 61 countries, found that corruption in the land sector varied from small-scale bribes and fraud to high –level abuses of government power and political positions, FAO said in a statement.
Land administration services include land legislation, registration, valuation/ taxation, land –use planning, land allocation and information. The paper reveals that land related corruption was not confined to India but is a worldwide phenomenon.
Official anti-labour practices
Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has been wasting public money as they are paying Rs 44 lakhs per month to employees on contract whereas 35 percent posts in the apex body are still vacant. RTI activist Anil Galgali found out in an RTI query that out of the total (670) sanctioned posts in MMRDA – only 443 were filled while the remaining 227 are vacant. "This is absurd and is hampering the infrastructure work of the city. MMRDA should immediately fill up these positions and not hire people on contract basis as that eats into the coffers of the authority," said Galgali.
MMRDA has hired 177 people on contract in various departments while another 63 people are on deputation. To add to it, MMRDA is paying these people salaries to the tune of around Rs 44 lakhs per month. And some top officers among the contract staff draw salary of up to Rs 90,000 per month.
"The authority could hire people on permanent basis which will save on cost and moreover the work can be carried out efficiently and faster.
This is wanton wastage of government funds," said Galgali.
MMRDA was created as a special body for planning the development of Mumbai and its satellite cities surrounding Mumbai. But off late MMRDA transformed itself to being a implementing authority as well.
MMRDA has hired 177 people on contract in various departments while another 63 people are on deputation. To add to it, MMRDA is paying these people salaries to the tune of around Rs 44 lakhs per month. And some top officers among the contract staff draw salary of up to Rs 90,000 per month.
"The authority could hire people on permanent basis which will save on cost and moreover the work can be carried out efficiently and faster.
This is wanton wastage of government funds," said Galgali.
MMRDA was created as a special body for planning the development of Mumbai and its satellite cities surrounding Mumbai. But off late MMRDA transformed itself to being a implementing authority as well.
Helmets-is there anything wrong?
Mumbai: In the backdrop of Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik tightening the screws on errant bikers who do not wear helmets or use sub standard ones, it was learnt that the Mumbai Traffic police are yet to categorise deaths of bikers due to either poor quality helmets or not wearing helmets. Further, the number of errant riders wearing sub-standard helmets was not available with the Traffic Police Department.
About 611 bike riders have died since 2007 till October 31 this year, but the Mumbai Traffic Police are unable to state whether these bikers were riding with their helmets on, when they met with the fatal accident.
"INDIAN STANDARD INSTITUTE (ISI) marked helmets available with authorized dealers at Rs 1,800 have a hard shell that covers the head from all angles absorbing the entire shock in case of a mishap. But, riders risk their lives to save a few hundred rupees and buy cheap helmets with fake ISI mark sold on the streets," said traffic police inspector Shriram Patil.
The bone of contention behind passing a circular was that many errant drivers were seen riding without a helmet or with a sub standard helmet. Therefore, Patnaik reinforced the order to wear helmets with ISI mark only.
But, it was found out that despite every minute details of the fatal accidents like the timing, age, gender, etc is recorded with the Traffic police, whether the driver was wearing a helmet or not is yet to be categorized in these records. Also, whether the biker was wearing an ISI mark helmet or not is out of question.
Passing the buck to Mumbai Police on the issue a traffic official said, "We do not get such specific detailing about the accidents from the Mumbai Police, because of which we are unable to record them." However, he admitted that it is of crucial importance.
About 611 bike riders have died since 2007 till October 31 this year, but the Mumbai Traffic Police are unable to state whether these bikers were riding with their helmets on, when they met with the fatal accident.
"INDIAN STANDARD INSTITUTE (ISI) marked helmets available with authorized dealers at Rs 1,800 have a hard shell that covers the head from all angles absorbing the entire shock in case of a mishap. But, riders risk their lives to save a few hundred rupees and buy cheap helmets with fake ISI mark sold on the streets," said traffic police inspector Shriram Patil.
The bone of contention behind passing a circular was that many errant drivers were seen riding without a helmet or with a sub standard helmet. Therefore, Patnaik reinforced the order to wear helmets with ISI mark only.
But, it was found out that despite every minute details of the fatal accidents like the timing, age, gender, etc is recorded with the Traffic police, whether the driver was wearing a helmet or not is yet to be categorized in these records. Also, whether the biker was wearing an ISI mark helmet or not is out of question.
Passing the buck to Mumbai Police on the issue a traffic official said, "We do not get such specific detailing about the accidents from the Mumbai Police, because of which we are unable to record them." However, he admitted that it is of crucial importance.
Mumbai orders fire audit of hospitals
Mumbai: Days after a blaze killed 93 patients in Kolkata’s AMRI Hospital, the Mumbai civic administration ordered a fire audit of all public and private hospitals with a mandate to prosecute those which do not comply with regulations, an official said. The audit will be taken up in all the 67 major state government-run, Municipal and private hospitals, with 100 and more beds, said Chief Fire Officer H.N. Mujawar.
Parliament or no parliament,we want our D.A - MPs
Lucknow: An RTI activist has put a couple of Uttar Pradesh MPs in the dock for having charged daily allowance for attending parliament on days when no business was actually transacted in the institution, reports IANS.
Akhilesh Saxena, local co-ordinator of India Against Corruption (IAC) lodged an FIR with the police here accusing BJP’s Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon of availing the special Parliament attendance allowance for 22 such days in 2010, when his own party did not allow parliament to function.
Other Lok Sabha members to face similar FIRs were BJP’s Varanasi MP Murli Manohar Joshi, Ghazipur MP Radhey Shyam and Samajwadi Party’s Allahabad MP Reoti Raman Singh. According to Saxena: "It was against an RTI query that we were told about suspension of all Parliament proceedings for as many as 22 days between Nov 10 Dec 13 (2010). However, on further inquiry we learnt that barring 143 MPs, all others had taken the special allowance for those days at the rate of Rs 2,000 per day."
He said: "Meanwhile, the drain to the exchequer on account of suspension of parliamentary proceedings is of the order of Rs 25.94 crore". The functioning of parliament was paralysed by the opposition, which had been holding agitations and demonstrations against the government’s alleged involvement in multiple scams.
Akhilesh Saxena, local co-ordinator of India Against Corruption (IAC) lodged an FIR with the police here accusing BJP’s Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon of availing the special Parliament attendance allowance for 22 such days in 2010, when his own party did not allow parliament to function.
Other Lok Sabha members to face similar FIRs were BJP’s Varanasi MP Murli Manohar Joshi, Ghazipur MP Radhey Shyam and Samajwadi Party’s Allahabad MP Reoti Raman Singh. According to Saxena: "It was against an RTI query that we were told about suspension of all Parliament proceedings for as many as 22 days between Nov 10 Dec 13 (2010). However, on further inquiry we learnt that barring 143 MPs, all others had taken the special allowance for those days at the rate of Rs 2,000 per day."
He said: "Meanwhile, the drain to the exchequer on account of suspension of parliamentary proceedings is of the order of Rs 25.94 crore". The functioning of parliament was paralysed by the opposition, which had been holding agitations and demonstrations against the government’s alleged involvement in multiple scams.
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