[diabloo]

Some hope: UBS causes the first crack in Swiss banking system

Global governments in Europe and US are getting increasingly intolerant about tax havens, as they battle recessions and dwindling tax receipts at home, and the Swiss have been under pressure about their laws for a while. Cracking down on tax havens is high on the agenda for the G20 summit in April.

Originally Posted by diabloo

Naturally, the secrecy associated with the bank accounts in such places is central to the issue.

[NetfreakBombay]

An interesting post in this context :

Paperwork (aka The Corruption Rant) - The India Uncut Blog - India Uncut

And another :

India's Far From Free Markets - WSJ.com

Story of a person who big shot in restaurant business:

The License Raj Is Dead. Long Live the License Raj. - WSJ.com

[four_tire]

When to be Corrupt or not be corrupt is a choice, then things might change!!

Being in India, what is a citizen assured of?
- Does the country pay unemployment allowance, or any other kind of garuntee. If NO then citizen never bothers to play it straight.
- Does the country provide customer protection,
- Does the country provide education for free, the parents will be patriots
- etc etc

its high time the country thought of people. because every country is made of people.

but this country only has one show running through out, which is called "Elections". the day they stop making elections, i think the funds will be used for more worthy causes. Every time the people are confused with this show called Elections, what is the use when we are not seeing the actual change.

its 1.3 billion living here, but the most important are either foriegn delegates, Business and politicos

its only our families (wife and kids) who think we are important. rest of the country doesnot appreciate the rest of the country..

Corruption is only feeding Elections .. please understand

[shajufx]

I am not talking about millions here, but something my brother is going through today, right now. His auditor goofed up some files (we think with a selfish understanding with the sales tax officers !!) and the sales tax guys jumped into the records that have been maintained 100% accurate for the last 15 years. What more to say, he is paying 5 laks in cash under the table to make the files more corrupt. I can vouch that not a single rupee from this goes to any Govt registers. We struggle and make our living, these buggers exploit the situations and make for generations !!

There is a day in the future, every Indian will run after Politicians and Govt officials and stone them to death without any mercy !

[Brabus E V12]

Originally Posted by shajufx

There is a day in the future, every Indian will run after Politicians and Govt officials and stone them to death without any mercy !

Ahh bless! I am waiting for that day. You will see me at the front. On my one of the things to do before I die list is to do a Rang De Basanti once (without the ending obviously as I only care about them being dead and don't care whether they get an award or not).

[shajufx]

I sometimes wish God comes to me (in any form) and tells me, "Shaju, be prepared, you are going to die on --day, --time and --this way" ! First thing I would do is getting the most sophisticated gun through any means that can fire atleast 300 in a row, make a hit list and finish my work on the previous day God has given me. Top of my list will be corrupted officials, useless above 50yrs politicians that are wished to be dead by the public and many like that. Public (you and me) dare not do all these, because we do not know how long we will live, scared of family being in trouble etc.

Have you ever imagined someone sitting in Delhi and ruling our country like our Great Akbar or Shajahan ? Rapists will be hanged to death on the same spot, same day; corrupted officials will be whipped till bleeding to death, thieves should be chopped off their hands and the list will go on. If something like this can happen even for 2 days, our country will be the best in the world. (Reference to Hindi movie Nayak -anil kapoor and Rani, Tamil movie Mudhalvan -arjun and manisha).

[Brabus E V12]

Originally Posted by shajufx

First thing I would do is getting the most sophisticated gun through any means that can fire atleast 300 in a row, make a hit list and finish my work on the previous day God has given me. Top of my list will be corrupted officials, useless above 50yrs politicians that are wished to be dead by the public and many like that. Public (you and me) dare not do all these, because we do not know how long we will live, scared of family being in trouble etc.

Have you ever imagined someone sitting in Delhi and ruling our country like our Great Akbar or Shajahan ? Rapists will be hanged to death on the same spot, same day; corrupted officials will be whipped till bleeding to death, thieves should be chopped off their hands and the list will go on).

I agree with you. I always think how can I help in changing my country? Unfortunately all we can do is support the few initiatives that are taken by people in our country - like PPI, Online Petitions or support Protests.

It is this frustration amongst us that WILL one day lead to someone getting up and doing a Rang De Basanti. People like Netaji and Bhagat Singh freed our country from foreigners only for our own people to start looting it themselves.

Talking about movies, if you remember there was another movie called Hindustan or Hindustani (Kamal Hassan in a double role - Father and Son) where the Father kills everyone who is corrupt and in the end kills his own son as his son also becomes corrupt.

[shajufx]

Yes movie called 'Indian', that was a lovely message too !
Lately media is doing a lot of eye-opening stuff. They have also started straight attack on social issues with lot of boldness, which we have never seen in the past. I can sense some kind of changes in the making. I wish our leaders are youngsters and educated like Rahul Gandhi, Omar Abdullah and the like, atleast they think in our wavelength. Although they represent respective parties, they have a heart to listen to everyone and do something for the public.

As long as the adament oldies are around, even youngsters who come to power will not be able to act free on anything. We need a Govt that has no parties, no religion, no colour and no attachments to anything.

[egangsta]

guys check this link, i recived it in my email.

THIS HAPPENED IN BANGALORE(BENGALURU):SHOCKING : THIS HAPPENED IN BANGALORE(BENGALURU):SHOCKING, vish shanker blogs on sulekha, General blogs, vish shanker blog from india

[CaliAtenza]

As an indian american living in namma bengaluru for the time being (medical school), ive noticed many things about india in my 3 years here. First off, yes corruption is a terrible thing that is blocking the progress of india, but more so than that..people here have lost (or did they ever have it??) basic respect for one another, which naturally feeds corruption. Its like people are acting like primates, wild animals out on the savannah. I mean come on, now we are living in a country/society where we cant even trust the police to help us, and they are the guardians of our society??? who is going to "police" them??..when they are one of the main instruments of corruption. Everyone wants power..everyone that is someone is in cahoots with another; what is the common man to do?? I thought this was supposed to be a democracy, not a free for all where anyone can do anything (lawyer's rampage in TN, Multalik, moral policing, desecration, burning of churches, et all..to name a few). People have become sheep, not willing to stand up to any of this. Some days i think india needs a strong man, to clean up all the mess..but then we'll have to throw that guy out. The only thing now is for us to take our society back and it starts at the grass roots level. Petition the government to give higher pay to the police, maybe corruption will become less. Petition your "elected representatives" to do something about the problems you are facing. Try to rope in the media, etc. You know, i always hear people here complaining about how the West (the US in particular) is the cause of all the ills in society, but maybe they should look inward and fix things at home first.

[shajufx]

Originally Posted by CaliAtenza

You know, i always hear people here complaining about how the West (the US in particular) is the cause of all the ills in society, but maybe they should look inward and fix things at home first.

I have never heard of anyone commenting like that ! The examples you mentioned have nothing to do with the west, eg. burning churches, mutalik, pub attack, TN issue etc. Most of the issues in India come out from either of the extreme groups within the religion itself. Right from babri masjid issue to the mangalore pub attack, religion is misused to the core as an excuse to moral policing. If there is a God or gods really existing, they must be feeling ashamed of what is happening in India in their name. I pray and really really wish atleast one of them come down to put an end to this non-sense once and for all !

[CaliAtenza]

Originally Posted by shajufx

I have never heard of anyone commenting like that ! The examples you mentioned have nothing to do with the west, eg. burning churches, mutalik, pub attack, TN issue etc. Most of the issues in India come out from either of the extreme groups within the religion itself. Right from babri masjid issue to the mangalore pub attack, religion is misused to the core as an excuse to moral policing. If there is a God or gods really existing, they must be feeling ashamed of what is happening in India in their name. I pray and really really wish atleast one of them come down to put an end to this non-sense once and for all !

i hear it in the letters that people write into TOI all the time and from my friends at college but i guess thats not representative of the general populace lol. But there is a trend here to blame things on outside forces and stuff. I mentioned those examples because it all feeds into corruption, etc. the TN issue is more about Tamilians then religion specifically though. Religion is sorely misused here..why i dont understand. Why do people use it as a crutch to stand on. This is supposed to be a secular democracy, but it sure isnt acting like one.

[Brabus E V12]

Quoted from another thread. This post was orginally by asejwal here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...account-4.html

India Wimping

Wimp: (noun) a weak, cowardly, or ineffectual person (Merriam Webster)

We have had India Shining; Resurgent India; and India Incredible. And we were the "I" in the greatest growth story in economic history that this generation was all set to witness. India is the worlds largest democracy and the "I" within the "BRIC" area that comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.


But that was when semi-nude women graced the front pages of the financial newspapers. And the now-naked CEOs and financial geniuses flashed their power and wealth on the TV channels. And the leaders of India went around the world staking their rightful claim in the New World Order. But this is now. Welcome to the New India, where a billion heart beats are beating so faintly that the patient is reported as dead on arrival by a confused media.


The living wimp
But India is not dead. It is Wimping. (Truthfully, there is no word like "wimping" but we are unique, and we always need to be treated differently. So lets make up a word for our behaviour.) India is alive but with serious problems. For all its largeness and all its greatness, we are ruled by wimps and cowards.

After we had the terrorist attacks on Bombay, India thumped the table demanding more action from Pakistan - or else. We are still waiting for that "or else". Meanwhile, the people of Bombay (and India) continue to give their bribes and weaken the rule of law. We are too scared to change the system in which we operate. The "or else" would entail not only a military strike against terrorist camps but also a strike against corruption. And many powerful businesses rely on corruption to fatten their pockets.
In Mangalore, carriers of the Hindutva flag beat up women sitting in a pub. That may be action - but it is the action of a frustrated wimp. Unable to rationalise and explain their irrational stance on why women cannot drink but men can, the hooligans used their fists. The Hindutva brigade needs to cleanse a lot of history books if they dont believe in the power of women to make choices.

Meanwhile, the policy makers talk about "bold" steps and forceful action to kick-start the economy. And they give us a stimulus package -and top it with another to show how serious they are. How serious? The US rescue package is 7% of their GDP - our stimulus package is 1% of GDP. China had announced its rescue package of 9% of its GDP. In fact the Indian package is the equivalent of pitting a new born baby to push over a 250 kilo sumo wrestler. You wont even get a tickle.

It has been 7 weeks since Rajus confession letter and 10 weeks since the aborted merger of Maytas and, for all the investigating agencies investigating, Satyam remains an enigma. No one is answering the obvious question: which politicians were involved in transactions with the family? And which company listed on the Indian stock exchanges could be a larger scam? In private, employees of Satyam can tell you names of politicians close to the Raju family. The investigating agencies seem lost. And why should they be eager? Their bosses may be cautioning them against getting too close to the truth. Because behind that will be the rotten smell of corruption. The most recent wagging finger came when the H-1 visa program was under threat from the Obama rescue package. Companies availing of the US government money cannot hire H-1 visa holders. That is discrimination, said the Indian government, we will fight it. (It is another matter that we have our own discrimination in India: seats are reserved for students based on caste, creed, and religion. If you take any government money for education, you need to follow the government guidelines on how you select your students.) But we object to this H-1 visa restriction said the government. Fingers will wag; tongues will get their daily exercise. But, nothing will come of it. The US will do what it wants, and we will be left with some "or else" hanging around our necks.


UBS blows a hole
So if the Indian wimp really wants to flex its muscles, here is another opportunity. The US government had filed a criminal charge against Swiss banking giant UBS and got UBS to disclose the names of 250 wealthy individuals charged with committing tax fraud in the USA. In addition, the US imposed a USD 780 million fine against UBS. That was on Wednesday, February 18th. One day later the US promptly filed a civil suit against UBS asking for 52,000 names allegedly with USD 14.8 billion of undeclared cash.

The Swiss are upset. The banking secrecy laws are a national treasure. And UBS has blown a hole by succumbing to pressure from the US. Over the next few days the Germans, Italians, and French are all expected to stand in line to get their lists. The Germans have already been fighting with the Swiss banks to confirm names they have bought from an ex-employee in the software division of a bank. The US win will strengthen their hand.

So where is the Indian request for a list of bank accounts held illegally in UBS by Indians living in India? Will the Indian strong man stand up and get results? Or will the Indian Wimp wave his finger and wag his tongue -and do nothing?

My bet is on the Indian Wimp. We have seen how the P-Note money has been treated with velvet gloves. There are brokers and investors who have forced the government into accepting money from unknown sources. This banking list is probably more dangerous because politicians and friends of politicians across party lines have some money stashed in illegal Swiss bank accounts.

Send this simple request to your local MP: "Please raise the question in Parliament to support a motion that the Indian government must get a list of all bank accounts held by Indian passport holders. And if the Swiss government does not agree, then close down all operations of the Swiss banks and brokers in India." What do you think your MP will do? Will he raise that question and support the motion? Watch the India Wimp in action.

(quoted verbatim from Ajit Dayal's - THE HONEST TRUTH)

Why I wanted you all to read this is to PLEASE STOP ACTING AS 'THE INDIAN WIMP' and we should all take some concrete action whenever we see wrong-doers around us...

[tsk1979]

If I remember correctly, a certain bank had offered the Indian govt list of names in the past. The govt did not take any action. After all why would anybody put an ax to own feet?

[sammyboy]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

If I remember correctly, a certain bank had offered the Indian govt list of names in the past. The govt did not take any action. After all why would anybody put an ax to own feet?

I remember that too. Some bank in one of the tax havens was willing to give a list of the people who had hidden accounts there and inspite of contacting the Indian govt quite a few times they didnt receive any response.