Loud Thinking

Archive for October, 2014

میاں نواذ شر یف تمہیں یاد ەو کہ نہ یاد ەو وہی وعدە لوٹی ەویٴ دولت واپس لانے کا

The following news published today, by the Times of India, at least proves one thing that BJP is moving fast to honour its commitment in manifesto, promising to bring back undisclosed funds of Indians from Swiss banks.

However, in Pakistan Mr. Ishaq Dar, with his statements, is giving an impression that bringing back black money from foreign banks may well be a pipe dream…!

It is earnestly suggested to our Prime Minister, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif to immediately form a task force (as this job our FM can’t do or he doesn’t want to do it) consisting of highly qualified, capable and honest people, to independently work directly under the PM, for bringing back black money of Pakistani people from all over the world, in a given time frame of not more than one years time.

Times of India News:

Black money issue: Wary Swiss banks advise some Indians to cash out

MUMBAI: Leading Swiss banks are trying to distance themselves from some of the dodgy Indian clients who have twisted rules and could be a cause of embarrassment in future.

At least four individuals — three based in Mumbai and one in Delhi — holding the famously anonymous Swiss numbered accounts, have been advised by their respective banks to pull out their money by December 31.

In the past few weeks, they have received calls from bank relationship managers asking them to close the numbered accounts, known for their secrecy and convenience. One of them has been told to close the account by as early as October 30 while another has been asked to prove that tax has been paid on funds lying with the bank, a person aware of the telephonic conversations told ET. “They have been having these accounts for more than a decade,” said the person.

Responding to ET’s email query, a Bank Julius Baer & Co spokesman said the bank would not want to comment while an external spokesperson for Credit Suisse said, “As a matter of policy Credit Suisse does not comment on alleged client relationships. Credit Suisse is highly committed to the India market and to Indian clients, and we continue to see the country as a key growth market for the bank.” Emails sent to UBS through the bank’s website media contact form on Friday and Tuesday Tuesday remained unanswered till the time of going to press.

India and Switzerland plan to put in place an automatic information sharing arrangement that will require Swiss banks to report names of resident Indians opening accounts. The persons who were approached by the Swiss banks are under the impression that the pact between the two countries is forcing banks to end relationships with some of the account holders.

Unlike resident Indians who are beneficiaries of trusts that have accounts with Swiss banks, holders of numbered accounts are on a more shaky ground.

At least four individuals — three based in Mumbai and one in Delhi — holding the famously anonymous Swiss numbered accounts, have been advised by their respective banks to pull out their money by December 31

While trust beneficiaries are likely to argue before the tax department and court of law that their names were included without their knowledge and that they received no funds from the trust, numbered account holders are in a more vulnerable situation because such accounts are not opened under the Reserve Bank of India’s liberalized remittance scheme — the only official channel that allows individual resident Indians to operate offshore bank accounts and purchase stocks and properties abroad.

In the absence of any specific direction from the Swiss government following a criminal probe or a large-scale investigation, Swiss banks can hold back details such as name, address and passport number of a customer who is no longer an account holder.

“The challenge for these customers is to move the money to some other destination without leaving a trail. Often, the preferred location in such cases is Dubai where the money is parked in the account of a new company incorporated in one of the free trade zones…there is some comfort for the bank as well as a client once an account is closed,” said a senior professional specializing in offshore trusts and investments. “We are noticing a sense of discomfort among some of the banks when it comes to Indian names in numbered accounts. Even if they are NRIs, banks are not sure whether these individuals have paid tax in the foreign country where they have been residing,” he said.

Even a dormant account with zero balance can prove troublesome as one of the persons who figures in the list of Indians having accounts with HSBC Geneva has realized. The tax office has raised a claim on him on the basis of the minimum balance required for a private bank account together with the interest calculated since the day the account was opened. n a few cases the department has made high-pitched claims, where the income of an offshore trust was clubbed with the income of all the beneficiaries (who are resident Indians) in arriving at the tax demand. The HSBC Geneva list which came to light five years ago, along with subsequent information on Indians linked to firms and bank accounts in British Virgin Islands, boiled over into a political issue with the BJP manifesto promising to bring back undisclosed funds of Indians from Swiss banks. The HSBC list triggered raids and tax demands, often driving the income-tax department to try out ways to persuade the alleged account holders into confession. However, most individuals in the list have so far refused to admit that they have Swiss bank accounts.

We were looking for an international level wicket keeper and lo and behold found a batsman, who is batting like Bradman…!

“If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.”

— Jonathan Winters

“It is man’s social nature which distinguishes him from the brute creation. If it is his privilege to be independent, it is equally his duty to be inter-dependent. Only an arrogant man will claim to be independent of everybody else and be self-contained.”

—Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948)
Indian Political And Spiritual Leader

For the time being the danger of Indian Attack on Pakistan has diminished as the IAF has been forced to ground 200 Sukhoi-30 fighter bombers.

Are we Pakistanis still living under one unit..?

Even after passing of over six decades, Pakistan is still standing at a dead end. The reason being that almost more than 95% population is totally disconnected with the concept of the nation hood, which means “the state or quality of having a status as a separate and independent nation”. Alienation of such a huge population from the main life stream of Pakistan, is virtually a fatal disease.

However, the fact which is more dangerous and perilous is that we have turned ourselves into a more fragmented society than our forefathers could have ever imagined. The schism (division or disunion), is so intense that if immediate corrective steps are not taken, God forbid, this country may even see, more turbulent times.

And from this divided society, the hydra (Greek myth a monster with nine heads,each of which, when struck off, was replaced by two new ones) of sectarian violence is massively shaking the foundations of Pakistan.

The writing on the wall is clear for all to read. The decadence of Pakistani society in every sphere of life, is abysmal, to say the least.

Hardly, any day passes without reports of suicides committed by the poor, due to the economic hardships. Children did not not die in dozens, but in scores, due to the measles outbreak and; strangely enough, no soul moved and not even a single person was held accountable.

Recently, hundreds of hundreds kids, women and men died in Thar area, just due to diseases and malnutrition, but our ministers and public representatives made sure to enjoy their feasts, right in the middle of the starving population of Thar. These beasts are more callous, than the Changez Khan.

To top it all, the worsening conditions of law and order, excluding the war on terror connected problems, with particular reference to the sectarian violence, is a matter of highest alarm, which deserves top priority tackling, not only by the government and its law enforcing agencies, but by the civil society, as a whole.

In view of the foregoing, maybe, we have one last chance to stem the rot, to unite the people and to give them a prescription, to rise again and re-build the nation from the ashes; because, for the overwhelming majority, a time is coming that the masses, may well be forced to think that: no life no nation.

The current frame work, under which the country is being run will not take Pakistan any forward, even if it is allowed to continue as such, for another 100 years. All small and big nations in our region and the world have overtaken us, in the basic fields of health, education, justice, law and order and food security.

It is high time that all stakeholders in Pakistan must wake up, as the nation is moving fast towards destruction; and business as usual, can do no good for Pakistan; our survival is directly linked with the existence of our nationhood, whose essence is vast vanishing in the thin air.

Pakistan needs a turnaround; for which the basic need is our adaptation and readiness for the CHANGE, not in cosmetic but real sense. We need a complete change from one era to another, like the one witnessed during the past 4-5 decades by China, South Korea, Singapore, UAE, Malaysia and Indonesia. And the secret of their rapid success was keeping the self interest and politics subservient to the national interest.

Hence, for all Pakistanis, failure is not an option, but success is also not automatically guaranteed. In this regard, I would like to suggest that we formulate a new social contract, for the common people (95% of the country’s population) of Pakistan, who always pays 100 percent bills and taxes; and never defaults on their bank loans.

Let us make a new Pakistan, which is redesigned to practically cater to the needs of the exploited masses.

In this connection, we must know that the biggest ailment of Pakistan and its governance is the order of the CENTRALISATION, which started from the concept of the ONE UNIT. Still, geographically and population wise, these four provinces are so huge and un-manageable that for all purposes and intent, they are still ONE UNIT, for the general masses.

We have to realise that the very survival and interest of Pakistan is far more supreme than the political interests of some large and small political parties of Pakistan.

All crime centers can be easily located, controlled and eliminated, if the administrative units are minuscule. I wonder ever in their life time, a CM or an IG has visited Minchinabad or Maroot, the farthest areas of the province of Punjab. In fact, in these type of areas, the SHO, is the IG for the local population.

If we have to put the politics of vested interests before the national interest, then forget about the survival of the country.

What we have to and we must do, is to first determine the national interest and then keep it supreme over all other considerations.

In my opinion now a time has come for taking the following decisions IMMEDIATELY:

– To create easily governable (at least for the next 50 years) administrative units or provinces. In this regard, there should be no discrimination or injustice with any province and ethnic or linguistic group; and each division of the country should be converted into a province. Moreover, in order to remove any semblance of ethnicity or linguistic bias, these provinces should be named like the NA seats; and mentioned as PK1, PK2, PK3 and so on.

This will also work as a panacea (an answer or solution for all problems or difficulties), for the eradication of linguistic, sectarian and any other type of frictions and doubts, about the hegemony of one class of the people, over the other.

In fact, it will work wonders in the speedy development and unity of Pakistan; and kill instantly, any secessionist, linguistic, or sectarian activities, currently prevailing in some parts of the country.

– Moreover, the current election system is so flawed that any Tom Dick and Harry can easily manipulate it to defeat the basic purpose of the democracy. So, if the basic electoral process is retarded, how can it give birth to genuine representatives of the authentic democracy?

Changes must be also be made in our constitution, to make it a presidential form of a democratic set up, where the whole country directly votes for the president.
However, before voting, the candidates of all political parties for the presidential post, must notify (in advance) a list of their MPAs, MNAs and Senators, who will be automatically considered elected, according to the percentage of votes cast, in favour of all the candidates, for the top post of the country.

– The decision for Pakistan’s charter of development for building dams and mega projects for the next 50 years should also be finalised, on which, later on, no politics should be allowed for any political party.

In other words, all the registered political parties must decide now, where they would like to see Pakistan, in each and every field of the life, after 50 years. This plan should be further divided into ten five years plans.

“People can’t be just tied together. They have to connect. Otherwise, they’ll find themselves bound hand and foot.”

—Ai Yazawa (born 1967)
Author

“If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give us no shade when we are old.”

— Lord Chesterfield

Marriage always demands the greatest understanding of the art of insincerity possible between two human beings.

~Vicki Baum

Pity is the deadliest feeling that can be offered to a woman.

~Vicki Baum