Currency Demonetisation and Future course of Indian Economy

pankajs · Post by **pankajs** » 06 Jan 2017 19:48

^
Lead generation happens in/under the PMO and case closure happens by the PMO and the lead is passed on to IT. Feedback from the impacted party is sought at the end with the promise of anonymity and it stays with the PMO. If you take away the initiation and closure powers a lot of things will be straightened.

IT case officers are required to investigate and file a written/logged reply when asking for closure. If any discrepancies is found later it can be tracked to the officer and he can be hauled to appropriate forum with full documentation.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 06 Jan 2017 19:54

ShauryaT wrote: Does Modi have the political will and capability to execute upon this?

The answer to this rhetorical question is as follows:

If Modi has the political will, the capability requires widespread political support for his intent. If that political support is not given because of political parochial considerations, then he may not have the capability to do it.

By "lack of political support because of parochial considerations" I mean that the Congress party who hate Modi because they like to call him a murderer may decide to support a deeply corrupt Mamata Banerji political initiative despite the Saradha and other scams in an act of vindictive political opportunism designed solely to defeat Modi with no consideration for his intent.

In the end if he fails a whole lot of Indians will be happy and gloating to the extent that we will have people saying that Black Money cannot be eradicated. It is an essential part of the economy and that democracy,freedom and secularism have won with the defeat of Modis schemes.

So demonetization is by no means a guaranteed success. Every Indian who wants it to work has to cooperate. But in this free democracy every Indian chooses what he wants.

That said - Modi has a trump card in his hands which the opposition does not like. He may go down the populism way and literally put money in the accounts of poor people to win votes. The money is already there. That is why people are demanding that the budget be postponed till after the state elections. If Modi were to play the game that Congress, Mamata, and the Yadavs have played he will do exactly that and possibly win hands down. Then we can have a different set of people gloating.

Let us see what happens. I am personally not making any predictions or demands.

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 06 Jan 2017 20:02

NaMo needs to control both houses. Phir I expect some big ticket reforms/change. He could pull off DEMON because he didn't need to clear RS.

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 06 Jan 2017 20:12

^The BJP/NDA control about 14 states today, many large and more with some soft allies - I would argue the capability in large measure exists, not fully but substantially. If someone is looking for complete control then that may never happen. A leader will have to find ways to push through.

JayS · Post by **JayS** » 06 Jan 2017 20:21

ShauryaT wrote:^The BJP/NDA control about 14 states today, many large and more with some soft allies - I would argue the capability in large measure exists, not fully but substantially. If someone is looking for complete control then that may never happen. A leader will have to find ways to push through.

I suppose, by 2019 BJP will have enough strength to overpower the C-system in RS them. The recent lot of RS election were majority from non-BJP states and or from those which BJP anyways has seats and thus the status quo was maintained almost.

BTW while in theory its ok to say that a leader has to push through, but then tomorrow some of us only would hound Modi for precisely those compromises he might have to do to push through. And if he pushes through by pressing some nerve centres, we can only imagine the way MSM and all the C-system zombies would go gaga over how Modi is hounding everyone using CBI and what not. Already he has barely even touched Jehadid and like of Couptaji are howling. I am ready to give Modi benefit of doubt over this situation and wait until 2019 for some real deal to come through.

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 06 Jan 2017 20:22

Even if we assume the worst possible case where majority of the BM holders managed to convert their BM hoards to blackmoney by using poor people's account and giving them a conservative 10-20% cut, that is still a huge redistribution of wealth to the poor that they wouldn't have got normally.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 06 Jan 2017 20:25

Yesterday we were in the company of two successful industrialists. To cut a long story short,both have been victims of huge bribe demands by factory inspectors and a commissioner of one particular industry.For obvious reasons I cannot give further details.This was for no favours whatsoever,simple regular filing of papers,etc. as per norms. Both refused saying that why did they have to pay for no violation whatsoever.One gent who has many industries,has been slapped with a huge fine of over a crore,plus a penalty,and has no other course of action but to go to court and pay a huge court fee of over 30 lakhs,while the other gent is mulling over whether to bargain over the amt. of bribe or resist like his friend.This is all happening in the aftermath of the demon project.How will corruption be stopped when govt. officials are so brazen? I told both that they needed to fight back ,this was the time to do so when the GOI was on a crusade against corruption and send letters to the PMO,vigilance,etc.,etc,of the alleged bribe demands from the officials.

Some years ago,there was a report in the national media that a weekly in a Maharashtra town regularly published the names of officials who had demanded bribes.and promised to give new cases in the next weekly issue.it was so successful that some of the the bribe-askers even went to the weekly's office to plead for their names not to be mentioned! Unless the public stand up and refuse to pay bribes and expose the corrupt officials,things will soon return to "normal service". The GOI of the day has to clean the cobwebs in the corridors of power first before attempting to clan the houses of the public.

JayS · Post by **JayS** » 06 Jan 2017 20:31

Philip wrote: Unless the public stand up and refuse to pay bribes and expose the corrupt officials,things will soon return to "normal service". The GOI of the day has to clean the cobwebs in the corridors of power first before attempting to clan the houses of the public.

+1008

War against Corruption is like a huge "Yadnyakarma" as Modi said. If and when it goes full blown, it will be nothing short of Independence Struggle. Everyone has to give some "Aahuti" in it for the future of Desh. Those who do not want to, have no right to demand a better future IMO.

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 06 Jan 2017 20:43

Even though BJP Controls Goa and Maharashtra there has been, in my experience, no material or perceptible change in corruption. DEMON's objectives were different

Electoral funding reform is the next big structural clean up required.

I wonder when NaMo will go after judicial and police reform with the same zeal and enthusiasm that he shows for infrastructure projects.

Public perception can Ben positively impacted by reforming and cleaning up public facing services like RTO and property registrations. All state subjects though.

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 06 Jan 2017 20:47

^Another way is to ensure that the corrupt are hounded out!! Some experts have suggested a few changes.

1. Changes in service rules to enable quick prosecution
2. The onus of proving innocence upon the corrupt public servant (presumption of guilt)
3. No adjournment of cases
4. Cases to resolve in 1 year
5. Physical incarceration and no bail
6. Freezing of all family assets

Do the above for politicians and public servants and watch the fun!!

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 06 Jan 2017 20:52

I would also like to see a law where there is no statute of limitations on individual public officer accountability. Eg for fraudulent land zoning and building approvals the government can go after the corrupt approvers and their assets even after they retire or they die. Since the corrupt's family benefits they can also be made to pay the consequences.

I am curious to see what types are people are exposed in the benami drive. Will,be interesting to see if any BJP types show up.

It's been a week into the new year and after the buzz of then last 50 days, its eerily quiet. Hopefully, the calm before the benami clean up storm.

Schmidt · Post by **Schmidt** » 06 Jan 2017 21:03

The banks are flush with cash and this puts stress on them as their liabilities increase
Also puts pressure on interest rates which are coming down

There seems to be little appetite for loans from the private sector for capex investments

Hence the government is the only agency that can put these funds to productive use

It can embark on a massive low cost housing project across the country that can convert a significant proportion of the non home owning population into the asset owning class in the process creating millions of jobs as well

They can atleast start this by 2018 and will have something concrete to show by 2019

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 06 Jan 2017 21:25

^There is something seriously wrong IF a supply constrained country such as India cannot use attractive capital in private hands. Maybe fire the FM, he is a lawyer anyways. His liaring can be better utilized managing other liars like the courts. Imperative to get private investment climate going.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 06 Jan 2017 21:40

rahulm wrote:
I wonder when NaMo will go after judicial and police reform with the same zeal and enthusiasm that he shows for infrastructure projects.

Police reform is a state problem which may be possible in BJP controlled states

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 06 Jan 2017 21:42

Schmidt wrote:
It can embark on a massive low cost housing project across the country that can convert a significant proportion of the non home owning population into the asset owning class in the process creating millions of jobs as well

This is exactly what Modi said in his 31 Dec speech

suryag · Post by **suryag** » 06 Jan 2017 21:48

skill development program was also towards this goal ?

Schmidt · Post by **Schmidt** » 06 Jan 2017 21:59

shiv wrote:
Schmidt wrote:
It can embark on a massive low cost housing project across the country that can convert a significant proportion of the non home owning population into the asset owning class in the process creating millions of jobs as well
This is exactly what Modi said in his 31 Dec speech

------------------
Not exactly
Modi talked about cheaper loans for poorer folks

I am saying the government must build entire townships of low cost housing as private sector builders are not really interested in low cost housing

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 06 Jan 2017 23:54

It's not the government's job to build houses. It's their job to create the economic incentives that encourages private builders to build homes. The 2016 budget does contain significant new incentives to do this. However, builders bet significantly on the highest end of the market. With DeMo, there will be a recalibration of prices such that the entire market will move south in value. There's really nothing to support the RE valuations in some major cities. Upper-mid prices should be in the mid/mid-upper range, and other price bands should also fall correspondingly.

Also, this is off topic for this thread.

Rishi Verma · Post by **Rishi Verma** » 07 Jan 2017 01:49

Shiv Sena calls Central Gov "worst in 10,000 years"

It seems SS has lost10,000cr due to note-bandi

In a stinging attack on the NDA Government over demonetisation, key ally Shiv Sena on Friday described it as the “worst regime in 10,000 years” and said the BJP leaders are living in fool’s paradise to think that the exercise would eradicate black money after putting even women to great difficulty.

Ss is losing its mind.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 07 Jan 2017 01:56

Bureaucracy is inflated! At least 40% of the IAS/IRS/IFS officers are not needed! Do we still have stenographers/typists/secretaries/peons? Around the world all top leadership knows how to type/write their own letters and communicate via modern methods!

I think NAMO should start by cutting this flab!

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 07 Jan 2017 03:38

This for the idiots and scoundrels who are loudly and repeatedly claiming that the DeMo is a failure:

Note ban takes toll on terror; Pak counterfeit presses close, Kashmir violence dips 60%

NEW DELHI: India has made significant gains in the war on fake currency, inflicting anoxic damage on terrorism in Kashmir and elsewhere in the country. Two main Pakistani presses engaged in printing counterfeit Indian currency have been forced to shut shop, investigating agencies have told the Centre after assessing the impact of demonetisation on national security.

This has choked terrorism financing, they said, with the result that terrorism-related violence in Kashmir saw a sharp decline of nearly 60% during December, with just one bomb blast in the Valley during the month, and left-wing extremism suffered a debilitating blow

Besides, call traffic by hawala agents in India fell 50%, as per the assessment of the impact of demonetisation in the past 30 days. The radical change in design and use of extra security features in the new currency notes has annihilated the fake notes industry operating from across the border, senior government officials told ET on condition of anonymity, quoting from the findings of the assessment carried out at the instructions of the Centre.

“Pakistan had been printing fake Indian currency notes in its government printing press in Quetta and its security press in Karachi. Post demonetisation, Pakistani state and non-state actors had no option but to shut shops of fake Indian currency notes. The assessment has said that,” a senior official said.

Most fake currency notes circulated in India were of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations, the official said. Inputs were gathered from every state for the exercise, especially from districts in sensitive states. The PM chaired several high-level review meetings, where the impact of demonetisation on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir, use of counterfeit currency and weakening funding networks of Maoists were discussed with senior officials. “A weakened on-ground network of terrorists has resulted in several successful counter-terrorist operations in the Valley in the past several weeks. Local area commanders who lure youth for stone pelting in Kashmir valley are choking for cash now,” an official said.

Demonetisation has also led to a sharp decline of deals by corrupt government officials and a price correction in the “artificially skewed real estate market by land mafia,” according to the assessment.

Investigation agencies have noted that “due to demonetisation, procurement of arms by insurgent groups has been hit and many cadre appear to have left the Northeast and crossed the border for safety.”

Areas affected by left-wing extremism have suffered an even more pronounced impact. “Senior Maoist leaders in Bastar (Chhattisgarh) and Jharkhand have contacted people to seek help in converting old notes into new currency. The replenishing will not happen with new levy collection. There is pressure on them to surrender in large numbers,” an official said, quoting from the assessment.

g.sarkar · Post by **g.sarkar** » 07 Jan 2017 04:23

If I go by the newspaper headlines, PM Modi has lost:
1. The truth is Modi’s demonetization has failed, people will not forgive this.
2. Demonetisation: Narendra Modi should admit that govt failed in execution
3. Demonetisation: Here’s what PM Narendra Modi has said so far
4. Demonetisation: How long will the effects of Modi’s shock therapy linger?
5. Demonetisation: Mamata seeks Modi's ouster, seeks 'national govt' under Advani
6. Modi's Demonetization Is a Cure Worse Than the Disease For India
7. India's demonetisation gamble backfires on Modi, say analysts
The list goes on and on.
But whoever I talk to in India, relatives and friends, all support Modi with no exception. All have had problems to get cash in the beginning, but they are willing to accept this, if this helps the country on the long run. This sentiment is almost universal. So, why are the news-media against this? Simply because they have sold themselves to those who have the most to lose due to the demonetization.
Gautam

Melwyn · Post by **Melwyn** » 07 Jan 2017 05:02

What class of people will support/oppose Modi for the Demo?

1. Salaried middle class will support.
2. Lower class laborers etc might, although if a lot of these are not paid by their employers then things might change
3. Small traders and merchants will suffer the most and might turn anti-Modi/BJP

disha · Post by **disha** » 07 Jan 2017 06:14

Philip wrote:How will corruption be stopped when govt. officials are so brazen? I told both that they needed to fight back ,this was the time to do so when the GOI was on a crusade against corruption and send letters to the PMO,vigilance,etc.,etc,of the alleged bribe demands from the officials.

Some years ago,there was a report in the national media that a weekly in a Maharashtra town regularly published the names of officials who had demanded bribes.and promised to give new cases in the next weekly issue.it was so successful that some of the the bribe-askers even went to the weekly's office to plead for their names not to be mentioned! Unless the public stand up and refuse to pay bribes and expose the corrupt officials,things will soon return to "normal service".

Why are the govt. officials so brazen? Looks like your "successful" industrialists themselves are corrupt and has more to hide then expose the babus., lest they end up exposing themselves.

You sir yourselves have pointed out what needs to be done as part of the underlined statement above.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 07 Jan 2017 07:00

The first 50 days were only one step. It occurs to me that the Rs 2000 note was primarily to infuse as much cash into the system as quickly as possible while forcing people to come out with small change in exchange for the note.

But (I am guessing here) - the next step will have to be a chronic shortage of notes and cash and a concomitant forcing of people towards digital. A couple of years ago my SHQ and I were blackmailed (that is a funny/unfunny ironic story in itself-will tell some other time

) into coughing up Rs 50,000. Since we both never kept anything more than Rs 10,000 in hand - we did not have it on us. But within an hour - with 2 visits to 2 ATMs using my card and SHQ's card we were able to withdraw Rs 40,000 and could conjure up that 50K to pay the blackmailer/s. The way we got blackmailed is a typical "story of India" - but it is OT for this thread.

But forget blackmail. People with mainly white money in banks can still be forced to withdraw large amounts to pay as bribes. This can be made difficult if ATM withdrawals are restricted. Many people do not want to pay bribes but the ability to withdraw cash in large amounts makes it easier for blackmailers and bribe-takers to forces reluctant people into parting with large sums of money.

Expenses above Rs 1000 or Rs 2000 should really be made easy to transact digitally.

I have had credit cards for decades now. Debit cards came later (for me). Both were initially usable with a simple swipe but too much fraud had ensures that PINs and SMSes are necessary apart from POS machines. In the last 30 days my favourite has become a physical VISA card that can be acquired by anyone who installs an ICICI bank mobile wallet called "Pockets". This card is the the credit cards of ye olde days - one swipe and the money comes through. It seems insecure - but your total loss in case of stolen card will only amount to whatever amount of money you have pre-loaded in your wallet - which in my case is around Rs 1000 or so

Paytm is not widely accepted in Bengaluru. It's main use for me has been Uber cabs. Petrol outlets using Paytm are few and far between.

UPI apps with a QR code need to be widely encouraged and cross-utilization between Paytm, Pockets and other wallets. Right now a Paytm QR code scan will work only for another Paytm user. Same for Pockets. QR codes via UPI are supposed to work with ANY bank. QR code scan payment makes it easy to pay from smartphone to smartphone with no card or PoS machine

Rishi Verma · Post by **Rishi Verma** » 07 Jan 2017 07:01

If two busy "successful industrialists" came to my home on a leisurely evening to discuss russian smart phones, russian movies, russian fashion, (while taking calls on google-phone, munching on pizza, wearing jokey inside) and blurt out after a shot of vodka that they paid crores in bribes, I would have reported that instead of bragging about it on public forum.

SriKumar · Post by **SriKumar** » 07 Jan 2017 07:58

Philip wrote:....This is all happening in the aftermath of the demon project.How will corruption be stopped when govt. officials are so brazen? ....

Rhetorical question... but how much is the bribe for (must be in the lakhs) and in what form do the govt officials expect payment- Rs. 2000 notes? Or cashless bank transfer? Must be the former. If cash, he could plead 'no currency onlee'. One alternative is to pay up and record the payment process, and submit that. The really interesting thing is how are the govt. officials planning to store the bribe money? Do they have access to servants/riksha walas with empty JDY accounts?

tandav · Post by **tandav** » 07 Jan 2017 08:17

ShauryaT wrote:^There is something seriously wrong IF a supply constrained country such as India cannot use attractive capital in private hands. Maybe fire the FM, he is a lawyer anyways. His liaring can be better utilized managing other liars like the courts. Imperative to get private investment climate going.

Many many SMEs are desperate to get working capital for projects and also cash credit facility for hiring employees particularly for marketing. My recent and continuing experience with sarkari banks like SBI where we for example have done more than Rs 10 Cr of transactions over 5 years has reinforced that a nationalized bank are unwilling to extend any loan (not even Rs 10 lacs when my requirement is a couple of crores) unless backed by collateral. However in most growing SMEs like ours have no collateral since all promoters have invested their savings in growing their businesses and would want the banks to give them debt to grow even more. I don't know how to proceed since ours is not a venture fundable enterprise and are losing time and market opportunity.

KL Dubey · Post by **KL Dubey** » 07 Jan 2017 08:55

tandav wrote:... a nationalized bank are unwilling to extend any loan (not even Rs 10 lacs when my requirement is a couple of crores) unless backed by collateral....

It's been a while since I looked at this, but doesn't India goremint have a scheme for collateral-free loans up to 1 cr for MSMEs ? There are a number of private banks participating in this scheme.

https://www.cgtmse.in/

My peeve with the Indian financial system is the complete lack of collateral-free loans for personal uses. Maybe NaMo's recent announcements are starting to change that. In the US there are companies willing to give collateral-free personal loans in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars, assuming one has good credit and can demonstrate enough income flow. The first couple of times I wanted to partly finance real estate construction in India with a loan, I made the mistake of taking home loans from a desi bank at 10% rates. One of these buggers even required me to take a life insurance policy that was packaged with the loan! The next time, I realized it was better to simply get a collateral-free loan in the US at 6% and transfer the funds to India.

shiv · Post by **shiv** » 07 Jan 2017 09:28

Looking at the future - here is my wishlist for the 2017 budget
1. There should be a cashless digital portal for paying bribes to government officials
2. ATMs should normally be restricted in withdrawal amount but there should also be a "Bribe" option in which Rs 50,000 withdrawal is allowed per week per bank

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 07 Jan 2017 09:32

For people who are whining that DeMo did not stop corruption, it is business as usual...

The whole DeMo was because corruption could not be stopped and honesty enforced by other means, namely the law. The politicians, the bureaucracy and the judicial system are all corrupt and inspite of efforts by honest people, the could not make much difference. Modi has repeatedly urged the judiciary to speed up the cases. He has tried to stream line the penal code by eliminating obsolete laws and rationalizing others. He is trying to reduce the scope for corruption by simplifying laws and improving ease of business. Even with all of these, corruption still exists. It is obvious that eliminating corruption by fixing the legal process is a long drawn affair with UPA undoing what ever progress NDA achieved and now the judiciary stymieing Modi's efforts by taking an overtly hostile stance against him.

DeMo is a stab at tackling corruption from a different angle by making it difficult to hide ill gotten wealth. Action against benami properties is a step further in the same direction. Modi is trying to corral the intransigent elements of the society by using technology or what ever means available to him.

Of course, being the man he is, Modi will not let the state of affairs be like it is. He will make efforts to fix the legal process in India and given time he will likely succeed. What did anybody do all these years about fixing corruption and how much did they succeed? How many even tried to fix the judiciary let alone succeed? It is easy to say judiciary must be fixed, time bound resolution of all the cases, corrupt must be punished promptly but it is not so easy to achieve. Every kid in India knows that the corrupt cannot be punished because the cases drag on for decades because the judges themselves are corrupt. Precisely because even Modi with the strongest mandate in 30 years and 80% approval cannot fix corruption with one stroke of law, he is taking recourse to what ever means is available to him.

We all should be glad that there is some one who is even attempting such an effort. We all have whined for too long that India is corrupt and nothing can be done. We can whine some more that corruption still exists after DeMo and nothing will change or have patience and support Modi to take his anti corruption efforts to their logical end.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 07 Jan 2017 09:40

g.sarkar wrote:So, why are the news-media against this? Simply because they have sold themselves to those who have the most to lose due to the demonetization.
Gautam

They also will be among the most to lose because of DeMo and coming strike against benami.

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 07 Jan 2017 09:41

Do not underestimate the power of bad media in influencing the vote.

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 07 Jan 2017 09:48

Rishi Verma wrote:Shiv Sena calls Central Gov "worst in 10,000 years"

It seems SS has lost10,000cr due to note-bandi
In a stinging attack on the NDA Government over demonetisation, key ally Shiv Sena on Friday described it as the “worst regime in 10,000 years” and said the BJP leaders are living in fool’s paradise to think that the exercise would eradicate black money after putting even women to great difficulty.
Ss is losing its mind.

anybody would squeal loudly, if their testimonials were being publicly crushed in a nut cracker.

this joker is maharashtra's jehadidi but without the green tinge.

hanumadu · Post by **hanumadu** » 07 Jan 2017 09:55

SriKumar wrote:
Philip wrote:....This is all happening in the aftermath of the demon project.How will corruption be stopped when govt. officials are so brazen? ....
Rhetorical question... but how much is the bribe for (must be in the lakhs) and in what form do the govt officials expect payment- Rs. 2000 notes? Or cashless bank transfer? Must be the former. If cash, he could plead 'no currency onlee'. One alternative is to pay up and record the payment process, and submit that. The really interesting thing is how are the govt. officials planning to store the bribe money? Do they have access to servants/riksha walas with empty JDY accounts?

They do not keep the bribe money in cash for ever. They will convert it into gold, real estate, shares etc. After DeMo, they will be doing it more frequently keeping only a small amount in cash. Don't know what their plans will be after a crack down on benami properties.

To an extent it is expected some will be even more brazen or eager for corruption after deMo. Many of them would have stacked up cash for kids education expenses or construct a house. Now that their stack has vanished or reduced, they will have to gather it all again before Modi takes further steps. Probably many realize the window for making money is getting smaller and smaller and they better get their hands on what ever they could before its too late.

Primus · Post by **Primus** » 07 Jan 2017 10:01

KL Dubey wrote:
tandav wrote:... a nationalized bank are unwilling to extend any loan (not even Rs 10 lacs when my requirement is a couple of crores) unless backed by collateral....
It's been a while since I looked at this, but doesn't India goremint have a scheme for collateral-free loans up to 1 cr for MSMEs ? There are a number of private banks participating in this scheme.

https://www.cgtmse.in/

My peeve with the Indian financial system is the complete lack of collateral-free loans for personal uses. Maybe NaMo's recent announcements are starting to change that. In the US there are companies willing to give collateral-free personal loans in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars, assuming one has good credit and can demonstrate enough income flow. The first couple of times I wanted to partly finance real estate construction in India with a loan, I made the mistake of taking home loans from a desi bank at 10% rates. One of these buggers even required me to take a life insurance policy that was packaged with the loan! The next time, I realized it was better to simply get a collateral-free loan in the US at 6% and transfer the funds to India.

I am not sure that is entirely true.

It is not that easy to get a collateral-free loan in the US, not been the case for several years, and definitely not in the range of 'hundreds of thousands'. Before the sub-prime disaster it was easier but since then it has become particularly difficult. A lot depends on what the loan is for. If for example you want to buy a car then the lien on the car belongs to the lender so it is not really 'collateral-free'. If you want a loan to 'start a new business' you need to go through a lot of hoops and even then they get your 'personal guarantees' which effectively ties your entire personal fortune to the loan.

You cannot just walk into a bank and ask for a loan for 200K without any kind of collateral or guarantee, even with a high credit score and great financial status. The reason why you need the loan is a major determinant and if you are using that amount as a means of investment it is particularly difficult.

Picklu · Post by **Picklu** » 07 Jan 2017 10:20

My wishlist for the budget to fight the BM in trade:

1. Anyone having any kind of shop or other such establishment (retail or wholesale) must have
- A. At least one or more card swiping machine using at least one or more network (min number of POS, network depending on size of establishment)
  B. An UPI QR code for mobile payment
  C. Legal requirement to prominently displayed all the digital options in the establishment (including entry point of home if home is the place for trade)
2. Legally required to offer their customer digital payment options first and only if the customer refuse, take payment in cash with due receipt
3. Offering any sort of discount, freebie etc for cash payment or taking additional charge for digital payment should be made a criminal offense
4. Discount in the tax amount for digital payment received where as location based tiered minimum alternate tax for cash payments irrespective of actual trade volume
5. All doctors, lawyers and CAs doing practice must follow the above payment and tax methodology if they want to continue to practice, else their license stands automatically suspended

The above policy should be rolled out like the digitization of cable TV network - 3 months for all tier 1 cities, 6 months for tier 2 cities and within 1 year the whole country.

What do the gurus think?

Picklu · Post by **Picklu** » 07 Jan 2017 10:27

My wishlist to fight the BM in politics is even simpler:

1. A circuit breaker type mechanism that is used in the stock market to limit daily movement for cash donations received by the political parties.
2. A basic low upper limit by default and any increase on the same to be decided by EC.
3. If the circuit breaker is 1 crore per day and they receive 2 crore cash donation on any one day, they must stop receiving cash donation for 1 day in future in the next quarter by physically closing their donation boxes.
4. The account books get audited and any amount of cash donation above the circuit breaker limit goes to gov as income tax.

What do the gurus think?

rahulm · Post by **rahulm** » 07 Jan 2017 10:36

Just like the vegetable sellers in many parts of Pune who have illegally squatted on footpaths and cycle paths constructed with WB aid, expropriated the public rights of pedestrians and cyclists for private (existential?) gain,formed a union and successfully pleaded and achieved through their vote bank a continuation of the status quo; similarly all the baboos who have expropriated and monetised monopoly government services for private gain should form a union and try pleading their case to maintain their ill gotten life styles.

To further bolster their case, they could plead that at the time of joining the public service, by virtue of unwritten accepted conduct, prevailing standards and social norms, they reasonably expected to be first class entrepreneurs for self gain by exercising power vested in them.

They,could further plead that the present DEMON and next steps have broken a unwritten code of conduct and, therefore, is an explicit breach of contract and so they are entitled to protection of income and life style and immunity from prosecution. With the present SC, they might even succeed.

Picklu · Post by **Picklu** » 07 Jan 2017 11:00

^^ Both suggestions sent to PMO