Wednesday 11 May 2016
Amnesty Capital - An idea worth thought (Extract from my book 'Transformers' ISBN 1514861240)
Ideally, citizens should pay taxes and the nation should be free of corruption. In reality there are huge sums of unaccounted money in culturally stagnating nations. Governments of respective nations have every now and then launched pardoning schemes, which are under-availed for various reasons. This is how I propose to attract this capital into the real economy.
‘Amnesty Capital’ is an innovative way for Governments
to re-route black money into real economy, while ensuring that a specific
sector which otherwise is not addressed adequately owing to it being capital-intensive,
high-risk technology sector gets a boost. Governments are usually incapable of investing
in high-risk technology projects for multiple reasons. Therefore, Governments
could specify, assess & approve projects, say, in the capital-intensive and
high-risk areas of material science. Amnesty capital could be treated as either
Unsecured Royalty Capital (read ‘royalty capital’) or a Bearer Bond or Bearer Debenture
or Bearer-Quasi-Equity, existing in form of a paper instrument with a three to
five year lock-in period. Public, then is allowed to buy these bearer financial
instruments of any of the approved Companies, anonymously; from any dealing
bank without identifying themselves at all. The Companies that access this
capital shall be obliged to pay a small balloon return on the Amnesty Capital
accessed by the issuer to the holder, along with the principle, on submission
of bearer instrument. The Company will also be obliged to provide the Government
a return, which enables the Government to recover the taxes it would have
otherwise never received on the said amount. All the monies from which the
Govt. has recovered its minimum tax through 5-years’ bonds are provided a
Government approval as tax-paid monies. The redemption amounts of the financial
instruments will be transferred into any account specified by the bearers, when
they go to redeem and monetize them, thereby maintaining the anonymity of the
bearer.
This provides taxes to the Government; converts black
into white taxable income, pushes the high-risk capital-intensive technology
industry and still ensures the anonymity of the investor.
The condition is - do this only for those sectors
(like material science, semiconductors etc.) which otherwise cannot access capital
in India. The scheme could be used in other countries, which face the reality
of humungous unaccounted money in private hands, while certain sectors of
economy being neglected.
Wednesday 4 May 2016
"Sorry Maa, but this time you have to slumber on the lumber"
Family & friends,
Your concerns and condolences are
appreciated. Day before on 3rd of May at around 0730hrs my maa gave
up fighting for her life. She loved life so much with all is trappings that I found
it inspirational.
Last two days were too burdensome with
a mix of obligations, duties, love, hate, tears, so many people with lots of avoidable but
unstoppable chirping - some truths and some blatant social lies, discussions that I kept on hearing - about the political landscape of Punjab; all - a
heady cocktail, leading to complete numbness of mind by the time my obese
mother weighed no more than few kilograms in bones and ashes. It was impossible
for me to coherently respond to anything immediately thereafter. I highly appreciate
that you, my extended family and friends are concerned and I believe you
must also have been sad for a few moments, depending on how much you knew Mama. In the last couple of days I realized how magnanimous is silence, if conferred, by those 'mourning' your loss.
Mama had undergone painful two months
and an agonizing week which is beyond expression. I saw the ‘line of control’
in the battle between her consciousness and her parasitic microbiome, inching
close to her. Those we kill at will in youth, come back with a vengeance at a
time when the walls of our fortress are crumbling because of age. Though at 80+ years, one would not
say the same about her mental faculties, till three days ago, she was alert,
remembered everything in minutest details, could do lot of strategic thinking
and was still ordained with her attitude. She refused to talk to my aunt, taking
offense in her inability to visit often from Chandigarh (a city 150 kilometers away). Being the eldest in
her family, she had a disposition to dominate & had some anger still
alive in her; till last. I saw in her a fighter, who had the power and desire
to live.
I saw in her a largehearted
person, who did whatsoever she could for others without counting. It is unfair
to claim she had no failing. Like all earthlings, she had hers, but I loved my parents
not because they were great people but because they were mine. One’s kin are
the only people one needs no reason to love and respect. Interestingly, while we
(my 15 years elder sister, my 14 years elder brother and me) saw her failings,
she none in us, for we were her Chef-d’oeuvres. Michelangelo loved not
his art so much, as much she loved us - her creations. She sculpted us all different,
never repeating her work of art though some strokes on all the three canvas are visibly
similar. Looking at me she knew I needed some motivation and would invariably
say “you are my babbar sher (lion in Punjabi), you cannot be worried or scared”,
and her words would magically spring my feet into action. Since my life is
based on the labours of
others – hers did the foundation. She was immensely loved and cosseted by my
father. She was highly respected by her brothers. And she was very possessive. Everything
she immensely loved she would never give away, whether it was a piece of jewelry
or my 14 year elder brother. She had a child-like want of fulfilling all her
desires and an unostentatious sense of giving away. She loved mangoes, but knew
my father loved them more and thus invariably declined to have the last piece
which would be hers by parity. I am sure we must have faced difficult financial
times but she steered the household so elegantly, that we were never even informed
of such times. In short, a cushion she was in my emotional life. But,
“I have no cushions to offer you in
return, sorry Maa, but this time you have to slumber on the lumber”.
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