New Delhi, February 9
The government will soon embark on an exercise to assess the extent of black money, both in circulation within the country and stashed in secret bank accounts abroad, identify the sectors that generate it and evaluate its threat to national security.

Giving this information to the Supreme Court today, a top Finance Ministry official said the move would focus on seven aspects of black money in order to unearth such wealth and thereby improve tax revenues, besides checking its generation in the first place.

The apex court is hearing a bunch of PILs seeking a direction to the government to initiate steps to bring back the black money, estimated by the petitioners at $ 1.4 trillion, kept illegally in overseas tax havens.

This information by the government comes in the wake of a Bench comprising Justices B Sudershan Reddy and SS Nijjar expressing serious concern over the source and the role of such money in terrorist activities and smuggling of arms and drugs. “Keeping in view recent international and domestic developments, a study has now been proposed to be conducted by the Finance Ministry for a thorough assessment/survey of unaccounted income/wealth both inside and outside the country, particularly bringing out the nature of activities engendering money laundering with its ramifications for national security,” Joint Secretary AK Srivastava said in an affidavit.

The exercise would examine the “causes and conditions that result in generation of unaccounted money” and the methods employed for its generation and conversion into accounted money.

To begin with, a study would be conducted on the issue by three institutions - National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) and National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

The formal order for conducting the study “will be issued shortly,” the affidavit said. The study would suggest “ways and means for detection and prevention of unaccounted money and bringing the same into the mainstream of economy.”

It would also devise methods to be employed for bringing to tax unaccounted money kept outside India and estimate the quantum of non-payment of tax due to evasion by registered corporate bodies.

The study was being undertaken in view of the fact that the last such exercise was done 25 years ago by NIPFP at the instance of the Finance Ministry. The results were published in 1985 under the title “Aspects of the Black Economy in India,” estimating the unaccounted money between Rs 31,584 crore and Rs 36,786 crore in 1983-84.

The authors of the study had admitted that the estimates were based on “various assumptions and approximations, each of which could be challenged.” Individual scholars also did similar studies subsequently and these also became subjects of criticism. “Therefore, the government did not conduct any fresh study” all these years, the ministry said.

Sticking to its stand against disclosure of the names of those persons whose foreign bank account details were received from Germany recently, the government also listed various steps being taken by the government to unearth black money. India would be hosting the annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) in Kochi, Kerala, in July this year.

New Delhi, February 9
The second phase of Census 2011 began today with the enumeration of First Citizen President Pratibha Patil and will continue till February 28.

After releasing a special commemorative postal stamp on the occasion at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Patil asked the people to wholeheartedly participate in the census. It would reflect the socio-economic condition of the country's 1.2 billion population living in 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils, 7,742 towns and over six lakh villages.

The second phase will take into account vital information about demography, besides economic and social changes. The government has also decided to prepare a National Population Register along with Census 2011.

Later, Congress president Sonia Gandhi was also enumerated for Census 2011 at her residence here.

Mumbai, February 9
Three people were killed and one seriously injured after a fire broke out in the basement of Bombay House, where the headquarters of the Tata Group of Companies is located.

According to Mumbai's fire chief Uday Tatkare, the fire broke out around 9.30 am in the basement of the building. The fire, which was caused by a spark in an air-conditioner, soon spread trapping several employees present on the premises, Tatkare said.

The basement was functioning as a pantry, say sources.

In a statement here, the Tata group gave the names of the deceased employees as Farad Wadia, Eashwar Patel and Shashank Pawar. All three had died of suffocation, according to the police.

Fire officials said the employees trapped in the basement could not find their way out because of thick smoke caused by the fire. All windows of the building, constructed in 1924, were blocked with air-conditioners. Fire brigade personnel had to break the air-conditioning units in the building to let the smoke escape.

The fire chief also added that the fire-fighting equipment had been put on manual mode because of which the fire could not be put out on time.

The Tata group said it was co-operating with the authorities probing the fire.

Kolkata, February 9
Even as the toll in yesterday's police firing at Gorkha Janmukti Morcha rally rose to three today, Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee has demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident.

Seeking to know the necessity behind opening fire at GJM men in Duars area of Jalpaiguri (Darjeeling), Mamata said she had spoken to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram over the phone regarding the CBI probe.

BJP MP from Darjeeling Jaswant Singh also met Chidambaram in New Delhi with a similar demand. While two GJM workers died yesterday, one succumbed to his injuries today. — TNS

BRIEFLY

Status quo on Ayodhya
Lucknow: There is now no compulsion on the part of the government to implement the September 30 Ayodhya verdict as the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday extended the status quo on implementation of the order till May 31. The Bench, however, reserved the order on three review petitions filed by local lawyer M Ismail Farooqui. — TNS

Binayak Sen's plea
Bilaspur: The Chhattisgarh High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on the bail application filed by rights activist Binayak Sen, sentenced to life imprisonment by a sessions court on charges of sedition and links with Naxalites. The court also reserved its ruling on 61-year-old Sen's appeal against the conviction. — PTI

ULFA-Centre talks
Guwahati: A 22-member delegation comprising leaders of the proscribed ULFA and top Assam government officials Wednesday left for New Delhi to formally initiate the peace process with the Centre amid the threat issued by the outfit's anti-talks faction led by the "commander-in-chief" Paresh Barua to continue with the armed struggle. — TNS

Rap for Amar Singh
New Delhi: Expelled Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday sought to withdraw allegations levelled by him against Congress president Sonia Gandhi in connection with a phone-tapping case pending in the Supreme Court, prompting the Judges to chide him for taking the "court for a ride" and wasting its time for the past five years. — TNS

Namibian air force gets Cheetah
Bangalore: Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) handed over a Cheetah helicopter to the Namibian Air Force at a function held at the Aero India show here on Wednesday. The helicopter was received by Defence Minister of Namibia Maj-Gen Charles Namolah (retd). As per the contract, HAL will also supply two Chetak helicopters to Namibia by June this year. — PTI