5 APRIL 2016

Ø  The BJP-led NDA government on Monday ordered the formation of a special agency to investigate Indians who figure in the ‘Panama papers’ — a set of over 11 million leaked documents that reveal how the rich and the connected around the world used tax havens for salting away their wealth. The documents, about the clients of one of the world’s biggest law firms offering such services, were leaked to a German newspaper, which in turn shared them with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The multi-agency group that was set up following directions from Prime Minister Narendra Modi will consist of officers from the investigative units of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the Financial Intelligence Union and Foreign Tax & Tax Research division and the Reserve Bank of India. The Special Investigation Team on Black Money, appointed under the Supreme Court’s directions, had in its third report submitted last year to the court said that various departments were not prepared to share the information received in tax evasion cases. Based on an investigation with the ICIJ of the documents leaked from the secret files of Mossack Fonseca, a law firm headquartered in tax haven Panama, with offices in 42 countries and several more franchises, The Indian Express reported on Monday that over 500 Indians, including high-profile actors and businessmen, could have links to secret firms in overseas tax havens. Among those the newspaper named in its reports are actors Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, real estate firm DLF’s promoter K.P. Singh and Vinod Adani, elder brother of Adani Group founder and chairman Gautam Adani. Several of those the newspaper named have denied any wrongdoing.

Ø  The USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), on a visit to the Western Naval Command, anchored off Mumbai on Monday. One of the most technologically advanced vessels, it is the command ship of the U.S. Seventh Fleet.

Ø  In tune with its One Belt, One Road initiative, China is positioning itself as a formidable energy exporter, targeting markets that span from Germany to India along the New Silk Road. Two factors are driving Beijing’s ambitions of emerging as a regional electric supply hub. First, China is already a surplus power producer following a decade of continuous investments at home in all forms of energy. Since 2004, when it suffered chronic outages that threatened to restrain its manufacturing, the Chinese went into overdrive, investing heavily in hydro and coal-fired plants, apart from escalating development of nuclear and renewable energy. Second, China has mastered ultra–high voltage (UHV) technology, which has allowed State Grid, China’s state-owned power behemoth, to transmit electricity from production centres in West — in places such as Xinjiang — to coastal industrial centres in the faraway east. The Financial Times quoted Mr. Liu as saying that his company was eyeing other potential markets such as Pakistan, India and Myanmar. Last week, State Grid also tied up with South Korea’s utility Korea Electric Power, SoftBank of Japan and Russia’s Rosetti PJSC to study the feasibility of establishing an “Asian Supergrid.”

Ø  Pakistan is likely to be kept out from the Chabahar free trade summit Iran is organising in May, the Director General of Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) confirmed. 27 countries have been invited to participate in the summit in Chahbahar. Some non-littoral Indian Ocean states have also been invited. But Pakistan is not on the list. It is learnt that Pakistan was not invited even for an informal representation. Mr Bhagirath, however, said that though the summit was being supported by a coordinating cell of the IORA in Tehran, the bulk of the work was being done by the Iranians.