RBI in spot? Allegations fly high, it tied up with "blacklisted" British co to supply note printing equipment

A screenshot from De La Rue website

By Our Representative
In the wake of the ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, a portal run by well-known human rights activist Teesta Setalvad has wondered as to why Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave away contract supply machinery for printing notes to a British company, which it alleges was “black-listed”previously.
The portal, www.sabrangindia.in, quotes the official site of the RBI Note Mudran (P) Ltd, which says, “The machinery at Mysore Site has been supplied by M/s. De La Rue Giori, now KBA Giori, Switzerland and that of Salboni by M/s. Komori Corporation, Japan. Both the presses are equipped with sophisticated Security Surveillance Systems.”

Claiming that the RBI has given contract to print notes to De La Rue “without any official announcement being made”, the portal says, “Until April 2016, at least, De La Rue continued to supply paper for this printing, and was re-issued tenders by the Modi government for this highly sensitive activity despite being banned for national security reasons in 2010-2011.”
Terming this “mysterious”, the portal says, the portal quotes an RBI circular, which makes “a vague reference to only presses with sophisticated equipment supplied by De La Rue (now renamed KBA Giori)”, adding, “The company’s own website clearly announces interest and role in printing of the currency.”
It also quotes what is calls “unconfirmed sources from the RBI” to say that, after the De La Rue's alleged involvement in the Panama papers scam in April 2016, this company had been again black-listed from supply of paper”.
It adds, “There is no official explanation why a foreign company, black-listed on national security concerns (2011), was allowed to supply paper again by the Modi government, without any public announcement between 2014 and 2016. There is also no announcement of this reported recent black-listing on any official government, or the RBI website.”
Lately, reports the portal, a Right to Information (RTI) query has been filed to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) demanding to know whether the paper supplied for the printing of the new notes after demonetization is paper supplied by De La Rue(UK) and Louisenthal (Germany).
The portal also quotes an investment journal to point out that the company banned for national security reasons, De La Rue could be a major player in prime minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India schemes.

Pointing towards why it wants to be in business with India, the De La Rue site says, "Cash is the most socially inclusive payment method. It has a key role to play in the evolving payments ecosystem with India and as a result, will be around for many years to come", adding, "Non-cash transactions today account for only 22% of all consumer payments."

It continues, "Currency in circulation accounts for 18% of India's gross domestic product (GDP). During 2015 cash usage accounted for 78% of all transactions. Cash is the preferred mode of payment for 78% of merchants."
The portal says, seizures of counterfeit currencies made by the enforcement agencies had revealed that the quality of notes were identical to the legal currency notes, noting, “It was difficult for even the banks to identify the differences.” It adds, “Intelligence reports suggest counterfeit currency notes are printed in a high-security press in Pakistan and smuggled into India and distributed to destabilize the Indian economy.”

The portal further raises alarm that another company, Italy-based Fabriano Securities, which was “also allegedly named in the Panama offshore companies scam has been the supplier for the security thread for the new currency notes after de-monetization.”
The portal says, what also is being “ignored” is is that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) of the United Kingdom (UK), in 2010, found serious security breaches in De La Rue. In their inquiry, the SFO had uncovered that a number of De la Rue employees had deliberately falsified certain paperspecification test certificates for some of its 150 clients.
It adds, there is also the revelation that De la Rue paid out a 15% commission to a New Delhi businessmen to secure contracts from Reserve Bank of India, and that De la Rue paid £40m in settlement to the RBI for issues in production of paper notes.

Comments

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

How lead petitioner was rendered homeless when GM mustard matter came up in SC

By Rosamma Thomas* On January 5, 2023, the Supreme Court stayed a December 20, 2022 direction of the Uttarakhand High Court to the Indian Railways and the district administration of Haldwani to use paramilitary forces to evict thousands of poor families occupying land that belonged to the railways. Justice AS Oka remarked that it was not right to order the bringing in of paramilitary forces. The SC held that even those who had no rights, but were living there for years, needed to be rehabilitated. On December 21, 2022, just as she was getting ready to celebrate Christmas, researcher Aruna Rodrigues was abruptly evicted from her home in Mhow Cantonment, Madhya Pradesh – no eviction notice was served, and nearly 30 Indian Army soldiers bearing arms were part of the eviction process. What is noteworthy in this case is that the records establishing possession of the house date back to 1892 – the title deed with the name of Dr VP Cardoza, Rodrigues’ great grandfather, is dated November 14

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

Tax buoyancy claims when less than 4% Indian dollar millionaires pay income tax

By Prasanna Mohanty In FY18, the last year for which disaggregated income tax data is available, only 29,002 ITRs declared income above Rs 5 crore, while Credit Suisse said India had 7.25 lakh dollar millionaires (the wealth equivalent of Rs 8 crore and above) that year. Often enough, the Centre claims that demonetization in 2016 raised tax collections, improved tax efficiency, and expanded the tax base. Now RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Ashima Goyal has also joined their ranks, attributing the “claims” of rising tax collections in the current fiscal year to “tax buoyancy” brought by the demonetisation . Do such claims have any basis in official records? The answer is unequivocal. The budget documents show the tax-to-GDP ratio (direct plus indirect tax) increased from 10.6% in FY16 (pre-demonetization) to 11.2% in FY17, remained there in FY18 (demonetization and GST fiscals), and then fell to 9.9% in FY20. In FY22, it improved to 10.8% and is estimated to drop to 10.7% in

Cyrus Mistry, PM Modi’s brother: What do these accidents have in common? Merc!

By Rosamma Thomas* In September 2022, in an accident at Palghar near Mumbai, Cyrus Mistry, former chairman of the Tata Group, died in a road accident . On December 28, 2022, a road accident in Mysore left one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s brothers injured. What is common in these accidents? The car that crashed into the divider on the road, in both these cases, was manufactured by “prestigious” German manufacturer Mercedes Benz. One former dealer of Mercedes Benz cars in India has been raising issues of the threat to the lives of those riding these cars for many years now. Cama Motors, among the oldest dealers of foreign cars, having started business in pre-independence India, noted over 10 years ago that Mercedes Benz was indulging in corrupt practices . The cars are currently priced between Rs 41 lakh and Rs 2.92 crore in India; few people realize that the pride of owning a Merc comes at considerable risk to life. Cama Motors carefully documented several of the flaws on a websi

Gandhian unease at Mahadev Desai book launch: Sabarmati Ashram may lose free space

By Rajiv Shah A simmering apprehension has gripped the Gandhians who continue to be trustees of the Sabarmati Ashram: the “limited freedom” to express one’s views under the Modi dispensation still available at the place which Mahatma Gandhi made his home from 1917 to 1930 may soon be taken away. Also known as Harijan Ashram, a meeting held for introducing yet-to-be-released book, “Mahadev Desai: Mahatma Gandhi's Frontline Reporter”, saw speaker and after speaker point towards “narrowing space” in Gujarat for Gandhians (as also others) to express themselves. Penned by veteran journalist Nachiketa Desai, grandson of Mahadev Desai, while the book was planned to be released on January 1 and the meeting saw several prominent personalities, including actor-director Nandita Das, her scholar-mother Varsha Das, British House of Lords member Bhikhu Parekh, among others, speak glowingly about the effort put in for bringing out the book, exchanges between speakers suggested it should be rele

Civil rights leaders allege corporate loot of resources, suppression of democratic rights

By Our Representative Civil rights activists have alleged, quoting top intelligence officers as also multiple international forensic reports, that recent developments with regard to the Bhima Koregaon and the Citizenship Amendment Act-National Register of Citizens (CAA-NRC) cases suggest, there was "no connection between the Elgaar Parishad event and the Bhima Koregaon violence." Activists of the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR) told a media event at the HKS Surjeet Bhawan, New Delhi, that, despite this, several political prisoners continue to be behind bars on being accused under the anti-terror the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Addressed by family members of the political prisoners, academics, as well as social activists, it was highlighted how cases were sought to be fabricated against progressive individuals, democratic activists and intellectuals, who spoke out against "corporate loot of Indian resources, suppression of basic democratic

Kerala natural rubber producers 'squeezed', attend to their plight: Govt of India told

By Rosamma Thomas Babu Joseph, general secretary of the National Federation of Rubber Producers Societies (NFRPS) at a recent discussion at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, explained that it is high time the Union government paid greater heed to the troubles plaguing the rubber production sector in India – rubber is a strategic product, important for the military establishment and for industry, since natural rubber is still used in the manufacture of tyres for large vehicles and aeroplanes. Synthetic rubber is now quite widespread, but styrene, which is used in making synthetic rubber and plastics, and also butadiene, another major constituent of synthetic rubber, are both hazardous. Prolonged exposure to these even in recycled rubber can cause neurological damage. Kerala produces the bulk of India’s natural rubber. In 2019-20, Kerala’s share in the national production of rubber was over 74%. Over 20% of the gross cropped area in the state is under rubber cultivation, with total

How local NGO is using art, songs to teach children revive Sundarbans mangroves

By Sara Ahmed* Located in the low-lying islands in the Bay of Bengal, the Sundarbans straddle the border between India and Bangladesh and cover more than 1 million hectares, making them the world’s largest single contiguous mangrove swamp . A Ramsar site added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987, they are home to a wide range of critically endangered fauna, including the Bengal tiger, the Ganges dolphin , river terrapin, the estuarine crocodile and the Indian python, along with approximately 428 species of birds , 120 fish, 42 mammal, 35 reptile and 8 amphibian species. Having adapted to the saline estuarine conditions, more than 60 plant species can be found there. Historically, cyclones have posed a greater threat in the Bay of Bengal than they do in the Arabian sea, to India’s west. Between 1891 and 2018, there were 520 cyclones in the Bay of Bengal , compared to 126 in the Arabian Sea. On top of sucking up large amounts of greenhouse emissions , mangroves also act as the f

Counterview

Search This Blog