money laundering
The government’s tightening of beneficial ownership rules under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, while welcome, has only partially addressed money laundering.
Indeed, the challenge for compliance officers is related to tax haven ownership models that lead to opacity of information.
In this case, regulatory thresholds for determining ownership control do not help prevent money laundering due to the lack of transparency in shared information. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the norms related to the flow of funds, facilitate the exchange of information, enforce the registration of beneficial ownership, and the free exchange of information among countries.Support from international organizations for intelligence sharing among FIUs needs to be further strengthened
Srinivasan Vilamour
Chennai
unsecured loan
This refers to “Time to rein in unsecured lending” (September 6). Instead of tightening funding for unsecured loans, banks should improve tracking and recovery mechanisms, reduce non-performing assets under these loans, and continue lending prudently. The assumption that unsecured loans affect credit discipline is wrong because small borrowers are known to be more honest in their loan repayments than wealthier borrowers.
Kosaraju Chandramuli
Hyderabad
rainfed agriculture
This refers to the editorial “Follow the rain” (September 6). One really wonders why agricultural growth in India is still dependent on rainfall/monsoon. If successive Indian governments (starting with the first five-year plan in 1951) had made adequate and effective investments in agricultural infrastructure such as irrigation, transport and storage facilities, the industry would have been stronger than it is today.
El Niño is only a recent phenomenon affecting the industry. It should be remembered that India is basically an agricultural country. By this time it should have set high standards for primary sector growth for other developing countries to emulate. But unfortunately, it doesn’t exist, although it would have been self-sufficient in some agricultural products.
S Ramakrishna Saye
Chennai
water management
Unfortunately, even after 75 years of independence, our agriculture is still dependent on monsoons. That’s because we didn’t build dams, save water scientifically, or provide water for agriculture in other ways. Raising awareness about water prudence, educating farmers on job rotation and mechanized food storage are some of the measures that, if taken wholeheartedly, will lift the country out of a drought-like situation. Support should be mobilized from NGOs, government agencies and retired officials.
NGOs should be required to disseminate information on water conservation. Unless people wholeheartedly participate in this mission, we will have to face a difficult situation with unstable monsoons.
Verna Shenoy
the lord
