AUGUST 13, 2018 INDIA TODAY 15Keke Crazy
The Shiggy challenge, in
which people dance to the
refrain from a new song by
Canadian superstar Drake,
has become a worldwide
phenomenon. But as more
and more people jump on the
bandwagon, or in this case out of a moving car, there are re-
ports of serious injuries. In India, the official Twitter handles of
various police forces have put out mildly amused warnings of
the dangers the challenge poses. It hasn’t stopped a 19-year-
old inviting people on Facebook to gather in Connaught Place
on August 18 to sing “Keke do you love me...” Hundreds have
accepted. Those damn kids. nHindutva History
Appointed BJP Rajasthan president at the end of June, it took Madan Lal
Saini just one month to make himself look ridiculous. At an event in Jaipur,
he claimed to “recollect” how Humayun on his deathbed told Babur to “re-
spect the cow, respect Brahmins, and to respect women... India will never
accept the disrespect for these three things”. Hordes have already pointed
and laughed at Saini on social media, so there’s little point in revisiting his
historical ignorance. It’s revealing, though, that this trumped-up formula,
which Saini was quoting approvingly, considers women an afterthought
and makes no room for lower-caste Hindus or religious minorities. n@ShougatDasgupta
The week in social media
CHATTERIndian Money
in Swiss Banks
Swiss bank accounts have become
something of a political football,
with news last month of an increase
in deposits by Indians in 2017 from
the previous year, followed by fresh
data brandished by interim finance
minister Piyush Goyal to show that
actually deposits were significantly
lower than levels reported in 2013.
Both the government and its op-
position were exaggerating differ-
ent sets of data to make political
points. But Swiss bank deposits by
Indians —not all of which is black
money, as Arun Jaitley (for whom
Goyal is substituting) pointed out—
make up only a tiny fraction of the
money held by Indian citizens in
foreign bank accounts. Is the focus
on Switzerland misleading? Data
from 2015 showed that the majority
of Indian money held offshore was
in Asian tax havens. And the Swiss
data cited by Goyal shows that In-
dians have more money in France,
Australia, Ireland and even the
Philippines than in Switzerland.
INDEXUPFRONT
`7,000 crore
Deposited by Indians
in Swiss banks in 2017,
says Swiss National
Bank data, up 50% from- India ranked 73rd,
in terms of money held in
Swiss banks
$524 million
Held by Indians in Swiss
banks in 2017, says BIS,
down from $800 million
in 2016 and down 80%
from $2.65 billion in 2013$76.4 million
Held in Swiss banks, of
the $96 billion held in
foreign banks by Indians
in Q1, 201834.5%
Drop in Indian deposits in
Swiss banks, says Piyush
Goyal, citing a letter from
Swiss authorities that
data from the Bank of
International Settlements
(BIS) is more appropriate$95.9 billion
Held by Indians in all
instruments in BIS-
reporting foreign banks in
first quarter 2018. Up from
$94 billion in last quarter
of 2017, and $92.3 billion in
last quarter, 2013$63 billion
In black money held in
offshore tax havens by
Indian citizens (estimate
based on 2015 data), up
89% since 2007; 53% in
Asian countries such as
Singapore, Hong Kong
950,000 and Bahrain
Indian dollar millionaires by
2027, says report by New
World Wealth, up from
330,000 in 2017, holding
48% of India’s wealth.
7,000 Indian millionaires
changed domicile in 2017
Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY