Arun Valera's Blog

I was in a bus when I woke up from my nap. She was reading a book, it was about travelling. She had said she was an avid reader. From the corner of my eye, in a stealing glance, I could see her beaming in satisfaction on reading that book. She had a pleasant face, not very pretty. But something about her looks, her speech, her eyes had a calming effect on you. She was almost a perfect example of my subjective definition of ‘beautiful’. Subjective I say, because people disagree on my choice. A lot. ‘So you like travelling’, I asked stretching my arms to ward off the laziness in my muscles. She replied an overwhelming ‘yes’, as if she was waiting for me to ask that question. Waiting for any question to which she would answer yes. It was just the way she was, I thought, judging her on the basis of the last two hours, before which she was just a stranger. My first impression was she lived in the moment, every moment. The elements in her universe seemed to be in perfect harmony. ‘W...

(Excerpts from ‘Jailor’ by Acharya Vijay Abhayshekhar Suri) A prisoner was sentenced 100 lashes every day for a robbery he committed. As the  Jailor  raised to beat him up, he shouted “Who the hell are you to beat me? I didn’t rob anything from you. Bring the man whom I robbed and he has the right to beat me up.” What will be the result? Will the  Jailor  leave him?  Certainly not. In fact, in all probabilities, he may get angry and beat him more. But then there is a point in the prisoner’s argument. Who gave the right to the  Jailor  to beat the prisoner? Only the person whom the prisoner robbed should have the right to beat him up. But it doesn’t happen like that. So the moot question again – “Who gave the right to the  Jailor  to beat the prisoner?” Answer in the story is simple – The Court. The Court decided who the criminal was and what the sentence ought to be and gave that right to the  Jailor  to execu...

Ever wondered, when Virat Kohli hits centuries on cricket grounds situated outside India, which country shall have right to tax his income arising from such play? Or when the audience outside India gets Goosebumps listening to the voice of Arijit Singh, how the said income shall be taxed? The taxation rights of Artistes and Sportspersons are decided by the specific article in treaties entered into with various countries by India. This article is gaining importance because of increase in number of international stage shows, global concert tours, international sporting events and the enormous revenues involved. If this article was not present in treaties, sharing of taxation rights of Artistes and Sportspersons would have become a very difficult task; reason being such persons enjoy high mobility (They can easily move their tax residency to tax haven countries), diverse income and that such income is often earned in many countries. The Country of Residence (COR) shall tax such Ar...