Demand Note

A Demand Note is a type of  paper money that was first issued between August 1861 and April 1862 during the American Civil War in denominations of 5, 10, and 20 dollars. Demand Notes were the first type of paper money issued by the United States in the sense that they were the first in the series of emissions which has continuously achieved wide circulation down to the present day. The U.S. government placed the Demand Notes into circulation by using them to pay expenses incurred during the Civil War including the salaries of its workers and military personnel.

Promissory Note

A promissory note, referred to as a note payable in accounting, or commonly as just a “note”, is a contract where one party (the maker or issuer) makes an unconditional promise in writing to pay a sum of money to the other (the payee), either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee, under specific terms. They differ from IOUs in that they contain a specific promise to pay, rather than simply acknowledging that a debt exists.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was founded by the G-7 countries in 1989 to develop and promote national and international policies to combat money laundering and terror financing. The membership of the FATF is limited to 35 countries at present. India has an observer status. India is a member of the Asia-Pacific Group, a FATF-style regional body. Membership of FATF will allow India easy access to real-time information on money laundering and terror financing and help to raise the diplomatic pitch against perpetrators. It will also make India more attractive in the eyes of global investors.

13th Finance Commission
The 13th Finance Commission, which makes recommendations on sharing of tax revenues by the Centre and States, has suggested a new path for fiscal prudence in its report submitted to President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil on December 30, 2009.

The Commission was headed by Vijay Kelkar. Other members of the Commission were B.K. Chaturvedi, Indira Rajaraman, Atul Sarma and Sanjiv Misra.

The recommendations of the 13th Finance Commission, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said “would get reflected in the 2010-11 Budget”.
The report, Kelkar said, dealt with the sharing of tax revenue between the Centre and States, distribution of funds among States and support to local bodies. The Finance Commission report assumes significance in view of the ongoing reforms in indirect and direct taxes, which will have a bearing on the tax collections.