Congress holds protest against note ban

The current measures by the government to withdraw high value notes are likely to destroy about Rs 4 lakh crore worth of cash held in black money and fake currency, which constitute about 12% of the black economy in India, leaving 88% of the black money to remain in the system, India Ratings and Research has estimated.

Karnataka: Karkala police arrests 3 persons with new Rs 2k notes worth Rs 71 lakh in Bailoor;Matter handed over to IT dept for further probe

— ANI (@ANI_news) December 2, 2016

In a message to those criticising note ban, Union home minsiter Rajnath Singh on Friday said they should show patience for the 50-day period as the decision has been taken keeping national interest in mind and the situation will normalize after that.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday that a cash crunch following the scrapping of high-value banknotes would ease by December 30 with the release of a significant part of new replacement currency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 announced the demonetisation of higher value currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 to "curb black money". The government and the Reserve Bank of India have since taken a slew of measures to ease the pain from its measures. They are detailed below in chronological order.

Mahesh Shah had voluntarily declared Rs 13,000 crore as unaccounted income under the Centre's Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) on September 30.

Giving a stern warning to those who were converting black money into white, the finance ministry on Friday said that the trails were being watched by the income tax officials and a coordinated action was underway.

Karnataka: Karkala police arrests 3 persons with new Rs 2k notes worth Rs 71 lakh in Bailoor;Matter handed over to IT dept for further probe

— ANI (@ANI_news) December 2, 2016

"I urge all of you, particularly my young friends to lead the change and inspire others to turn towards cashless transactions," PM wrote in a article posted on Linkedin.com. Asserting that in 21st century India, there is no place for corruption, Modi also said, "Corruption slows down growth and takes a toll on the dreams of the poor, neo-middle class and middle class."

Kapil Sibal and P Chidambaram questioned govt's decision to keep cooperative banks off the loop causing havoc in rural economy. SC said if the rural areas are facing problem then the government should do something to address cooperative bank issue. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi said govt aware of this and deliberately kept cooperative banks out of demonetisation as they lack expertise to detect fake notes.

Hyderabad: 'Great Bombay Circus' struggles to draw audiences, affected by the #DeMonetisation move. pic.twitter.com/Nd1MEm6eRR

& mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) December 2, 2016

The Aadhaar number is all set to become an alternative for all online and card transactions which require password and PIN. Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is developing a mobile app that can be used by shopkeepers, merchants or individuals for receiving payments.

Traffic police will equip themselves with mobile wallets and point of sale (POS) machines to accept fines, whose collection has suffered because of the pervasive cash crunch. Smartphones configured with e-wallets and the card swipe machines will be available at the challan branch from next week.

Even as taxi aggregators advertise about the joys of cashless transactions, many cab drivers are refusing rides unless the commuter coughs up hard cash. The reason: cabbies say they need the cash to buy fuel.

Since most maids and other helpers around the house prefer cash to inaccessible funds in bank accounts, their employers are either cutting down on their expenses to have enough to put aside for the salary payments or are making a beeline for banks and ATMs.

The I-T dept has confiscated over Rs 4 crore in searches against at least two individuals in Bengaluru. The seize revealed notes mostly in denomination of Rs 2000, some notes of Rs 100, demonetized notes of Rs 500 and a few gold biscuits.

A government source said the motion under a voting rule sought by opposition parties like Congress and Trinamool would require a "substantive motion" that requires a view on demonetisation. "As most parties, barring a few, do not feel the decision is in itself wrong, such a motion cannot be considered at all," said the source.

The finance ministry said on Thursday that there is no limit on holding of gold jewellery by anybody provided it is acquired from explained sources of income, including inheritance. Jewellery up to 500 grams for a married woman, 250 grams for unmarried women and 100 grams for a male member will not be seized, even if, prima facie, it does not seem to match the income record of the assessee, the ministry said.

We(oppn delegation) gave the President a memorandum, voice of the opposition was stifled in Parl: Rahul Gandhi on taxation amendment bill pic.twitter.com/3goRLOybdP

— ANI (@ANI_news) December 1, 2016

Jewellery/gold purchased out of disclosed income or exempted income or reasonable household savings not chargeable to tax: Finance ministry.

With 15 days to go for the winter session to close and with the logjam over demonetisation persisting, the opposition parties seem to have decided that they can agree to a discussion other than an adjournment motion as long as there is a division.

With the cash crunch at bank branches expected to persist on Thursday, the government has moved to further scale up the printing of Rs 500 notes, hoping that the new stock of the elusive currency will ease the situation in the next few days. Banks across the country continued to face cash shortages and most of them ran out of money early in the morning on Wednesday.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee used the term "gaddar" (traitor) for political parties that have decided not to oppose the Centre's demonetisation policy on Wednesday, seen as her first direct jibe at her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar, who continues to espouse the move as necessary to end black money.

In a bid to protect farmers and rural Jan Dhan account holders from money launderers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued a notification saying these account holders will be allowed to withdraw only Rs 10,000 a month, as a temporary measure.

The family of Munnelal Sharma, who died of cancer on Tuesday morning, had no money at home to pay for his cremation. When his granddaughter reached Bank of India's Navyug Market branch in Ghaziabad, there was no money in the bank. But the bank manager, AK Jain, went out of his way to lend the family money so that they could perform the last rites.

The continued cash shortage has led to rumours that the government has stalled printing because of glitches, but the Reserve Bank of India has assured that the supply of Rs 500 notes is on. In fact, printing has been more than doubled.

In his support for the move, Lalu has echoed Bihar CM and alliance partner JD(U)'s chief Nitish Kumar, who has been a votary of the Centre's decision since the beginning. JD(U) and RJD are partners in Bihar's grand alliance government along with Congress.

The continuing shortage of cash forced banks to ration withdrawals and down shutters early as the supply of bank notes from currency chests failed to keep up with the demand.

There was unusual rush at income tax offices in the capital on Tuesday, soon after a bill was passed by Lok Sabha clearing amendments to the Income Tax (I-T) Act which proposed enhanced tax liability of 82.5% of the total unaccounted amount.