Congress holds protest against note ban

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's younger brother Prahlad Modi on Saturday backed the Centre's move of scrapping Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, saying everyone is happy with demonetisation

Law and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said the decision to scrap Rs 500/1000 notes was taken by the government on the recommendation of the Reserve Bank of India.

Since the demonetisation move earlier this month, there has been no report of seizure of fake Indian currency notes by BSF in the state, which shares a 443 km-long border with Bangladesh, a senior BSF officer told PTI.

Militant groups and small criminal gangs operating in the Garo Hills region in Meghalaya have been hit the hardest following demonetisation, police said. Suddenly there is an unusual silence and there is no report of any kind of kidnapping and extortion and this is all because of the demonetisation effect which has become a boon for small time traders, businessmen and even farmers, they said.

Alleging that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was kept in the dark by the government about its surprise demonetisation move, the Congress on Saturday said the central bank's governor Urjit Patel has sacrificed its autonomy.

Believe it or not, following the the central government's demonetisation announcement, a couple in Surat got married for just Rs 500. The groom said their family had decided to give up plans for a grand marriage and served the guests with 'chai and paani' (tea and water).

An aggressive PM Narendra Modi escalated hostilities with the opposition on Friday and said the real angst of those accusing the government of not preparing adequately for the impact of demonetisation was that no one was given the time to prepare for the radical measure.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday again took on former PM Manmohan Singh who had on Wednesday called the demonetization decision an "organised plunder" and a "monumental mistake".

The government has devised a two-track approach towards disclosure of unaccounted cash in excess of the Rs 2.5 lakh threshold announced by PM Narendra Modi by setting a moderate penalty for voluntary action but imposing stiff fines on tax evaders caught trying to beat demonetisation.

V-Mart Retail, which has a network in tier II & III cities, would allow cash withdrawal of up to Rs 2,000 from its store through ATM cards. The retail chain, which operates 136 stores across 116 cities, will enable Smart ATMs at all its stores to allow citizens to withdraw cash through their debit cards. V-Mart Retail CMD Lalit Agarwal said: "In our endeavor to assist the citizens tackle the after effects of demonetisation and assist the government in easing the current cash-crunch; all of 136 V-Mart stores will act as Smart ATMs, allowing the citizens to withdraw cash and avoid hassles of queuing up at Banks."

Union minister Piyush Goyal questioned former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assertion that the Centre's demonetisation move would lead to a 2 per cent drop in the GDP and contended that the step would, in fact, result in an increase in the GDP growth rate. "Manmohan Singh is a noted economist, but we are also not illiterates. I fail to understand the logic put forward by him that the GDP will decline by 2 per cent after demonetisation," the Union minister of state for power (independent charge) told reporters after taking part in a rally to support the move. "If a business is conducted in black money, it does not get accounted in the GDP, but if it is deposited in the banks and tax is levied on it, then it will enhance the GDP," Goyal said.

Demonetisation will provide a level playing field to every sector and help in reducing bank lending rates, taxes and inflation in the long run, Union minister of state for power Piyush Goyal said at an industry event on Friday.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has said that the Narendra Modi-led NDA government “will have to pay for troubling the poor” in the country.

#Demonetisation will prove to be boon for farmers : #NABARD Chairman Dr H K Bhanwala in exclusive chat with DD NEWS pic.twitter.com/1fiZx6QBrS

— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) November 25, 2016

All 3.5 crore Kisan Credit Cards to be converted to RuPay swipe cards: #NABARD Chairman Dr H K Bhanwala @PMOIndia, @PIB_India, @MIB_India

— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) November 25, 2016

Finance minister Arun Jaitley today said that government's demonetisation decision has been a huge success and accepted by the people of India. Speaking exclusively to Times Now, Jaitley took on the opposition for stalling the proceedings of Parliament and replied to former PM Manmohan Singh's criticism.

Amid a raging debate on demonetisation, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Friday said that the UPA government had left a terrible legacy. Rejecting former prime minister Manmohan Singh's criticism of demonetisation, Arun Jaitley said the NDA government is trying to transform the previous regime of "loot and plunder" into a more "honest system".

Kolkata:12 hr strike called by 18 left & allied parties on 28th Nov; banks, ambulances & emergency services to be functional #Demonitization

— ANI (@ANI_news) November 25, 2016

Want to ask Rahul to check his own track record as far as parliamentary attendance is concerned: @arunjaitley defends PM Modi, slams Cong VP pic.twitter.com/nSOwk4sych

— Times of India (@timesofindia) November 25, 2016

Uttarakhand HC seeks Centre's reply on cooperative banks not being allowed to accept deposits of banned currency notes (PTI)

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) November 25, 2016

J'khand bans #PrivateMoneyLending biz. Rs 5K fine on first offence, Rs 10K if the offence repeated. No bar on interest- free loans.

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 25, 2016

Those at the lowest social rung who earn their daily bread working manually are among the worst hit as a result of the government scrapping the higher currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000.

Banking on 17th day of demonetisation remained restricted to deposits largely though with smaller queues despite the ensuing weekend holiday on Saturday.

44 lakhs old notes seized by 14 Sikh Regiment while they were on a OP Hifazat duty in Tamenglong District of Manipur, yesterday

— ANI (@ANI_news) November 25, 2016

21 lakh 30 thousand robbed from a bank in Gaya (Bihar) out of which 20 lakh were old currency notes, investigation underway pic.twitter.com/NbbxpoakbE

— ANI (@ANI_news) November 25, 2016

In a coordinated effort to corner the Modi government over its demonetisation move, Congress leaders will spread out in poll-bound UP to commiserate with public over the inconvenience they face, and will also protest against the Centre's alleged anti-people move.

Currency crisis deepens in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh and large number of branches of regional rural banks have zero cash for the past two days.

Struggling to make ends meet, a number of agitated working women including daily wage earners and small scale business employees took to the streets on Friday protesting against demonetisation.

Taking a dig at the opposition unity against demonetisation, BJP chief Amit Shah said leaders such as Manmohan Singh, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Mulayam Singh and Mayawati were together now as their parties were hit hard by the Centre's move."Modiji's move on black money has made leaders like Manmohan Singh, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Mulayam Singh, Mayawati and others uncomfortable. The glow on their faces has disappeared," Amit Shah told the gathering at the BJP's 'Jan Jagaran Mahasamabesh'.

Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar on Friday conceded that demonetisation of high value currency had caused discomfort to people. He said the state government had been requesting the Reserve Bank of India for smaller denomination currency notes. "I accept there is discomfort," Parsekar told reporters at the Secretariat after he was asked about the hardships caused for cash-strapped people in the state.

The West Bengal government on Friday said disbursement of crop loans had been badly hit due to currency shortage, leading to dearth of funds in the entire chain of crop loan disbursement. West Bengal Cooperation Minister Arup Roy said: "Due to currency crisis, the West Bengal State Cooperative Bank received only about Rs 132 crore in the last two weeks against the requisitions of Rs 400 crore from the RBI regional office." The State Cooperative Bank disburses funds to district level lending institutions to provide crop loans to farmers.

The Aam Aadmi Party alleged that demonetisation has shown the RBI has "turned" into a mouthpiece of the Centre under the Modi government. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has turned RBI into a BJP mouthpiece. It makes misleading statements in the public. Modi has eroded the credibility of all institutions including and the central bank is the latest casualty. Only PM is responsible for the situation RBI finds itself in," Party spokesperson Raghav Chadha told a press conference.

Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh chairs a review meeting of finance department, chamber of commerce, banks and post office #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/69E7oJjxqb

— ANI (@ANI_news) November 25, 2016

Terming the demonetisation as a 'Sahsik Kadam' (courageous step) of PM, Bihar CM said the centre's move would benefit the country "in any situation." He, however, admitted that "poor arrangements" in enforcement of demonetisation move is causing acute hardship to common people.