Congress holds protest against note ban

The Currency Note Press (CNP) has decided to increase production of new Rs 500 notes from 3.5 million pieces a day to 8 million pieces per day from next week.

PM ka sahsik kadam hai notebandi, isse desh ka fayda hoga: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar

— ANI (@ANI_news) November 25, 2016

Lucknow (UP): All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) protests against #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/t92MVJKX6J

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 25, 2016

While old Rs 1,000 notes are no longer valid for transactions, Rs 500 notes can still be used until December 15. Here is a list of places where you can still use old Rs 500 notes:

Demonetisation of high value notes has resulted in production loss of Rs 450 crore for jewellery makers and cancellation of orders worth about Rs 4,500 crore in last 15 days in Coimbatore. "The sudden announcement on the night of November 8 has resulted in total paralysis of jewellery business and over 55,000 goldsmiths, depending on this, were rendered jobless," Coimbatore Jewellery Manufacturers Association president Muthuvenkataraman said.

India's real GDP growth is expected to slow to 6.5% in the current fiscal on the likely impact of demonetisation, while muted inflation may open room for additional rate cuts, says a Deutsche Bank report.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the common citizen of India has become a soldier against corruption and black money and assured the public that their legitimate money is completely safe.

Pushing for mobile banking to deal with problems arising out of demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asked the people to let their mobile phones serve as a bank branch to deal with corruption and black money.

Police today seized cash worth Rs 1.12 crore, all in banned denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000, from a businessman. According to Lashkar Police Station, the businessman, Bharat Shah, wanted to convert his alleged unaccounted money through some agents at 25 per cent commission.

We're not able to get what opposition want us to do, we've acknowledge all their demands but still create ruckus:Union Minister Ananth Kumar pic.twitter.com/dXDKbVGR9Q

— ANI (@ANI_news) November 25, 2016

Just before #DeMonetisation BJP purchased properties worth crores in Bihar & other areas to turn black money into white: Surjewala, Cong pic.twitter.com/geEIozMuhN

— ANI (@ANI_news) November 25, 2016

Poor are most affected by govt's decision, now people will answer govt in the time to come (elections): UP CM Akhilesh Yadav #DeMonetisation pic.twitter.com/lh5RaPOild

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) November 25, 2016

Banned 500 and 1,000 rupee notes will continue to be exchanged for new currency at RBI counters even after the facility was withdrawn from all banks. The limit to exchange old notes was recently set at Rs 2,000 per person.

#DeMonetisation : Congress workers stage a 'rail roko' protest in Surat (Gujarat). pic.twitter.com/3BIH4sIcSr

— ANI (@ANI_news) November 25, 2016

Frequent change in policy causing harassment to poor;Hence saying there are lot of difficulties,let's discuss&sort it out-Mallikarjun Kharge pic.twitter.com/8VuFB2LVjS

— ANI (@ANI_news) November 25, 2016

Defending the government's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, the PM said that some are angry because they were not informed before the decision was taken.

The post-demonetisation surge in deposits in Jan Dhan accounts in Bengal may have raised eyebrows, but economists have another explanation. In a state that has a huge informal sector and as many as 700 gram panchayats with no banking or ATM facilities, such deposits are not unnatural, said economist Sugata Marjit.

Demonetisation will significantly disrupt economic activity, result in weaker consumption and economic growth in the immediate term but is expected to boost tax revenues and trigger faster fiscal consolidation in the long run, global ratings agency Moody's said on Thursday.

The I-T department on Thursday asked all banks operating in tribal-dominated states in the northeast to furnish details of all deposits made post demonetization announcement. Sources in the I-T department said the Dimapur episode had revealed that a racket to convert black money into white was underway in the region.

In most parts of the country, only 20-25% of the average daily demand for cash is being met, according to banking sources. The situation is better in metros where about 25% or more of the daily cash requirement is currently being met. In non-metro areas, the corresponding figure is much lower.

Just two weeks into circulation, there are already different variants of the new Reserve Bank of India Rs 500 notes, which experts fear could not only create confusion in the minds of the citizens but also aid counterfeiting.

Justifying its decision to demonetise Rs 500, Rs 1,000 currency notes, the government told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the measure would stamp out black money and fake notes, being pumped in by Pakistan, and help the poor and middle class.

The Union Cabinet on Thursday discussed ways to promote cashless transactions by various ministries, which have been directed to promote the use of e-wallet and unified payments interface.

The Cabinet tonight is believed to have discussed amending laws to levy close to 60% income tax on unaccounted deposits in banks above a threshold post demonetisation of high-denomination currency notes.

Nepal Rastra Bank on Thursday banned the use of India's new currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 denomination, terming them "unauthorised and illegal". These notes will be legal in Nepal only when India issues a FEMA notification as per the Foreign Exchange Management Act.

Demonetisation has brought to the fore the need for district central co-operative banks (DCCBs) -- so far out of the currency swap -- to join the digital bandwagon and offer customers additional services using technology, said a top Nabard official. Although DCCBs have implemented the core banking system (CBS), they have a long way to go when it comes to offering digital services such as Internet or mobile banking. "In the long run, demonetisation is an eye-opener for DCCBs. They have to be on digital platforms. They should ensure their customers are also digitally savvy," Nabard Chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala told PTI.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh claimed that the demonetisation drive speaks of the Modi government's "failure" and in its bid to target "5 per cent" black money hoarders, it has caused hardship to the remaining population. He also objected to the "tendency" of branding as "anti-national" those opposing the move to withdraw old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. "The move aimed at tightening the noose around 5 per cent people with black money has put the remaining 95 per cent people in distress. The decision (to decommission high value notes) speaks of the Modi government's failure," Singh said.

Tightening its demonetisation policy, the Centre has announced that it would no longer allow over-the-counter exchange of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes from Saturday.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday asked banks to promote digital banking in "mission mode", saying the principal objective of the government's reform is to curtail the use of physical currency.

Continuing her attack on the Modi government over demonetisation, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday met President Pranab Mukherjee again and apprised him of the "critical" condition prevailing in the country.

After taking repeated digs at the Centre over demonetisation, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday dubbed the move as "extortion of common man" and asked the BJP to take former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's words on the issue seriously as it came from a "renowned economist".

Some further thoughts on implementation of demonetization program. pic.twitter.com/RZdicKvFS7

— Ratan N. Tata (@RNTata2000) November 24, 2016

To ensure smooth traffic flow and mitigate currency hardships, the government has further extended the date for toll exemption on National Highways till midnight of December 2. The government also said the scrapped Rs 500 notes will be accepted at toll plazas on National Highways from December 2 midnight to December 15.

Upping the ante on the demonetisation issue, the AAP has announced that it will organise six rallies across the nation, including one in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi, and raise questions on the alleged "Rs 8 lakh crore scam" related to it. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold three rallies in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh starting from December 1 in Meerut, followed by a rally in Varanasi and Lucknow on December 8 and 18 respectively, AAP leader Ashish Khetan said.