The counterfeit note detector, to cost between Rs 2,50,000 and Rs 300,000 and manufactured by the Bangalore-based Albertsons India, checks currency notes through four stages of tests.
The value and volume of banknotes in circulation increased by 7.8 per cent and 4.4 per cent, respectively, during 2022-23 as compared with 9.9 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, in 2021-22, revealed the RBI annual report released on Tuesday. In value terms, the share of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 banknotes together accounted for 87.9 per cent of the total value of banknotes in circulation as on March 31, 2023, as compared to 87.1 per cent a year ago. The Reserve Bank has announced withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes, and holders of the highest value currency have been given time till September 30 to exchange or deposit them.
Although 90 per cent of the currency chests are with the public sector banks, they account for reporting a mere 10 per cent of counterfeit notes.
'The counting machine beeped, indicating a counterfeit note.' 'When the teller started tearing it, my nephew stopped him and asked him: Under whose authority was he destroying it, how did he know that the note was fake and if a genuine note gets destroyed, how will he be compensated?' Harsh Roongta explains the process if you have a counterfeit note.
The proposal to amend the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for cases involving counterfeit currency has been pending for a while. The latest proposal seeks to make counterfeiting of currency a terror offence, to curb this threat that has the potential to shake up the Indian economy.
The RBI has shelved its plan for polymer notes more than a decade after it invited interest from global manufacturers for one billion pieces of Rs 10 denomination polymer banknotes, reveals Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Events proved that on every count the RBI had accurately predicted both the damage and the lack of benefit. What the RBI was hiding was the fact that Modi had ignored its concerns -- all of which turned out to be true -- and gone ahead anyway, asserts Aakar Patel.
Pakistan-born Canadian writer Tarek Fatah on Saturday said the Modi government's decision to demonetise 500 and 1000 rupee currency notes has hit Pakistan-sponsored terror activities against India and flow of counterfeit currency has been terminated.
Days after the government said the Reserve Bank will introduce a digital currency in 2022-23, Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said the central bank does not want to rush and is carefully examining all aspects before introduction of the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). He, however, declined to give any timeline for the launch of the CBDC. In her Budget 2022-23 speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the RBI will introduce a digital currency in the next financial year beginning April 2022 to boost the digital economy and for more efficient currency management.
Abdul Karim Tunda, the Lashkar-e-Tayiba's bomb-maker, has revealed the terrorist organisation's salary structure and generous perks. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi is squandering an opportunity to find a solution for Kashmir," former Research and Analysis Wing chief A S Dulat said.
Priced at over Rs one-lakh, the detector machine is currently being imported from Swiss-based BEB Industrie Elektronki AG and can detect 1,200 notes per minute.
Effective employment of the anti-money laundering mechanism by India, which vowed to fight tax havens and black-money, helped detect over 4,000 suspicious financial transactions relating to crime and terror -- more than double the numbers reported last year.
The quantum of fake Swiss francs remained much higher.
The Intelligence Bureau has, according to highly placed sources, warned the Kerala government about the presence of several Bangladeshis, who are illegally staying in areas surrounding Kochi.
"It has been decided to print banknotes based on plastic or polymer substrate. The process of procurement has been initiated," Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal said in a written reply in Lok Sabha to a query whether Reserve Bank of India proposes to print plastic currency notes in place of paper ones.
Terror financing and counterfeit currency have been a constant headache for Indian security agencies. Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa lokks at the latest developments in India's fight against this "dirty money."
The two-day meeting between officials of the investigative agencies is being held under the auspices of the joint study group formed by both the countries during the Interior Secretaries meeting held in Islamabad last year.
Jaitley said the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes returned to currency chests of the RBI amounted to Rs 12.44 lakh crore
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked enforcement agencies to go after 'big fish' involved in drug trafficking, saying they need to find who is sending 'mountains' of illegal drugs into the country.
This mean that just Rs 10,720 crore of the junked currency did not return to the banking system.
Joginder Tuteja looks at the 10 Web series and movies (in alphabetical order) that have made the most impression.
'Once the Hon'ble Supreme Court has declared the law, we are obliged to accept it. However, it is necessary to point out that the majority has not upheld the wisdom of the decision; nor has the majority concluded that the stated objectives were achieved,' the senior Congress leader said in a tweet.
The Finance Ministry should encourage local manufacturing of currency paper to check counterfeits and exempt its production from excise duty, a high level committee has said.
'The number of STRs received in 2016-17 is 4,73,006 which is more than four times as compared to 2015-16 and this increase is attributed to demonetisaton exercise...,' the Financial Intelligence Unit's report has said.
Debroy, in an interview with India TV news anchor Karan Thapar, said there would be no shortage of currency notes and the demonetisation exercise was justified -- it would be a deterrent for future generations.
Gandhi alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party government has "blocked" the money of the poor through currency ban to favour a "handful of industrialists".
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
The latest amendments to the NIA Act will allow the agency to probe terrorist activities against Indians and Indian interests abroad, cyber crimes and cases of human trafficking.
The government has admitted that the problem of fake currency is alarming and dangerous.
Sources said the government wants all of the 500 and 1000 banknotes to be deposited and not burnt or destroyed for the fear of penal action.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement about demonetising Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes was hailed as a "bold step" by President Pranab Mukherjee and the BJP, which called it a "surgical strike" on black money, but his rivals denounced it as a "heartless and ill-conceived" decision that would inconvenience people.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has taken over the investigation of four distinct cases from the Assam police, all connected with the death of the state police sub-inspector Junmoni Rabha last month in a suspected road accident, according to officials.
The STF of Kolkata Police has seized mobile phone SIM card which, it believes, was used by the three arrested suspected ISI agents to pass on information to the ISI of Pakistan.
'This is not only a fight against corruption and black money, this is also a fight against terrorism and counterfeit currencies.'
The Reserve Bank of India has now said failure to report such cases might lead to penal action.
The documents recovered from suspected ISI agent Akhtar Khan's home in the city "clearly showed" his links to Pakistan's ISI, a top Special Task Force officer said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants the Reserve Bank to use Indian paper and ink to print currency notes.