With no money to buy food or pay taxes at check points, thousands of truck drivers are stranded at the Bihar-West Bengal-Assam borders.
Satish Kumar, a resident of Uttam Nagar and who used to work as a vegetable vendor in Keshopur Mandi, collapsed outside an Oriental Bank of Commerce branch, on Najafgarh road, while he was standing in a queue with his friends.
Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to demonetise high value currency notes as "startling and bold", Chinese official media has said it is "far from enough" and India may "look at ideas" from China's crackdown against corruption which has shown "efficiency".
Sunanda K Datta-Ray considers them sound in theory, but incapable of making any dent in the corruption that is India's way of life.
'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
The Supreme Court in a 4:1 majority verdict upheld the government's 2016 decision to demonetise Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination notes, saying the decision-making process was not flawed.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday accused him of lowering the dignity of public discourse and the gravity of the office of the PM by giving "hateful speeches" during the poll campaign.
Rahul said the poor, the labourers and the middle class are being sacrificed in the demonetisation 'yajna' for the benefit of the "super-rich families" of the nation.
The government could carry out the demonetisation exercise over periodic intervals along with its surprise element, says Soumya Kanti Ghosh.
The 'black paper', titled '10 saal anyay kaal' also alleged that issues such as rising prices, unemployment, subversion of institutions and farmers' 'distress' had plagued the country.
Taking a dig at those who have been attacking him over demonetisation, he said, "Some people have lost glow on their faces... earlier they used to chant money-money, now they are chanting Modi-Modi."
Credit outstanding to the housing sector rose by nearly Rs 10 lakh crore in the last two fiscals to reach a record Rs 27.23 lakh crore in March this year, according to RBI's data on 'Sectoral Deployment of Bank Credit'. Experts from banking and real estate sectors attributed this growth in housing credit outstanding to a strong revival in the residential property market post-COVID pandemic on pent-up demand. According to the data of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on sectoral deployment of bank credit for March 2024, the credit outstanding to the housing (including priority sector housing') stood at Rs 27,22,720 crore in March 2024, up from Rs 19,88,532 crore in March 2023, and Rs 17,26,697 crore in March 2022.
"As it is said a man-made disaster, in the same way demonetisation is Modi-made disaster," the Congress vice-president said as he targeted the prime minister squarely blaming him for the hardships post-demonetisation.
He will be around for another crack at the elections, and a clear majority, predicts Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Gandhi claimed that Dalits, tribals, and Other Backward Classes were made bonded labourers and their participation was lacking in big companies, hospitals, schools, colleges and courts.
Going by the RBI directive and the overall narrative, Paytm may have lost the rigour of stress tests, audits and compliance.
If the concerns over risking political capital are overcome, the long-term gains for the Indian economy will be immense, asserts A K Bhattacharya.
A 'White Paper' versus 'Black Paper' battle erupted on Thursday as the Centre and the Congress unveiled documents and crossed swords over the handling of the Indian economy during the nearly 10 years of the BJP-led NDA rule and the previous 10-year tenure of the Congress-led UPA government.
Counting of votes is underway for four Lok Sabha and eight assembly Constituencies, spread across six states and one Union Territory where by-elections were held on Saturday.
'The policy focus of the government should have been on creating more good quality jobs but that was not their focus.'
In a big win for the Narendra Modi government, the Supreme Court in a 4:1 majority verdict on Monday gave its stamp of approval to the Centre's 2016 decision to demonetise the Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denomination currency notes, saying the decision-making process was neither flawed nor hasty.
There is no use of the BJP targeting the likes of Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, directly by the party's political bosses, both in Delhi and the respective state capitals, or even using the Raj Bhavans to fire those salvos from. Successive elections have proved that it's counter-productive, if anything. But the BJP is yet to understand it, acknowledge it, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Imagine what the BJP's urges would be if India's electorate awarded it truly brute majorities like the 400 plus seats the prime minister called for in the 2024 general elections?' asks Shyam G Menon.
India's Test skipper Virat Kohli described Modi government's demonetisation move as the greatest in the country's political history.
Modi took on the opposition parties, especially the Congress, saying it is the corrupt who are sleepless now.
As much as 88 per cent of the Rs 2,000 currency notes have either been deposited or exchanged at banks, and only Rs 42,000 crore worth of such notes are with public as on July 31, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Tuesday. The last date to exchange/deposit Rs 2,000 denomination notes is September 30. In value terms, Rs 2,000 notes in circulation has come down to Rs 42,000 crore as on July from Rs 3.56 lakh crore on the day of announcement of withdrawal on May 19.
The Constitution bench is hearing a batch of 58 petitions challenging the demonetisation exercise.
The cap of Rs 10,000 on daily withdrawal has also been removed.
"Heard. Judgement reserved. Learned counsels of the Union of India and Reserve Bank of India are directed to produce the relevant records," the bench, also comprising Justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian, and B V Nagarathna, said.
The Reserve Bank (RBI) resisted a 'raid' planned by some in the government to extract Rs 2-3 lakh crore from its balance sheet in 2018 to meet populist spending in run-up to general elections, Viral Acharya, who was deputy governor at RBI at that time, has written.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said nearly 97.26 per cent of the Rs 2,000 bank notes have been returned to the banking system, and only about Rs 9,760 crore worth of the notes are still with the public. On May 19, the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 denomination bank notes from circulation. "The total value of Rs 2,000 bank notes in circulation, which amounted to Rs 3.56 lakh crore as at the close of business on May 19, 2023 when the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 bank notes was announced, has declined to Rs 9,760 crore as at the close of business on November 30, 2023," the RBI said in a statement.
'I don't know where the viciousness in the reviews is coming from.' 'To me, it feels more of a personal attack.'
Measures may include tax slab and rate revisions for individuals, companies.
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday described the electoral bonds scheme as a 'very big scam' and demanded that a special investigation team (SIT) be set up with court-appointed officials to probe the alleged quid pro quo and wrongdoings under it.
The Uttar Pradesh government said prima facie no terror link had been established.
Resisting the Supreme Court's attempt to revisit the 2016 demonetisation exercise, the government said on Friday the court cannot decide a matter when no tangible relief can be granted by way of "putting the clock back" and "unscrambling a scrambled egg".
BJP workers depend on Annamalai's popularity to emerge victorious. He has has made 100 promises to be fulfilled in 500 days and assurances include cleaning up rivers, an international airport and food vans named after former Chief Minister K Kamaraj.
Jewellers in India, the world's second largest gold consuming country after China, have started receiving more inquiries for purchase of gold or silver immediately after the Reserve Bank's announcement to withdraw Rs 2,000 notes from circulation. However, there is no panic buying of the precious metal unlike the situation witnessed in 2016 during demonetisation, jewellers body GJC said on Sunday. In fact in the last two days, the actual gold purchase has been less in exchange of Rs 2,000 notes due to strict Know your Customer (KYC) norms although sources said some jewellers have started charging a 5-10 per cent premium, taking the gold prices to Rs 66,000 per 10 grams level.
