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PM hints at more action on Black money

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Saturday hinted at more action in coming days against black money. "There is no guarantee that no new measure will be introduced after December 30 to crack down on black money holders," Modi, who is on a tour of Japan, said. In his first reaction since the move was announced, Modi saluted the “undaunting spirit of 125 crore Indians” in the fight against black money. "I make it very clear that if anything unaccounted comes up, then I will check its records since Independence. Will deploy as many people as required for this. Honest people will not face any problem. No one will be spared. Those who know me, they are intelligent as well. They think it is better to offer it in Ganga than in banks," Modi said. He was referring to reports of the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes flowing in Ganga river.

PM salutes Indians from Japan

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a stern message to black money hoarders said his government will go through all personal records since Independence, if needed, to check for unaccounted wealth and that no violator would be spared. “This is a major cleanliness programme. This is not to harass anyone,” the prime minister said. He assured the people that money that has been looted will be brought back and that the rules will be the same for everyone. “I will check records since independence. If I come across unaccounted cash, nobody will be spared,” said PM Modi. PM Narendra Modi thanked Indians for welcoming the demonetisation move of his government and hit back at those who criticised the decision. "I salute my countrymen. People stood in line for four hours, six hours but accepted the decision in national interest the way people of Japan tackled the aftermath of the 2011 disaster," he said. Since the government move on Tuesday night, people have been flocking to banks and ATMs in a bid to exchange old currency.

No Salt Shortage; Don't panic: Govt

Squashing the rumours of shortage of salt across the country, especially in Uttar Pradesh where people were seen thronging shops in sheer panic, the Centre has assured that there is no such deficit. “On an average, salt prices are ruling at Rs 14-15 per kg, same as last year’s level. There has been no increase in prices,” food minister Ram Vilas Paswan said. “Uncessary panic is being spread that salt is being sold at Rs 200 per kg. Those who have sold at Rs 200, the UP government should take action and arrest them,” Paswan said. "The department monitors the prices of 22 essential commodities on daily basis. As per the prices reported by centres from across the country, there has been no increase in price of salt whatsoever," Department of Food and Consumer Affairs said in a statement.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also took to Twitter to dispel the rumours. "Some people are spreading rumours that there is a shortage of sugar and salt. This is completely false. Anyone hoarding salt won't be spared," he tweeted. Manish Sisodia, the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, also urged people of Delhi not to believe on the rumours.

Railways to Accept Old Notes Till Nov 14

Indian Railways on Friday night extended the use of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes for ticketing, onboard catering and refund of tickets by another 72 hours to November 14. The government had allowed use of the old currency at government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds and petrol pumps for 72 hours. However, the precautionary measures, like refund of cancelled tickets would be done through ticket deposit receipts (TDR) and not in cash among others, would continue, he added. The railways had announced stop giving refund for cancellation of tickets in cash and instead issuing ticket deposit receipts (TDR). The use of demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination was extended upto November 14 tonight, and all concerned in the Indian Railways have been instructed to comply with the latest instruction, a Railway spokesperson said.

Rs.1000 notes found floating in Ganga river

According to reports Demonetised Rs 1,000 notes were found flowing in Ganga river at Nayaghat area, police said. Nineteen Rs 1,000 notes in a torn condition have been recovered from the river, Superintendent of Police Kalanidhi Naithani said. The no-longer-in-use 500 and 1000-rupee notes were spotted by people bathing in the river in Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh. A large crowd turned out to see the notes floating in the river. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the shock announcement that just hours later, at midnight, Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes would be illegal for transactions. Assuring that "your money is still yours", he said the old notes must be deposited in banks by the end of the year. The authenticity of the notes will be known only after further investigations, the SP added. According to reports, boatmen got into a fight after spotting the invalid Rs 1,000 notes flowing in the river.

Enough money with banks;Don't panic says RBI

The Reserve Bank of India has urged "members of public to be patient", stating that there "is enough cash available with banks and all arrangements have been made to reach the currency notes all over the country". In the statement the RBI has said that consequent to the withdrawal of Legal Tender Character of existing ₹ 500 and ₹ 1000 Bank Notes, it has made arrangements to distribute the notes in new ₹ 2000 and other denominations across the country. "There's enough cash available with banks and all arrangements have been made to reach currency notes all over the country," RBI said, adding, "The Reserve Bank appeals to members of public to be patient and urges them to exchange their old notes at their convenience, anytime before December 30." Bank branches have already started exchanging notes since November 10, 2016. Long queues were witnessed at banks and ATMs, which opened after two days, as people rushed to get new banknotes in lieu of their old defunct bills. Many ATMs ran out of cash in couple of hours as there were heavy rush to withdraw lower denomination currency.

Inconvenience to common people temporary

BJP president Amit Shah on Friday slammed opposition parties for their criticism of the Narendra Modi government’s move of scrapping Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.” "It is the political parties that are afraid of the Modi masterstroke. The common people are not facing any problems," Shah claimed at a press conference in New Delhi. "This is a democracy. There isn't a year that goes by in this country without an election. There are two elections coming up next year," said Shah, when asked about the timing of the move. He also singled out four political parties and attacked them for their criticism of the decision to demonetize the high-denomination notes. "I can understand if this move has sparked panic among black marketeers or terrorists or drug dealers. But, I am surprised at the panic that it has caused among the various political parties," he said. "The middle class, the poor and small traders will face no problems," he said, adding that there is no need to rush as the currency notes will be accepted till December end.

M Promises further economic reforms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Japan Thursday night for his second visit to the country after taking charge in 2014, for a 3 day tour. “Reached Japan. Looking forward to fruitful deliberations that will boost economic and cultural ties between India and Japan,” he tweeted. The Indian prime minister said his government was resolved to make India the most open economy in the world. Modi told Japanese business leaders that India’s development needs was huge and substantial and there was unprecedented opportunities for Japanese companies. Earlier on Friday, Modi called on Japanese emperor Akihito ahead of key bilateral talks with his counterpart Shinzo Abe during his three-day visit. Modi had twice visited Japan when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. On Saturday, Modi and Abe will travel from Tokyo to Kobe on Shinkansen. It will give them some “quality time”, sources said, to talk about bilateral and regional issues in a more relaxed setting. Japanese officials recalled that Abe had liked the idea of their travelling together, and had also wanted to showcase one of the commercial hubs in the country.

Your hard earned money is safe: Govt assures

Government today cautioned people against depositing the money of unknown people in their own accounts or falling prey to cheats, thugs and rumour mongers. Assuring people that their hard earned money is safe, the finance ministry on Friday said there is no need to panic and depositing junked Rs 500/1,000 notesof up to Rs 2.50 lakh in bank accounts will not be reported to the tax department. "The public was happy with the government’s move which will help crack down on black money used for terrorism and bribery," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said. "Deposits up to Rs 2.50 lakh will not be reported to the income tax department. There will be no harassment or investigation. All honest citizen need not worry. Farmers' income is tax free and can be easily deposited in bank," the ministry said. to ensure customer convenience, banks have been asked to provide all cash withdrawal transactions at their ATMs free of cost till 30 December.

How currency ban was kept a secret

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his first ever televised address to the nation at 8 pm on Tuesday, there was a great deal of curiosity among the people. Just when he announced the ban on the Rs.500 and Rs.1000 currency notes, India was taken aback by surprise. A whole lot of secrecy was maintained to not let the news out before the PM's address to the nation. The ministers who attended the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening had to stay back till PM Narendra Modi's televised address to the nation was over, in order to ensure that there was no premature leak, even by a few minutes, of the plan to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Just a handful of people were not surprised by this move. As part of a group of advisors, they had spent six months carefully planning the biggest attempt ever in India to check black money. Only Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, the Reserve Bank of India Governor and a few close officials were in the know until the very last minute, according to newspaper reports. It's worth mentioning that only a few weeks ago, the cabinet secretariat had issued a circular, to personal staff of all ministers, advising ministersnot to carry mobile phones to the Cabinet meeting . "So, there was no scope of the information going out," said a source.

SC Rules Against Punjab;Cong MLAs quit

Minutes after the Supreme Court struck down the state's unilateral abrogation of the water-sharing agreement with Haryana and other neighbouring states, Congress leader Amarinder Singh quit the Lok Sabha and other party lawmakers resigned from the Punjab Assembly. Declaring the act unconstitutional, the top court said Punjab cannot unilaterally wriggle out of an agreement involving other states. In his first reaction after quitting Lok Sabha, Congress’s Punjab face, Amarinder Singh, blamed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for entering into the water-sharing agreement in the first place. “Haryana will never get the water,” he told. The court held that Punjab water termination law of 2004 was not in sync with the 2003 SC judgment. It directed Punjab to construct the remaining part of SYL canal as per the 2003 judgment of the apex court to supply Harayana its share of water.

Sushma Swaraj helps a Widowed Mother

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj once again played the guardian angel to an Indian woman in the US.  An Indian woman in the US who gave birth to a baby girl few days ago weeks after her husband died of a heart attack was today assured by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj of all possible help. Swaraj who was informed about Deepika Pandey and her newborn baby on Twitter immediately responded saying, "Deepika - We are with you in this hour of tragedy. I have asked @IndianEmbassyUS to help you". The woman's husband Hariom Pandey, who was a software engineer, had died of a heart attack on October 19 in Boston and days later his friends had taken her to New Jersey to ensure her better care as they stay there. Deepika also has a four-year-old son. Deepika's family wants her and the two children to return to India at the earliest and therefore requested the government to ensure early grant of passport to the newborn by the US authorities who by birth is an American citizen.

Modi replies to Superstars wishes!

Majority of India is going all out in congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the bold step he has taken in curbing the menace of black money in the nation. A whole lot of bollywood and tollywood stars took to social media sites to congratulate the PM. The prominent of them all was the tweet by Superstar Rajinikanth. He tweeted saying, "Hats off @narendramodi ji. New india is born #JaiHind”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a while ago replied to Rajinikanth’s tweet saying, “Thank you. All of us have to work shoulder to shoulder and create a prosperous, inclusive and corruption free India.” Kamal Haasan also had praises for our Prime Minister. He tweeted, “Salute Mr. Modi. This move has to be celebrated across political party lines. Most importantly by earnest tax payers.” To which Modi replied saying, “This step was taken in the interest of our honest citizens who deserve a better India.”

Mistry sacked; TCS gets new chairman

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) told the Bombay Stock Exchange that it had received a notice from its parent Tata Sons nominating Ishaat Hussain as Chairman of the company, immediately replacing Cyrus Mistry. "The Company has received a letter dated November 09, 2016 from Tata Sons Limited nominating Mr. Ishaat Hussain as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company in place of Mr. Cyrus P. Mistry with immediate effect. In view of this, Mr. Mistry has ceased to be the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company and Mr. Hussain is the new Chairman of the Company. The Company has been further informed that Mr. Hussain shall hold office as Chairman of the Company until a new Chairman is appointed in his place," said the statement. Tata Sons is the largest shareholder in Tata Consultancy Services. Tata Sons holds 73.33 per cent stake in TCS. Tata Sons has also issued a notice calling for an extraordinary general body meeting to remove Mistry as a director of the company. The EGM will have to be held in 45 days.

Thousands protest against Trump in NYC

Thousands of people marched in the streets of New York City Wednesday night to protest President-elect Donald Trump. In cities from Boston to Los Angeles, the demonstrators chanted anti-Donald Trump slogans, with many yelling "not my president, not today", reports said. In Chicago, roughly 1,000 people attempted to gather outside the Trump International Hotel and Tower downtown while chanting phrases like "No Trump! No KKK! No racist USA". As many as 5,000 people were at a protest in New York, the police estimated. Among the issues were immigration and Obamacare. Some of the protesters cursed out key battleground states that Trump had won to secure victory. They then began marching more than 40 blocks uptown to picket outside Trump Tower in midtown. Protesters condemned Trump's campaign pledge to build a wall along the border with Mexico to keep out undocumented immigrants and other policies perceived as affecting people of colour. In his victory speech, however, Trump said he would be president for all Americans, saying: "It is time for us to come together as one united people.

Burnt currency notes found in UP

Charred remains of burnt notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency denominations were recovered from a place in Bareilly on Wednesday, police said. This comes just a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the "shocking" announcement of demonetising ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes in order to curb corruption in the country. Police sources said the notes had been initially cut, damaged and then burnt. "We are examining the burnt notes to check for their authenticity," Senior Superintendent of Bareilly, Joginder Singh reportedly said. According to sources, the burnt currency notes were reportedly brought in sacks and then dumped by workers of a company on Parsa Kheda Road in C.B. Ganj area in the city. The police has since taken over the remains of the currency notes and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials have been informed of the incident.

Rs.50 & Rs.1000 notes with new designs soon

The Rs.1,000 currency notes will be re-introduced in a few months with enhanced security features and different colour, Shaktikanta Das, secretary, department of economy affairs, said on Thursday. Finance minister Arun Jaitley today assured people that demonetising high-denomination currency is beneficial to all in the long run, despite short-term problems. These announcements were made while huge crowds gathered to collect the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes as banks reopened on Thursday after remaining closed for two consecutive days. Minister Jaitley, Das and chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian were all addressing an Economic Editors' conference in New Delhi today, where most, if not all, questions were about the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. About the sudden nature of the announcement to scrap these notes - a decision made to halt terror being funded by Pakistan, and to stem the rising tide of black money - Das said that the process had been under way for the last few months. "Only 2-3 people in the RBI were involved in the designing of notes," said Das.

New Rs.500 & Rs.2000 Notes Hard To Fake

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a surprise address to the nation on Tuesday night said currency of Rs. 500 and Rs.1,000 will cease to be legal tender from midnight on Tuesday. He said the decision was taken to root out the menace of black money and corruption. New bills for Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 are being printed and will be sent to banks. They will be in limited supply initially, necessitating a cap on how many are available to an individual. The new 2,000 rupee note, said the Reserve Bank or RBI in a statement, will include several features like a see-through register with the denominational numeral 2,000 which can be seen when the note is held up against light. For the visually-impaired, there will a raised print of Mahatma Gandhi's portrait, the Ashoka Pillar emblem, bleed lines and identity marks. The latest move is estimated to more than double annual growth at online payment companies. The note will also have a colour-shifting windowed security thread with the inscription 'भारत', RBI and 2,000. The colour of the thread will change from green to blue when the note is tilted.

5 Indo Americans set to be elected to US Congress

  Indian-American women put up a good show in the 2016 elections, with Kamala Harris, 51, a two-term attorney general from California, creating history by winning the US Senate seat from the state. Pramila Jayapal, 51, won the Congressional seat from Seattle to enter the House of Representatives, the first Indian-American woman to accomplish this feat. Ro Khanna and Ami Bera were leading in the race for the House of Representatives from their districts in California. With 56 per cent of the votes counted in California's Silicon Valley, Democratic Congressman Bera was leading with 54 per cent votes at 47,427, ahead of his Republican party rival Scott Jones who got 46 per cent votes. Jayapal would be joined in the House of Representatives by Raja Krishnamoorthi, who made it to the highest citadel of democracy in their second attempt.