New Delhi: The Government on Monday announced that old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes can to be used until November 24 for certain transactions.
(Agencies)
National Geographic’s Afghan girl to undergo treatment in Bengaluru
New Delhi: Afghan woman Sharbat Gula, the iconic face of refugee struggle who was deported from Pakistan a few days ago, will soon travel to India for medical treatment.
Sharbat became the worldwide face of refugee struggle after her photograph appeared in the National Geographic Magazine in 1984. She was deported to Afghanistan on Wednesday on charges of falsifying identity papers.
Sharbat, a mother of three, is said to undergo treatment at a Bengaluru hospital. In her 40s now, she has been offered free treatment by the Union government.
“The iconic Afghan Sharbat Gula will soon be in India for medical treatment free of cost — Thank you India for being a true friend!,” Afghan ambassador Shaida Abdali tweeted.
Sharbat, popularly known as the ‘Afghan girl’, is reportedly suffering from Hepatitis C, besides having some other health issues.
Sharbat’s image, with piercing green eyes, photographed by award winning photographer Steve McCurry, was made the face of refugee crisis in Afghanistan.
(Agencies)
Sudden note ban has led to ‘financial chaos’, say bank unions
Vadodara: Two leading bank unions today criticised the government over demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, saying the move has led to “financial chaos” across the country. In a letter to Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) and All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said the decision to withdraw the high-value notes was taken without proper planning or preparation.
They also highlighted heavy work pressure on employees and officers at bank branches in the wake of demonetisation which has led to customers rushing to exchange the now defunct notes. “Chaotic situation is prevailing at the bank branches and this is unbearable for both customers as well as bank employees and officers,” S Nagarajan, General Secretary of AIBOA, and C H Venkatachalam, his counterpart at AIBEA, said in the letter to IBA, the apex body of bank managements.
There is a huge shortage of Rs 100 notes which are now in great demand for routine needs, while most customers are not willing to accept the new Rs 2,000 bill, they said. “The Centre and the Reserve Bank must be fully aware that already there is a huge gap between the indent and supply of Rs 100 notes.
“For example, in 2015-16, as against the indent of 535 crore pieces of Rs 100 notes, the supply received was only to the tune of 490 crore pieces,” according to the letter. “One cannot understand the reason behind banning the existing Rs 500 notes and not providing new supply of Rs 500 notes in time,” it added.
Most of the 2.20 lakh ATMs across the country are closed or partly functional. This has put additional pressure on the staff and customers are compelled to visit branches to withdraw cash from their accounts, the two unions said.
Nagarajan and Venkatachalam requested the IBA to ensure the RBI supplies adequate cash in denominations of Rs 100 and new Rs 500 notes to ease pressure on banks and provide relief to customers.
(Agencies)
Rs 3 cr deposited in BJP account before demonetisation in West Bengal
Kolkata: The West Bengal unit of the CPM today alleged that a huge amount of cash was deposited in the bank account of the state unit of the BJP. The deposits were made immediately before Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, said CPM general secretary Surya Kanta Mishra, citing a media report.
A report published in the CPM mouthpiece, ‘Ganashakti’, today claimed that Rs 1 crore (in denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500) was deposited at the Central Avenue branch of Indian Bank here on November 8. The money (in transactions of Rs 60 lakh and Rs 40 lakh) was deposited in a savings account no 554510034, which is in the name of the West Bengal unit of the BJP.
The report further said while Rs 75 lakh was deposited in a current account (63652513881) belonging to the West Bengal BJP unit in the same bank on November 1, Rs 1.25 crore was deposited in the same account on November 5. A total of Rs 3 crore had been deposited bank accounts of the BJP in six days preceding November 8, Mishra said.
However, a BJP spokesman brushed aside CPM charges and said, “When funds are deposited in bank accounts, the party exposes itself to scrutiny by the Election Commission and the Income Tax Department.”
(Agencies)
Demonetisation a scam, select bigwigs informed earlier: Kejriwal
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that a huge scam was taking place in the name of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
He said the BJP had alerted its friends beforehand so that they could stash away their black money.
‘Before the PM announced the move, he had informed all of his friends who had black money and they secured their money,” Kejriwal said.
He also called the move a surgical strike on the common man and not black money holders and demanded that the decision be rolled back.
(Agencies)
Udupi: 96-year-old dies in note exchange queue before a bank
Udupi: A 96-year-old man collapsed and died in a queue at a village in Udupi district as cash-strapped common people in the region continued to throng banks and ATM counters for withdrawal of some money to meet their daily expenses on Saturday.
Gopal Shetty (96), a resident of Ajekar village was standing in the before a branch of Corporation bank for exchanging currency. Around 12 noon he collapsed and died on the spot.
It is said that he had only a few notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 denomination but waited in queue for a long time.
Though he was rushed to a nearby clinic by some people who saw him collapse, he was declared dead, sources said.
The deceased is the father of Sudhakar Shetty, founder of Jnana Sudha educational institution of Karkala.
(Agencies)
Chaos, long queues continue at banks; many ATMs still inactive
New Delhi: Queues outside banks grew longer as did confusion and chaos, with all cash vending machines still not functioning despite a two-day break for stocking up new currency notes.
People waited for hours to get the cash needed to meet their daily expenses as most prevalent higher denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 were declared invalid.
ATMs, which reopened two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation of two biggest currency notes, had people queued up since early morning.
But not all of them were operating and the crowds at many of the machines grew increasingly agitated on learning that they were still inactive. Bank officials said all ATMs should start functioning by tomorrow after old notes are removed and new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 ones stocked in them.
However, withdrawal from ATMs is limited to a maximum of Rs 2,000 per card in a day up to November 18, 2016. The limit will be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from November 19, 2016 onwards, bankers said.
State Bank of India, the nation’s largest lender, said it could take 10 days for ATM services to settle down to normal.
There are nearly 2 lakh ATMs in the country. Many of them are configured to dispense only Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 notes and cannot dispense Rs 100 or Rs 2000 notes, so they have to be reconfigured too.
Yesterday, when banks opened after a day’s break, millions rushed to deposit and swap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. Only a maximum of Rs 4,000 per person was being exchanged at banks and select post offices.
Banks opened additional counters to exchange notes as also allow withdrawal from bank accounts through cheque or withdrawal slips with a ceiling of Rs 10,000 in a day within an overall limit of Rs 20,000 in a week (including withdrawals from ATMs) for the first fortnight i.e. up to November 24.
Interestingly, today is the last date for old notes to be accepted as payment for water and electricity bills, government penalties, and at state-run petrol pumps, government hospitals, metros and railway tickets.
After midnight tonight, even these utility payments would have to be done in either lower denomination currency or in new currency notes, which will add to the pressure on banks and ATMs.
Banks will work on weekend and till at least 7 pm on these days to cater to the rush.
(Agencies)
Elderly man standing in queue to withdraw money dies
Mumbai: Amid the woes of customers hit by cash crunch, a 73-year-old man, who was standing in a queue to exchange his old currency notes here, collapsed and died in suburban Mulund this afternoon, police said.
Vishwanath Vartak, a senior citizen, was standing in a queue outside a branch of the State Bank of India in Navghar area of Mulund (East) to exchange his notes when he suddenly fell down at around 1.30 PM, they said.
As he fell, some people, who were also in the queue, rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead before admission, police said adding that the body has been sent for postmortem.
Police also visited the spot where the elderly man collapsed.According to initial reports, Vartak died of a heart attack, police said.
Following the government’s decision to scrap the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, there has been a huge rush outside the banks since yesterday and also at the ATMs today residents anxious to withdraw some money to meet their daily expenses were seen standing in serpentine queues.
Police patrolling is being done and beat marshals are deployed outside the banks and the ATM centres to avoid any untoward incident and control the crowd wherever necessary.
(Agencies)
42 Punjab Cong MLAs submit resignation over SC ruling on SYL
Chandigarh: All Opposition Congress MLAs today submitted their resignation to the Punjab Assembly Secretary here today to protest the Supreme Court’s ruling favouring Haryana on the SYL issue.
State Congress chief Amarinder Singh, meanwhile, launched a fresh attack on Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, alleging Badal has “failed to protect the interest” of the people and announced that his party will take out a rally on the issue on Sunday.
The 42 MLAs, including leader of Opposition Charanjit Singh Channi, Sunil Jakhar, Sukhjinder Randhawa and Balbir Singh Sidhu, went to the Assembly here and submitted their resignations to Assembly Secretary Shashi Lakhanpal Mishra as Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal was not present.
Senior Congress leaders, including Amarinder Singh, Partap Singh Bajwa and Ambika Soni accompanied the MLAs. “I will submit the resignations to the Speaker. He will see whether to accept them or not,” Mishra said.
A Congress spokesperson denied reports in a section of the media that they have submitted the resignations to the Governor.
Speaking to mediapersons, Amarinder said, “I am not in Parliament and our MLAs are not in Vidhan Sabha. We will go to the people. We are going to burn the effigies of the government for not protecting Punjab’s rights.”
“We will hold a rally at the tail-end of the canal system in southernmost part of Punjab on Sunday, which will be affected (by the verdict),” he said.
Hitting out at Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the state Congress chief asked, “Why is Badal not protecting Punjab’s interests? Is it because he has made a lot of money and doesn’t care what happens in his area?”
The water dispute assumed a new dimension with the Supreme Court yesterday holding as unconstitutional the 2004 law passed by Punjab to terminate the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water sharing agreement with neighboring states.
“All the questions have been answered in the negative,” a five-judge bench headed by Justice A R Dave said, while pronouncing its decision on the Presidential reference.
The judgement makes it clear that the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004 is “unconstitutional” and Punjab could not have taken a “unilateral” decision to terminate the water sharing agreement with Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh.
The bench, which also included Justices P C Ghose, Shiva Kirti Singh, A K Goel and Amitava Roy, was unanimous in holding that all the five questions of Presidential reference have to be answered in the negative.
The judgement implies that the 2004 Act was not in consonance with the apex court judgement of 2003 which had mandated the construction of the SYL canal that was stalled.
(Agencies)
BJP members protest against Siddaramaiah over Tipu Jayanthi
Madikeri: Scores of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, including its state president B.S Yeddyurappa, were arrested on Thursday who were protesting against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for celebrating the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan and also for the killings of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and party activists in the state.
Places like Gulbarga and Madikeri saw heavy deployments of state reserve police force to quell violent protests.
“Arrested while protesting against the Cong government for celebrating Tippu Jayanti. Will scrap this Jayanti within 24hrs of forming BJP govt in 2018,” Yeddyurappa Tweeted.
Talking to media, former chief minister Yeddyurappa said that he met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to refer the case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the killings of the BJP and RSS workers
“We met Rajnath Singh and requested him to constitute a proper inquiry and refer it to the NIA for which he has agreed. We know very well that more than 18 deaths took place recently, so I don’t know why Siddaramaiah is bent upon celebrating Tipu sultan programme. We are holding state-wide protests against the government,” Yeddyurappa said.
The Congress government views Tipu Sultan as a patriot who fought against the British.
However, the BJP and the RSS views are completely different from those of the state government, who regard Tipu Sultan as a tyrant monarch and for his biasness against Hindus.
(ANI)