India moves ... PM Shri Narendra Modiji bans Rs.500 & Rs.1000/- currency notes

Breaking News :

Miles away in another continent, polls opened at 06:00 on the East Coast (11:00) GMT, though three New Hampshire villages voted soon after midnight… sooner the candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump voted.  The whole World is focussing on the US Presidential election results, which are expected  @ 05:00 GMT on Wednesday once polls close on the West Coast.

Often the talk dwells on ‘black money’, nay not the colour of money.  Corruption, hoarding of money, black money and stashing money in foreign banks have been haunting the Nation and have been the themes of many blockbuster films where the incidence of black money is very high !

In the most sensational breaking news, our Nation heard our outstanding PM Sri Narendra Modiji addressing the Nation.  He said : We hear stories of how autorickshaw driver returns gold left by a passenger in his vehicle. These stories tell how common people are honest. It is only a few people engage in corruption for selfish reasons !   in an unforgettable speech, he speaks about corruption, black money and terrorism telling that "terrorsists from across the border" are spreading counterfeit currency notes.  At  8:15 pm: From midnight of November 8, 2016, Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 will cease to be legal tender. "These notes are just papers from tomorrow," says the prime minister.

You could not expect that even in a Shankar movie – and in a sensational move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today  added a lethal edge to India's fight against black money by announcing that the currencies in the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 will be invalid when the clock strikes 12 midnight of 8 November. The demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes is a major assault on black money hoarders, fake currency, and corruption.

In his 40-minute address, first in Hindi and later in English, the Prime Minister said the notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 "will not be legal tender from midnight tonight" and these will be "just worthless piece of paper." However, he said that all notes in lower denomination of Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20, Rs 10, Rs 5, Rs 2 and Re 1 and all coins will continue to be valid. He also announced that new notes of Rs 2000 and Rs 500 will be introduced.

ATM withdrawals will now be restricted to Rs 2,000 per day and withdrawals from bank accounts will be limited to Rs 10,000 a day and Rs 20,000 a week. Banks will remain closed on Thursday and ATMs will also not function tomorrow and day after, Modi said. He expressed confidence that the staff of banks and post offices will rise to the occasion to introduce the new order within the available time.

Modiji, however, clarified that the citizens will be able to deposit old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 at post offices and banks of their choice. "The public will have 50 days time between 10 November and 30 December to deposit old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 after showing a proof of identity," he said. The accepted POI documents include Pan Card, Aadhaar Card, Voters ID Card, Driver's License and Passport. However, government hospitals, pharmacies in government hospitals, airline ticket counters, bus ticket counters, railway ticket counters and petrol pumps will accept old notes for the next 72 hours, ie, till midnight 11 November.

Banks will be closed tomorrow. It will cause some hardship to you....Let us ignore these hardships... In country's history, there comes a moment when people will want to participate in the nation building and reconstruction. Very few such moments come in life," Modi said.  True words ! ~ the destiny of the Nation is set to change. 

People earning money through unholy means, stashing them without revealing them or declaring them has been going on, mostly unchecked – while the common salaried class is taxed as high as 1/3^rd of their earnings – bigger traders, professionals, politicians and everybody else seemingly had been making merry without paying taxes. Black money  has been a pet theme of many films …. Sankar directed Rajni starrer Sivaji was on  black money and its harmful effect.  In Kanthasamy, Vikram plays a sleuth in CBI, granting the wishes of the needy who write letters to Lord Muruga at Thirporur temple by disguising himself as an anthropomorphic chicken. He goes on to discover a stash of black money, travels places to take out the hidden riches for the benefit of Indian poor.  In Anniyan, Ambi an innocent and honest lawyer fights and kills lawbreakers by torturing them and is shown as a person with multiple personality disorder.  ~ all of those dealing with corruption and black money were big hits with the people, so was the  2011 Indian anti-corruption movement spearheaded by Anna Hazare and his followers.  Black is not the colour of money but the money earned to ill-gotten means – everyone have their own estimates of black money stashed in tax-havens abroad.

Now clearly Modi show is better than fiction and movies… ***  remember that in 2011 RBI banned 25 paise and coins below that denomination …

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

8^th Nov 2016 @ 22.00 hrs.