Karnataka's Financial Disastor:

 Overview of the Fiscal Situation

Karnataka is grappling with a significant financial shortfall of ₹12,000 crore, prompting the state government to explore ways to reduce its borrowing. With expenditures nearing ₹90,000 crore on guarantee schemes and subsidies, the government finds itself in a challenging position, facing a depletion of funds for essential development projects.

Revenue Collection Concerns

As the third quarter of the 2024-25 fiscal year approaches, revenue collection estimates indicate a substantial shortfall. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's economic advisor, Basavaraj Rayareddy, stated, "At a recent meeting with the finance department, we projected that the current trend in collections will lead to a shortfall of about ₹12,000 crore. Consequently, we have urged all departments to tighten their belts."

Subsidy Programs Under Scrutiny

The primary driver of the state's expenses has been its subsidy programs, particularly the Anna Bhagya scheme. Remarkably, 853 out of every 1,000 people in Karnataka benefit from this initiative. With 4.47 crore individuals holding Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards out of a total population of 6.5 crore, officials agree that the situation is unsustainable and requires reevaluation.

Trends in Family Structures

Compounding the issue, trends reveal that many undivided families are splitting into individual households to qualify for the Gruhalakshmi scheme, which provides ₹2,000 to each female head of a family. This pattern underscores the need for the government to rationalize its guarantee schemes. 

Exploring Internal Funding Solutions

In light of these challenges, the state is shifting its focus towards generating internal funds for development rather than relying on external borrowing. The finance department has engaged consultants from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), who have emphasized the need for a more stable income source that does not depend on external loans. This involves leveraging funds from cash-rich state-run boards and corporations to support those in need.

Innovative Financial Strategies

To address the immediate financial strain, the government has launched an intercorporate deposits (ICD) scheme aimed at supporting struggling entities like Escoms and the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL). This initiative will draw funds from surplus boards and corporations, such as the Karnataka State Mineral Corporation Limited.

THE STATE IS STARING AT FINANCIAL DIASASTOR

China’s Economic Warfare against world ,As Growth Slows, Beijing’s Moves are Drawing a Global Backlash

 

Chinese officials often say that Beijing does not deliberately seek a trade surplus. Deliberate or not, China’s trade imbalances are not sustainable for the rest of the world, and China should not be surprised if foreign governments start to respond more aggressively. Beijing is likely to reject measures similar to those the United States and its partners adopted in the 1980s to address Japan’s trade imbalances, such as an exchange rate arrangement resembling the Plaza Accords or Louvre Accords. Tariff hikes on Chinese imports, another policy available to foreign governments, may only provide temporary relief; when the Trump administration imposed such levies, many Chinese suppliers were able to skirt these regulations by shipping goods through third countries before they reached their final destinations in the United States. With few effective policy options and an unwilling negotiator in Beijing, Western governments in particular will consider increasingly draconian restrictions on Chinese trade. That shock may be what is necessary for China to take structural reforms seriously, for the sake of its own economic health and in the hope of avoiding an irreparable split in global trade.

व्यापार युद्धाची सुરरुवात (अग्रलेख) divyamarathi editorial about market war

पैशाच्या ताकदीचे, विज्ञान तंत्रज्ञानाचे महत्त्व लक्षात घेता भविष्यात युद्धे रणांगणापेक्षा बाजारपेठेत जास्त खेळली जातील, असे म्हटले जाते. त्याची प्रचिती येेते आहे. अमेरिका आणि रशिया या जगातील बलाढ्य आर्थिक महासत्तांमधील व्यापार युद्धाची सुरुवात आज झाली. अमेरिकेचे राष्ट्राध्यक्ष डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प यांनी अगोदरच जाहीर केल्यानुसार चीनमधून येणाऱ्या मालावर वाढीव कराचा अंमल सुरू झाला. चीनमधून अमेरिकेत जाणाऱ्या मालावर २५ टक्के कर लावला जाईल. जो पूर्वी १० टक्के होता. व्यापार करार मोडीत निघू नये म्हणून दोघांच्या व्यापार प्रतिनिधींची बोलणी चालू होती. परंतु, ट्रम्प कर वाढीवर ठाम राहिले. चीनमधून अमेरिकेत जाणाऱ्या ५,७०० प्रकारच्या वस्तूंवरील १४ हजार अब्ज रुपयांच्या व्यवहारांवर करवाढीचा परिणाम निश्चितच होणार. ही अचानक झालेली घडामोड नाही. ट्रम्प यांनी याचे सूतोवाच २०१६ मध्ये राष्ट्राध्यक्षाची निवडणूक लढवतानाच केले होते. जगातील सर्वच देशातल्या बाजारपेठेत माल पाठवताना चीन करत असलेल्या अयोग्य व्यापार पद्धतीच्या विरोधात लढा देण्याची योजना त्यांनीच सांगितली होती. अमेरिकेच्या इतिहासातील रोजगाराच्या संधींची सर्वात मोठी चोरी चीनने व्यापारी डावपेचाच्या आधारे केल्याचे वक्तव्य ट्रम्प यांचे होते. ‘अमेरिका फस्ट’चा उच्चार ते सातत्याने करत होते. राष्ट्राध्यक्ष झाल्यानंतर दोन वर्षांतच त्यांनी चीनशी व्यापार युद्धाची तयारी केली होती. आता युद्धास प्रारंभ झाला आहे. करवाढीनंतर चिनी वस्तू खरेदीचे प्रमाण कमी होऊन अमेरिकेतील औद्योगिक उत्पादन, नोकऱ्यांच्या संधी वाढाव्यात हा उद्देश आहे. याचा परिणाम अमेरिकेतल्या अंतर्गत व्यापारावर होणार. चिनी वस्तूंवरील वाढलेल्या कराचा बोजा तेथील सामान्य लोकांवर पडणार. ट्रम्प धोरणांचा फटका अन्य देशांनाही बसणार. स्टिल, अॅल्युमिनियम, सौर पॅनल आयातीला त्यांनी बंदी घातली आहे.

चीनने अमेरिकेला जशास तसे उत्तर देण्याचे ठरविले आहे. एकमेकांच्या उत्पादनांवरील करवाढ याची सुरुवात अगोदरच झाली होती. त्याची तीव्रता किती वाढेल, हे नजीकच्या भविष्यात स्पष्ट होईल. जगातील सर्वच देशात कमी किमतीमध्ये वस्तू विकून बाजार पेठेतील अन्य सर्व स्पर्धकांना संपविण्याचे, त्या त्या देशातील बाजारपेठ काबीज करण्याचे डावपेच चीन करतो आहे. भारत हे अनुभवतो आहे. व्यापार युद्ध प्रारंभाचे पडसाद जागतिक स्तरावर उमटणार. अमेरिकेला मानणारे बाकीचे देश काय करतात? हे पाहायला हवे.

यावर युद्धाची व्याप्ती किता व कशी वाढेल हे अवलंबून आहे. खरे तर भारतासाठी ही एक चांगली संधी ठरू शकते. पण, मोदींनी कितीही आटापिटा केला, इंडिया फर्स्टचा नारा दिला, तरी बाजारपेठेतल्या बदलत्या वातावरणाचा फायदा घेण्याच्या परिस्थितीत, तयारीत भारत नाही. चीनमधून बाहेर पडणाऱ्या अमेरिकी कंपन्या भारतात येत नाहीत. त्या थायलंड, तैवान, मलेशिया, व्हिएतनाम आदी देशांकडे जात आहेत. भारतातील वेगवेगळे कायदे, मंदगतीचे आडमुठे प्रशासन, कामगार कायदे व संघटनांची प्रवृत्ती विदेशी कंपन्यांना अडचणीची वाटते. भारत चीनशी सध्या एकाच गोष्टीत स्पर्धा करू शकतो, ती म्हणजे लोकसंख्या वाढ. त्याबाबतीत भारताने चीनवर काही वर्षात मात केल्यास आश्चर्य वाटू नये

नोटाबंदी आणि काळा पैसा -महा एमटीबी-- ल.त्र्यं. जोशी

काळ्या पैशावरील अनेक उपायांपैकी नोटाबंदी हा एक आणि आवश्यक उपाय होता. पण काळा पैसा काही नोटांमध्येच दडलेला नाही. बेनामी संपत्तीमध्येही तो तळ ठोकून बसला आहे. तो शोधून काढण्याची मोहीम आता मोदी सरकारने सुरू केली आहे.त्यासाठी आवश्यक असा कायदा संसदेत करून घेण्यात आला आहे.

 

गेल्या आठवड्यात रिझर्व्ह बँकेने आपल्या वार्षिक अहवालातून बहुचर्चित नोटाबंदीविषयीची काही तथ्ये जाहीर केली. त्यातून असे निष्पन्न झाले की, नोटाबंदीच्या वेळी व्यवहारात असलेल्या नोटांपैकी ९९.३ टक्के नोटा परत आल्या. त्या काळात बँकांमध्ये परत आलेल्या नोटा रद्द झाल्याने त्यांची मोजदाद करणे बँकेला शक्य होते, पण नोटांची संख्या जास्त असल्याने त्या मोजायला वेळ लागू शकतो. त्याबद्दल कुणाची तक्रारही नाही. पण, पहिल्या दिवसापासून ज्यांनी नोटाबंदीला विरोध केला आणि आता जे ‘नोटाबंदी म्हणजे महाघोटाळा’ असा बिनबुडाचा आरोप करीत आहेत, त्यांच्यासाठी रिझर्व्ह बँकेचा अहवाल हे ‘नोटाबंदी फसली’ म्हणून ओरडण्यासाठी एक कोलित नक्कीच मिळाले.

 

हल्ली काँग्रेसने एककलमी कार्यक्रम हाती घेतला आहे. तो म्हणजे धडाक्यात खोटे व बिनबुडाचे आरोप मोदी सरकारवर लावायचे आणि त्याच त्या आरोपांचा पुनरुच्चार करीत राहायचे. विरोधी पक्ष म्हणून ही आक्रमक रणनीती सोयीची आहे, असे त्यांना वाटत असेलही, पण त्यामुळे आपली विश्वसनीयता ढासळत आहे, हे त्यांच्या लक्षात येत नाही. देशात एक काळ असा होता की, लोकांजवळ फारशी माहिती राहत नसे. कारण तिच्या उपलब्धतेची साधनेच मर्यादित होती, पण आता नव्या तंत्रज्ञानामुळे माहितीचा अक्षरश: प्रस्फोट झाला आहे.लोकांना कोणतीही माहिती एका क्लिकवर मिळायला लागली आहे आणि लोक या तंत्राचा मोठ्या प्रमाणावर वापरही करीत आहेत. त्यामुळे त्यांची दिशाभूल करणे तेवढे सोपे राहिलेले नाही, हे बहुधा काँग्रेसच्या लक्षात येत नसावे. खोट्या गोष्टीचा वारंवार पुनरुच्चार केल्याने लोक त्यावर विश्वास ठेवायला लागतात, या गोबेल तंत्रावर अजूनही त्यांचा जणू विश्वास आहे. पण, हल्लीचा जमाना ‘बाप दाखव, नाही तर श्राद्ध घाल’ असा आहे. लोक आलेल्या माहितीची खातरजमा करायला लागले आहेत. त्यामुळे प्रत्येक वेळी काँग्रेस तोंडघशी पडत आहे. माध्यमे त्याचेच ‘सेल्फ गोल’ या फुटबॉलच्या भाषेत वर्णन करतात. काही दिवसांनी ती काँग्रेसच्या या ‘सेल्फगोलां’ची मोजणीही करायला लागतील. रिझर्व्ह बँकेच्या अहवालाचा निष्कर्ष बाहेर पडताच राहुल गांधी अर्थतज्ज्ञाचा आव आणत ‘नोटाबंदी हा महाघोटाळा आहे,’ असे बडबडू लागले. पण, अर्थशास्त्रातले ज्यांना थोडेबहुत तरी कळते, त्यांच्यासाठी त्यांचा आरोप हा एक विनोदच ठरत आहे.

 

दि. ८ नोव्हेंबर २०१६ रोजी रात्री ८ वाजता पंतप्रधान नरेंद्र मोदींनी काळ्या पैशावर हल्ला करण्यासाठी नोटाबंदी जाहीर केली जात आहे, असे म्हटले होते. याबद्दल वाद घालण्याचे कारण नाही. पण, त्याच वेळी त्यांनी हेही सांगितले होते की, या उपाययोजनेचा आपल्याला त्रास होईल व तो सहन करण्याची कृपया तयारी ठेवावी. त्यानुसार लोकांना त्रास झाला, हे मोदीही अमान्य करीत नाहीत. लोकांनीही तो स्वेच्छेने सहन केला, याबद्दलही वाद नाही. मी तर त्यावेळी नोटाबंदीला सहकार्य करणाऱ्या बँक कर्मचाऱ्यांचे व विशेषत: डाव्या कामगार संघांशी संलग्न असलेल्या कर्मचाऱ्यांचे विशेष अभिनंदन केले होते. कारण, डाव्या कर्मचारी संघटनांच्या सदस्यांनी सहकार्य केले नसते तर नोटाबंदी सफलच होऊ शकली नसती. खरे तर ९९.३ टक्के नोटा बँकांमध्ये परत येणे हा नोटाबंदी सफल झाल्याचाच पुरावा आहे. नोटाबंदीची ५० दिवसांची मुदत वाढवावी लागली नाही, हा त्याचा दुसरा पुरावा. बाजारात असलेले मोठ्या नोटांमधील चलन रद्द करणे व त्याबरोबरच नवीन नोटांच्या स्वरूपात ते परत करणे हे एक धाडसच होते. पण, मोदी सरकारने ते यशस्वी करून दाखविले. जगातील हा सर्वात मोठा प्रयोग असावा, पण ती उपाययोजना पहिल्या दिवसापासूनच ज्यांच्या डोळ्यात सलत होती, ते या उपाययोजनेचा खुल्या मनाने विचारच करू शकत नाहीत. नोटाबंदी काळात बँकांसमोरील रांगांमध्ये काळ्या पैशेवाल्यांचे भाडोत्री सहकारीही मोठ्या प्रमाणात घुसले होते याकडे ते सोयीस्कर दुर्लक्ष करतात व त्यामुळे बेछूट आरोप करणे हाच एकमेव मार्ग त्यांच्याजवळ उरतो व राहुल गांधी त्याचाच उपयोग बेजबाबदार पद्धतीने करीत आहेत.

 

मुळात काळा पैसा म्हणजे काय, याबद्दलच आपल्या कल्पना स्पष्ट नाहीत. काळ्या पैशावर काळ्या शाईत आणि पांढऱ्या पैशांवर पांढऱ्या शाईत अक्षरे छापलेली असतात, असा कोणताच प्रकार अस्तित्वात नाही. अवैध पैसा कोणता हे लोकांना लवकर समजणारा तो एक शब्द आहे एवढेच. पण ‘अवैध पैसा’ म्हणजे तरी काय? बाजारात पैसा खेळत असतो. त्यातला वैध कोणता व अवैध कोणता हे ओळखणे सामान्य माणसाला शक्य आहे काय? मुळीच नाही. त्याच्या दृष्टीने तो पैसा आहे व वैधही आहे एवढेच. तो अवैध किंवा काळा आहे हे केव्हा सिद्ध होते? जेव्हा प्राप्तिकर खात्याचे अधिकारी एखाद्याच्या घरावर किंवा कार्यालयावर धाडी टाकतात, त्याच्याकडील पैशाची मोजदाद करतात,त्यापैकी त्याने बँकेत किती टाकला व खोल्यांमध्ये नोटांच्या गठ्ठ्यांच्या स्वरूपात किती दडवून ठेवला, हे तपासतात. सामान्यत: कमी जागेत जास्त पैसा दडवता यावा म्हणून तो मोठ्या नोटांच्या स्वरूपातच असतो. त्या सर्व पैशांवर त्याने प्राप्तिकर, संपत्ती कर वा अन्य देय असलेले कर भरले काय हे तपासतात. त्यानंतरही जो उरतो तो काळा पैसा म्हणजेच अवैध पैसा म्हणजेच बेहिशोबी (अनअकाऊंटेड मनी)पैसा. तो जप्त केला जातो व तो वैध असल्याचे सिद्ध करण्याची जबाबदारी ज्याच्याकडे तो सापडला त्याची असते. या चाळणीतून जो उरतो तो काळा पैसा. त्यावर दंड आकारला जातो, अपेक्षित कर वसूल केला जातो. प्राप्तिकराची वसुली जेवढी जास्त तेवढा काळा पैसा बाहेर येण्याचे प्रमाण जास्त, असा सोपा हिशोब आहे. प्राप्तिकर कायद्यात तुरुंगवासाची शिक्षा नाही म्हणून कुणाला प्राप्तिकर बुडवला म्हणून तुरुंगात पाठविले जात नाही, हे इथे उल्लेखनीय.

 

पण काळा पैसा म्हणजेच बेहिशोबी पैसा काय फक्त नोटांच्याच स्वरूपात असतो? मुळीच नाही. तो सोन्याच्या स्वरूपात, जमिनीच्या स्वरूपात, प्लॉटच्या स्वरूपात, महागड्या चैनीच्या वस्तूंमध्ये, बोगस कंपन्यांच्या माध्यमातून दडविला जातो. तो शोधून काढण्याच्या अनेक उपायांपैकी एक उपाय म्हणजे नोटाबंदी. तो काही ‘सब रोगोंका एक इलाज’ नव्हता आणि असूही शकत नाही. पण अर्थव्यवस्था स्वच्छ बनविण्यासाठी उचलाव्या लागणाऱ्या पावलांमध्ये ते एक अपरिहार्य प्राथमिक पाऊल होते. ते उचलणे आवश्यक होते. ते उचलले नसते तर अन्य उपाययोजनांना काहीही अर्थ उरला नसता. म्हणून काळ्या पैशाच्या संदर्भात त्या उपायांचा आढावा घेणे अपरिहार्य आहे. पण तसे केले तर ‘नोटाबंदी हा महाघोटाळा’ हा कथित सिद्धांत गळून पडतो. त्यामुळेच काँग्रेस पक्षाचे मोठमोठे अर्थतज्ज्ञ त्या भानगडीत पडत नाहीत. राहुल गांधींचा तर तो प्रांतच नाही.

 

नोटाबंदीच्या काळात बँकांमध्ये आलेल्या ९९.३ टक्के नोटांचे पांढऱ्या म्हणजेच वैध पैशात रुपांतर झाले असले तरी तो पूर्वीही वैधच होता, असे गृहित धरता येणार नाही. त्यात काळ्या म्हणजेच अवैध पैशाचा समावेशही असू शकतो,नव्हे आहेच. त्यामुळेच ०.७ टक्के म्हणजे सोळा हजार कोटींचा काळा पैसा नोटाबंदीतून निघाला, हे मान्य करायला तर कुणाचीच अडचण नसावी. एकंदर नोटांच्या मानाने तो कमी आहे, याबद्दलही वाद नाही. पण, आलेल्या पैशाची छाननी अद्याप व्हायची आहे. या काळात बँकांमध्ये पैसे जमा करणाऱ्या लाखो खातेदारांना आता नोटिसा देण्यात आल्या आहेत. कारण त्यांनी जमा केलेल्या रकमा संशयास्पद आहेत. ज्यांनी अडीच लाख किंवा त्यापेक्षा कमी रकमा भरल्या, त्यांना सरकार कोणताही त्रास देणार नाही, पण त्यांनाही त्यांच्या खात्यातील जमा रकमेबाबत जाब द्यावा लागू शकतो. त्यापेक्षा अधिक रकमा भरणाऱ्यांना मात्र त्या कुठून आल्या, हे सांगावेच लागणार आहे. पण, त्याचीही एक निश्चित अशी प्रक्रिया आहे.

 

खरे तर प्राप्तिकर खाते नेहमीच या प्रक्रियेचा आधार घेत असते. त्यानुसार हल्ली २०१५-१६ या वर्षाची तपासणी सुरू आहे. ती ३१ डिसेंबर २०१८ पर्यंत चालणार आहे. म्हणजेच नोटाबंदीच्या २०१६-१७ यावर्षीची तपासणी ३१ डिसेंबर २०१९ पर्यंत पूर्ण होणार आहे. त्यानंतरच नोटाबंदीच्या काळात किती वैध पैसा जमा झाला व किती अवैध पैसा जमा झाला, हे ठरणार आहे. पण, तेही एकतर्फी ठरणार नाही.नोटाबंदीच्या काळातील संशयास्पद रकमांबाबत ज्यांना नोटिसा देण्यात आल्या त्यांचे म्हणणेही ऐकून घेतले जाणार आहे. त्यामुळे ती प्रक्रिया पूर्ण झाल्याशिवाय नोटाबंदी यशस्वी झाली की, फसली हे कळणारच नाही. पण, ज्यांना नोटाबंदी फसवायचीच आहे, त्यांना तेवढी वाट पाहण्याची गरज भासत नाही.

 

नोटाबंदीच्या काळात जमा झालेल्या रकमांत काळा पैसाही आहे, हे सांगण्यासाठी एका काल्पनिक उदाहरणाचा आधार घेता येईल. उदाहरणार्थ, एका नागरिकाजवळ ७ नोव्हेंबर २०१६ रोजी ५० लाखांच्या बेहिशोबी नोटा होत्या. त्या जर बँकेत भरल्या नाहीत तर त्यांची किंमत शून्य राहणार होती, हे कळण्याइतपत तो मनुष्य निश्चितच शहाणा होता. म्हणून त्या नोटा बँकांमध्ये भरून तेवढ्या नवीन नोटा परत मिळविणे त्याला भाग होते. पण तो स्वत: किंवा नोकरामार्फत ५० लाखांच्या नोटा बँकेत घेऊन गेला असता तर पकडला गेला असता.ते होऊ नये म्हणून त्याने आपले नोकर, नातेवाईक यांना रांगांमध्ये उभे करून जास्तीत जास्त नवीन नोटा घेण्याचा प्रयत्न केला. पण,यातही अडीच लाखांच्या वर रकमा भरणारे लोक पकडले गेलेच. सुप्रसिद्ध स्तंभलेखक सुधाकर अत्रे यांनी दिलेल्या माहितीनुसार नोटाबंदीच्या काळात अडीच लाखांपेक्षा जास्त किमतीच्या नोटा बदलवून घेणाऱ्या १८ लाख लोकांना प्राप्तिकर खात्याने नोटिसा पाठवून त्यांच्या उत्पन्नाचा स्त्रोत विचारला आहे व त्यातील ६ लाख लोकांनी आपले उत्पन्न वैध स्त्रोतापेक्षा अधिक असल्याचे मान्यही केले आहे. त्यात २५ लाखांपेक्षा जास्त रक्कम भरणारे एक लाख सोळा हजार लोक आहेत, तर एक कोटीपेक्षा अधिक रक्कम भरणारे पाच हजार लोक आहेत. त्यांनाही स्पष्टीकरण विचारण्यात आले आहे. त्यांची चौकशी ३१ डिसेंबर २०१९ रोजी पूर्ण होईल. समाधानकारक उत्तरे मिळाली नाहीत तर त्या लोकांकडून ३० टक्के दराने कर वसूल केला जाईल. शिवाय दंडही ठोठावला जाऊ शकतो. तोपर्यंत किती पैसा वैध व किती अवैध हे कळणारच नाही. पण, सरकार तेवढ्यावरच थांबलेले नाही. अन्य उपाययोजनाही त्याने केल्या आहेत व करीत आहे. त्याचे परिणाम दिसल्याशिवाय राहणार नाहीत.

 

बदलून घेण्यात आलेल्या दोन हजारांच्या नोटांद्वारे काळा पैसा साठविता येणार नाही का? असा प्रश्न कुणी विचारु शकेल. पण, दोन हजारांच्या किती नोटा छापण्यात आल्या, हे सरकारला ठाऊक आहे. आता त्या छापणे बंद झाले आहे, हे तर जाहीरच करण्यात आले आहे.त्यामुळे छापलेल्या दोन हजारांच्या नोटांपैकी किती व्यवहारात आहेत व किती काळ्या तिजोरीत ठेवण्यात आल्या आहेत, हे सरकारला कळू शकते व त्या आधारावर दोन हजारांच्या नोटा रद्द करण्याचा निर्णय सरकार भविष्यात घेऊ शकते. पाचशे रुपयांच्या नोटा रद्द करण्याची हिंमत असलेल्या सरकारला दोन हजारांच्या नोटा रद्द करता येतील, हे न कळण्याइतपत काळे पैसेवाले निश्चितच मूर्ख नाहीत. या एका उदाहरणावरून नोटाबंदी आणि काळा पैसा यांचा काय संबंध आहे, हे कळू शकते.

 

अर्थात, काळ्या पैशावरील अनेक उपायांपैकी नोटाबंदी हा एक आणि आवश्यक उपाय होता. पण काळा पैसा काही नोटांमध्येच दडलेला नाही.बेनामी संपत्तीमध्येही तो तळ ठोकून बसला आहे. तो शोधून काढण्याची मोहीम आता मोदी सरकारने सुरू केली आहे. त्यासाठी आवश्यक असा कायदा संसदेत करून घेण्यात आला आहे. वास्तविक हा कायदा १९८८ मध्येच राजीव गांधींच्या कारकिर्दीत संमत झाला होता, पण त्याच्या काटेकोर अंमलबजावणीसाठी २०१६ साल उगवावे लागले. याशिवाय सरकारने नोटाबंदीसोबतच जास्तीत जास्त व्यवहार ऑनलाईन कसे होतील, याचीही मोहीम हाती घेतली. ज्यामुळे काळा पैसा निर्माण होण्यास पायबंद बसतो. सर्वोच्च न्यायालयाने काळ्या पैशाचा शोध घेण्यासाठी एस.आय.टी. नेमण्याचा निर्देश दिला होता, पण मनमोहन सरकार ते करू शकले नाही. मोदी सरकारने मात्र मंत्रिमंडळाच्या पहिल्याच बैठकीत त्याबाबत निर्णय घेतला आणि त्यानुसार अक्षरश: शेकडो पावले उचलली. इतकी की, त्या प्रत्येकावर एकेक स्वतंत्र लेखच लिहावा लागेल. जिथे जिथे म्हणून काळा पैसा निर्माण होण्याची शक्यता आहे, तिथे तिथे सरकारने बूच ठोकून ठेवले आहे. पण, ज्यांनी आंधळेपणाचे सोंगच घेतले आहे त्यांना हे समजूनच घ्यायचे नाही. त्याबाबतीत मोदी काहीही करू शकत नाही. मात्र, ते आपल्या मार्गाने दमदार वाटचाल करू शकतात व ते तेच करीत आहेत. यासंदर्भात ज्येष्ठ अर्थतज्ज्ञ डॉ. विनायक गोविलकर यांनी ‘मोदीनॉमिक्स’ नावाचे पुस्तकच लिहिले आहे. त्यात या सर्व उपायांचाच नव्हे, तर मोदी सरकारच्या आर्थिक क्षेत्रातील वाटचालीचा साद्यंत आढावा घेतला आहे. नुकतेच भाऊसाहेब चांद्रायण यांच्या स्मरणार्थ ‘सेंटर फॉर डेव्हलपमेंट स्टडीज’ या संस्थेने नागपुरात त्यांचे व्याख्यानही आयोजित केले होते. ते तपशिलातच वाचण्यासारखे आहे.

 

अफाट खंडणी वसूल करूनही पाकिस्तान अमेरिकेला सदैव मूर्खच बनवत राहिला

दहशतवादविरोधी लढाईतील मित्र म्हणून अमेरिकेने मागच्या पंधरा वर्षांत पाकिस्तानच्या झोळीत तब्बल सवादोन लाख कोटींची आर्थिक मदत घातली. मात्र एवढी अफाट खंडणी वसूल करूनही पाकिस्तान अमेरिकेला सदैव मूर्खच बनवत राहिला. भ्रमाचा भोपळा फुटल्यानंतर एवढ्या उशिरा का होईना, पाकिस्तानची आर्थिक रसद रोखण्याचे शहाणपण महासत्तेला सुचले त्याचे स्वागतच करायला हवे!

पाकिस्तान हा  एक देश नसून एक प्रकारे ती खंडणी उकळणारी टोळीच आहे याची जाणीव उशिरा का होईना अमेरिकेला झाली हे बरेच झाले म्हणायचे. पाकिस्तानच्या निर्मितीपासून अगदी कालपर्यंत वेगवेगळ्य़ा गोंडस नावाखाली अमेरिका पाकिस्तान्यांची घरे भरत होती. मात्र अव्याहत सुरू असलेली ही रसद थांबवून पाकिस्तानचे नाक दाबण्याचे धोरण आता जागतिक महासत्ता असलेल्या अमेरिकेने स्वीकारलेले दिसते. ‘पाकिस्तान अजूनही अतिरेक्यांना संरक्षण देत आह़े त्यामुळे अमेरिकेकडून पाकिस्तानला दिली जाणारी 30 कोटी डॉलर्सची आर्थिक मदत रद्द करण्यात आली आहे’ अशी ताजी घोषणा डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प प्रशासनाने  केली आहे. त्यामुळे तब्बल 2130 कोटी रुपयांचे हे घबाड पाकिस्तानच्या हातून निसटले आहे. यापूर्वी जानेवारीमध्ये देखील अमेरिकेने 50 कोटी डॉलर्सची आर्थिक मदत रद्द केली होती. आठ महिन्यांत तब्बल 5680 कोटी रुपयांची रक्कम हातून निसटल्यामुळे भुकेकंगाल झालेल्या पाकिस्तानचे धाबे दणाणले आहे. अमेरिकेचे परराष्ट्रमंत्री माईक पॉम्पियो येत्या काही दिवसांत पाकिस्तानच्या दौऱ्यावर जाणार आहेत. या दौऱ्याच्या तोंडावरच अमेरिकेने पाकिस्तानला दिली जाणारी मदत रोखण्याचा निर्णय जाहीर करून पाकिस्तानला मोठाच झटका दिला आहे. तिकडे पाकिस्तानात अमेरिकी परराष्ट्रमंत्र्यांच्या स्वागताची तयारी होत असतानाच अमेरिकेने ही घोषणा केल्यामुळे जगभरात

पाकिस्तानची नाचक्की

झाली आहे. लष्कराच्या पाठिंब्यावर नुकतेच पाकिस्तानचे पंतप्रधान झालेले इम्रान खान या निर्णयामुळे गोंधळून गेले आहेत. सलामीला फलंदाजीला यावे आणि पहिलाच चेंडू नाकावर आदळावा अशी काहीशी परिस्थिती अमेरिकेच्या या बाऊन्सरमुळे इम्रान यांची झाली आहे. ‘आम्ही अमेरिकेच्या मागण्या एकतर्फी मान्य करणार नाही. पाकिस्तानच्या हिताला बाधा आणणारे सर्व करार रद्द करू’ असा इशारा इम्रान खान यांनी पत्रकार परिषद घेऊन एक दिवस आधीच दिला होता. त्याच्या दुसऱ्याच दिवशी पाकिस्तानवर एकतर्फी प्रेम करणाऱ्या अमेरिकेने आर्थिक मदतीचा निर्णय रद्द करून इम्रान खान यांच्या डरकाळीतली हवाच काढून घेतली. अमेरिकन सैन्याने अफगाणिस्तानात आणि पाकिस्तानच्या सीमावर्ती भागात दहशतवाद्यांविरुद्ध जी लढाई सुरू केली आहे त्यासाठी पाकिस्तानने मदत करायची आणि त्या बदल्यात अमेरिकेने दरवर्षी 30 कोटी डॉलर्सचा नजराणा पाकिस्तानला पेश करायचा असे खंडणीसत्र गेली काही वर्षे सुरू होते. ठरावीक महिन्यांनंतर वेगवेगळय़ा नावाखाली पाकिस्तानला अमेरिकेकडून अशी आर्थिक रसद वर्षानुवर्षे पुरवली जात आहे. मात्र अमेरिकेच्या राष्ट्राध्यक्षपदी डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प विराजमान झाल्यापासून त्यांनी पाकिस्तानची पुरती नाकेबंदी केली आहे. मुळातच ट्रम्प हे आक्रमक, तापट आणि सणकी म्हणून जगाला परिचित आहेत. ‘बाप दाखव नाही तर श्राद्ध कर’ अशी सरळसोट भूमिका ट्रम्प यांनी घेतली. इस्लामी दहशतवाद संपविण्यास मदत करणार नसाल तर

‘भीक’ घालणार नाही

असा पवित्रा ट्रम्प यांनी पहिल्या दिवसापासूनच स्वीकारला. अमेरिकेकडून मिळणारी आर्थिक मदत ही दहशतवादाविरुद्ध लढण्यासाठी आहे. मात्र दहशतवादविरोधी लढाईस सहकार्य करण्याऐवजी पाकिस्तान त्यांच्या सोयीनुसार दहशतवाद्यांना संरक्षण देत असल्याचा आरोप अमेरिका सातत्याने करीत आहे. पाकिस्तानची तालिबानी अतिरेक्यांना असलेली फूस, अफगाणिस्तानात शांतता प्रस्थापित करण्यासाठी अमेरिका प्रयत्न करत असताना तिथे अस्थैर्य माजवण्याचे पाकिस्तानचे प्रयत्न, अमेरिकेच्या पैशावर चीनच्या मदतीने अण्वस्त्र्ाक्षमता वाढवण्याचे पाकिस्तानचे मनसुबे या सगळ्य़ांचा एकत्रित परिणाम म्हणून अमेरिकेने पाकिस्तानची आर्थिक रसद जवळपास थांबवली आहे. अमेरिकेचा सर्वात मोठा शत्रू असलेल्या लादेनला तर पाकने पोसलेच, पण आजही पाकिस्तानात जिहादी संघटनांचे कारखाने धुमधडाक्यात सुरूच आहेत. अमेरिकेने एवढी तिजोरी रिती करूनही  पाकिस्तानने अमेरिकेच्या पाठीत खंजीरच खुपसला. दहशतवादविरोधी लढाईतील मित्र म्हणून अमेरिकेने मागच्या पंधरा वर्षांत पाकिस्तानच्या झोळीत तब्बल सवादोन लाख कोटींची आर्थिक मदत घातली. मात्र एवढी अफाट खंडणी वसूल करूनही पाकिस्तान अमेरिकेला सदैव मूर्खच बनवत राहिला. भ्रमाचा भोपळा फुटल्यानंतर एवढ्या उशिरा का होईना, पाकिस्तानची आर्थिक रसद रोखण्याचे शहाणपण महासत्तेला सुचले त्याचे स्वागतच करायला हवे

Who is to blame for bitcoin mania? The bitcoin’s creation in 2009 was a warranted response of adversely affected individuals and entities to Lehman Brothers’ collapse -LIVEMINT

What was the most noteworthy global financial and economic event of 2017? Arguably, it was the stratospheric rise of bitcoin. During 2017, its price rose from $952 to $14,310, even after dropping from its peak of around $19,000 in mid-December 2017 (bitcoin prices vary by exchange). This 15-fold rise is truly phenomenal, after more than doubling in 2016, and from a high level of nearly $1,000. Keep in mind that the earliest year-end price recorded in Bloomberg is 30 cents in 2010, and its 2012 year-end price was about $13.
Along with this rise, there was a huge proliferation in the number of cryptocurrency issues, apart from the relatively established ones: Ethereum and Ripple. The proliferation is so widespread that even a college girl in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, was mining bitcoin, and, according to news reports, she has written an app that updates users about the prices of about 1,000 “cryptos” in 32 countries.
If there is an apt word to characterize this phenomenon, or rather related phenomena, it is cryptomania. Nouriel Roubini, the reputed New York University Stern School professor and chief executive officer of Roubini Macro Associates, has lashed out at this cryptomania. Recently, he wrote, “Blockchain, which has existed for almost a decade, still has only one application: crypto currencies,” and went on to say, “Until now Bitcoin’s only real use has been to facilitate illegal activities such as drug transactions, tax evasion, avoidance of capital controls, or money laundering...”.

Contrary to his first statement, blockchain technology has many uses apart from creating cryptos. Microsoft and GlaxoSmithKline are working with Viant, an Ethereum-based supply chain firm. IBM has tied up with Walmart and Chinese retailer JD.com to track food supplies from China to the US using blockchain. American Express is using Ripple’s blockchain system for B2B cross-border payments. There are many more such cases.
Roubini’s second statement above is both misleading and unfair. It is misleading because such tax evasion, money laundering, and the financing of drugs and terrorism have been going on for ages. They are done globally mainly through hard cash—in particular, the almighty greenback, the US dollar. Why single out bitcoin?
The statement is unfair because bitcoin was not created to avoid taxes or to buy drugs, although those may well have become its major uses, since it provides anonymity. Its creation in 2009 was a warranted response of adversely affected individuals and entities to Lehman Brothers’ collapse on 14 September 2008. It is noteworthy that the website Bitcoin.org was registered in August 2008, shortly before that. The Lehman collapse and the ensuing global financial crisis were largely due to the failed policies of Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke, who as chairmen of the US Federal Reserve had the prerogative of central bank monopoly of money supply. Indeed, when the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first genesis block on 3 January 2009, he added text from The Times that day: “Chancellor on brink of second bail out of banks”.

Under American law, creating private currency, barring coins, is generally not illegal in itself, although counterfeiting the dollar can lead to imprisonment. Nevertheless, the creators of bitcoin have prudently chosen anonymity, since its creation, use or possession could have been, and even now can be, made illegal. After all, bitcoin exchanges have been probed or raided or shut down in China, India and elsewhere.
In his 2015 memoirs, The Courage To Act, former Fed chairman Ben Bernanke makes no mention of bitcoin. His silence on this truly remarkable innovation is rather revealing. Its pioneers were not merely calling for an end to the Fed, as Republican senators Ron Paul and Rand Paul were doing, but were trying to provide an alternative. The concept paper of legal scholar Nicholas Szabo on digital property rights and verification, similar to Hernando de Soto’s pioneering work on title to land, played a role in its development.
Roubini is correct in pointing to the deflation bias inherent in bitcoin, since its supply is fixed at 21 million units. Indeed, in evaluating its feasibility, I have stressed this point, “This deflationary bias, unless it can be rectified by reprogramming Bitcoin to ensure slow steady growth in Bitcoin supply…poses a big threat to its acceptability.” (July 2017, Applied Macroeconomics: Employment, Growth And Inflation).

Nevertheless, Roubini’s specific sentence, “Unless the supply of currency tracks potential nominal GDP, prices will undergo deflation,” is erroneous. In macroeconomics, there is no such concept as potential nominal GDP (gross domestic product). What macroeconomics, and, more specifically, the quantity theory postulates is that the supply of money determines nominal GDP. When money supply is fixed, nominal GDP growth cannot keep pace with the growth in actual real GDP, which, in the long run, is at potential real GDP. The excess of real over nominal GDP leads to deflation.
The real risk with bitcoin is not so much deflation bias, but the inflation that could result from its counterfeiting. I am in broad agreement with Roubini’s conclusion that many currencies viably operating together “contradicts the very concept of money”. Nevertheless, one cannot help but ask, who’s to blame for cryptomania? The short answer is Greenspan and Bernanke

If it succeeds, it may go down as Narendra Modi's finest achievement. -New industrial exit policy where defaulting industrialists go, workers stay is welcome By Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar-

ECONOMIC TIMES, 17 SEP 2017 Till now, the business phrase "exit policy" meant the exit of workers, to allow owners to survive and flourish. Now, for the first time, India has an exit policy for owners to go and to allow workers to survive and flourish. If it succeeds, it may go down as Narendra Modi's finest achievement. India is rather infamous for having many sick industries but no sick industrialists, whose political clout (and legal delays) precluded seizure of their assets by lenders. That has changed dramatically with the enforcement of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016. The RBI is using this to force banks to get tough with defaulting promoters, forcing them to sell assets to repay debts and make their companies solvent. If this does not work, the banks will eject the promoters, and appoint a professional manager to run the company till it is auctioned to new buyers. This is a revolutionary change. In June, the RBI identified 12 major companies for insolvency proceedings, each owing over Rs 5,000 crores. Bhushan Steel, Electosteel Steel and Lanco Infratech headed the dirty dozen, owing a whopping Rs 1,75,000 crore (almost a quarter of all bad bank loan ~ Yes, the situation is that bad ). Reports say the RBI has now also prepared a second list of 40 companies, including giants like and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd. The top 500 defaulters face similar action. The finance ministry backs a "zero tolerance" policy for bad loans. However, many questions remain. Will new buyers be available? Will these ask for such high loan forgiveness in the takeover package that banks will refuse, leading to stalemates? Will old owners regain control at bargain prices via benami companies in tax havens? Only time will tell. Once, Vijay Mallya was politically so powerful that banks kept “ ever-greening “ his loans {{ viz kept extending his loans while simultaneously making them “ softer & softer “ year on year, by diluting & relaxing repayment terms ever so imperceptibly }} to his sinking Kingfisher Airlines. He hoped to survive a debt of Rs 9,000 crore, as most industrialists always had. But when the BJP government moved to arrest him, he fled abroad in 2016, clearly with well-oiled inside help. However, his assets in India —including holdings in United Breweries and United Spirits — have been seized. The Enforcement Directorate claims these assets will cover his bank dues of Rs 9,000 crore, and awaits court clearance for an auction. The Essar Group too has ran up huge debts to expand its empire, among allegations of inflated capital costs. Lenders have now forced it to sell Essar Oil, which includes India's second biggest oil refinery, its captive port at Vadinar, a power station of 1,010MW capacity, and 3,500 filling stations. The $12.9 billion sale to Rosneft of Russia will enable the group to halve its debts, and probably hang on to the indebted and beleaguered Essar Steel. However, the group's debts still remain huge at Rs 70,000 crore dwarfing Mallaya’s 9,000 crores . The Jaiprakash Group (Jaypee) had a spectacular rise in the 2000s as it borrowed hugely to fund enormous infrastructure projects and real estate. That bubble then burst. The initial reaction of banks was to keep extending their loans to Jaypee despite defaults: this was business as usual. But in today's new era, they have leaned on Jaypee to sell its cement plants to the Birlas for a reported Rs 16,000 crore. As part of its debt recasting plan, the banks are reported to have taken over Jaypee's land assets worth over Rs 13,000 crore. Never before have owners ever been obliged to part with such massive, profitable assets to repay old debts. Ousting the promoters is not an end in itself. Many promoters were plain unlucky, including those hit by land acquisition delays, and those who built power plants but could not get fuel from Coal India, which is a Government subsidaery. They need gentler way to deal with. For such entities in particular , "Resolution" in banking terminology means a deal where the lenders and owners (and sometimes trade unions) all agree to take a hit so that the enterprise becomes viable again. Resolution is the simplest and most preferred outcome. But it is feasible only when company assets are still substantial and the business is fundamentally viable. Resolution will not work for run-down companies with worthless assets. Ever-greening of loans and hiding bad & unrecoverable loans under the innocuous term “ NPAs-Non Performing Assets” in their balance sheets or even removing them totally from their balance sheets on pretext of keeping the balance sheets technically “ clean “ are the standard ploys employed by all banks , for having two-fold benefits – to keep themselves away from public scrutiny and therefore from financial and criminal accountability , as also to shield the beneficiary industry. The RBI, under the previous Governor, has initiated cleansing reforms , by forcing the Banks to declare publicly their so called NPAs, to arrest the trend of lowering the interest rates on loans arbitrarily, and seeking more accountability in handling of public money. And to the credit of our financial watchdog, the present Governor has vigorously pursued this long due process. In the old days, banks kept lending or evening “ ever-greening” till a company became worthless, and closed without paying workers. The new approach is to seize a defaulting company while it still has good assets, revive it through resolution, or else go for a forced sale to a new buyer. The owner promoter will surely be made to exit, but most workers will remain employed. True capitalism requires exit for capitalists no less than workers. Yet , let's hope for a new era where industrial might and political patronage is no protection against the rule of law, and the exit of celebrated but defaulting industrialists is not only possible but happening. It remains to be seen if this works. If it does, how marvelous

बिटकॉइन नक्की काय आहे?Maharashtra Times |

आतापर्यंत प्रत्येक चलन त्या-त्या काळानुसार राजे-महाराजे, सरकार, रिझर्व्ह बँक यांच्यामार्फत नियंत्रित केले जात होते किंवा आहे. पण, एका आभासी चलनाने आंतरराष्ट्रीय बाजारात धुमाकूळ घातलाय, ज्यावर ना कुठल्या देशाचे नियंत्रण आहे, ना कुणा एका विशिष्ट व्यक्तिचे. बरं ते चलन प्रत्यक्ष हातात येत नाही, ना त्याला दृश्य रुप आहे. तरीही त्याची किंमत वाढतीच आहे आणि जगात असंख्य लोक विनिमयासाठी त्याचा वापर करत आहेत, ते म्हणजे बिटकॉइन. नवासी अवस्थेतून नागरीकरणाकडे येताना मनुष्याने ‘व्यवहार’ विकसित केला. एखादी वस्तू हवी असेल तर त्या बदल्यात तुम्हाला दुसरं काहीतरी त्याच्या तुल्यबळ द्यावं लागेल. यातून सुरुवातीला वस्तूविनिमयाची पद्धत अस्तित्वात आली. मात्र, प्रत्येकालाच ‌आपल्याकडे असलेल्या वस्तूची गरज असेलच असे नाही. शिवाय, वस्तूंचे आकार व प्रकार पाहता त्या साठवून ठेवणे अवघड होते. म्हणून मग चलन ही संकल्पना अस्तित्वात आली. राजमान्यता किंवा लोकमान्यता असलेल्या विशिष्ट मूल्यवान वस्तूंना (जसे की विशिष्ट आकाराचे दगड, कवड्या, मोरपिसे) ठराविक ‘मूल्य’ बहाल केले गेले, ज्याद्वारे दै‌नंदिन लागणाऱ्या वस्तू ‘विकत’ घेता येऊ लागल्या. काळानुसार हे चलन तांबे, पितळ, सोने, चांदीच्या नाण्यात परि‌वर्तित झाले. राजे-महाराजांच्या काळात सोन्याचांदीच्या नाण्यांचे चलन होते. आधुनिक काळात प्रत्येक देशाने आपले विशिष्ट चलन विकसित केले. नाणी, नोटांच्या रुपात असलेले हे चलन सर्व व्यवहारांसाठी सोयीचे होते. पण, या प्रत्यक्ष चलनातून काळा पैसा मोठ्या प्रमाणावर निर्माण झाला. बँकांची स्थापना झाल्यानंतर हुंडी, चेक, डीडी असा पतपैसा निर्माण झाला. गेल्या काही वर्षांत पतपैशाऐवजी प्लास्टिक मनीला महत्त्व आले. डेबिट कार्ड, क्रेडिट कार्ड. आणि आता विनिमयासाठी प्रत्यक्ष चलनाची गरजच पडू नये म्हणून कॅशलेस व्यवहारांना चालना देण्यात आली. आतापर्यंत प्रत्येक चलन त्या-त्या काळानुसार राजे-महाराजे, सरकार, रिझर्व्ह बँक यांच्यामार्फत नियंत्रित केले जात होते किंवा आहे. पण, आता अशा एका आभासी चलनाने आंतरराष्ट्रीय बाजारात धुमाकूळ घातलाय, ज्यावर ना कुठल्या देशाचे नियंत्रण आहे, ना कुणा एका विशिष्ट व्यक्तिचे. बरं ते चलन प्रत्यक्ष हातात येत नाही, ना त्याला कुठले दृश्य रुप आहे. तरीही त्याची किंमत वाढतीच आहे आणि जगात असंख्य लोक विनिमयासाठी त्याचा वापर करत आहेत, ते म्हणजे बिटकॉइन. बिटकॉइन हा शब्द गेल्या चार-पाच वर्षांत अनेकांनी ऐकला असेल. पण बिटकॉइन नक्की काय आहे, याबाबत अनेकांमध्ये संभ्रम आहे. बिटकॉइन ही ब्लॉक चेनवर आधारीत एक ‘क्रिप्टोकरन्सी’ आहे. बिटकॉइनची सुरुवात सातोशी नाकोमोतो नावाच्या व्यक्तीने २००९ मध्ये केल्याचे संदर्भ इंटरनेटवर सापडतात. मात्र, एका वर्षातच ती व्यक्ती यापासून दूर गेली. एका ओपन डाटाबेसवर अनेक लोक मिळून कॉम्प्युटर प्रोग्रामच्या माध्यमातून हे चलन तयार करतात. त्यावर व्यवहार करण्याचे अधिकार दुसऱ्यांना देतात. अशा व्यवहारांना ‘मायनिंग’ म्हणतात आणि व्यवहार करणारांना ‘मायनर्स’ म्हणतात. बिटकॉइन हे विशिष्ट प्रकारचे कॉम्प्युटर कोड असतात, ज्यावरील प्रत्येक व्यवहारानंतर एक डिजिटल सिग्नेचर जोडली जाते. तरीही आपली ओळख लपवूनही यात व्यवहार करता येतात. बँकांप्रमाणे अनेक कंपन्यांनी बिटकॉइन वॉलेटची निर्मिती केली आहे, ज्या माध्यमातून बिटकॉइन खरेदी-विक्री करता येतात. भारतात यूनोकॉइन, झेबपे, कॉइनकसिक्युअर, बीटीएक्स इंडिया यांसारख्या सुमारे वीस कंपन्या बिटकॉइन खरेदी-विक्री व्यवहारांत आहेत. बिटकॉइनच्या मूल्यातही सतत चढ-उतार होत असतात. त्यामुळे टेक्नोसॅव्ही युवावर्गासह सट्टेबाज, अंडरवर्ल्डमध्ये हे चलन जास्त लोकप्रिय आहे. विशेष म्हणजे, गेल्या महिन्यात जगभरात गाजलेल्या रॅनसमवेअर सायबर हल्लेखोरांनीही बिटकॉइनच्या स्वरुपात खंडणी मागितली होती. यातून, या चलनाचे वेगाने वाढते महत्त्व लक्षात यावे. एक समांतर चलन म्हणून बिटकॉइनला भारतातही पसंती मिळू लागल्याने रिझर्व्ह बँकेची चिंता वाढली आहे. चार वर्षांपूर्वी रिझर्व्ह बँकेने यातील व्यवहारांच्या धोक्यांबाबत इशारा दिला होता. मात्र, त्याची लोकप्रियता पाहता, गेल्या महिन्यातच रिझर्व्ह बँकेने या चलनाला मान्यता द्यावी किंवा नाही, याबाबत जनतेकडून अभिप्राय मागविले आहेत. यावरून या चलनाची घोडदौड लक्षात यावी. सरकार बिटकॉइनला कायद्याच्या कचाट्यात आणण्याची तयारी करीत असून, त्यावर कर लावण्याच्या विचारात आहे. रिझर्व्ह बँक व्हर्च्युअल करन्सीमध्ये गुंतवणूक आणि त्याची देवघेव करण्यासंदर्भात सविस्तर मार्गदर्शक तत्वे तयार करणार असून, आरबीआय अॅक्ट १९३४च्या कक्षेत ती असू शकतील. बिटकॉइन हे सुरक्षित चलन आहे, असे म्हटले जात असले तरी त्यातही अनेक धोके आहेत. सगळ्यात पहिला धोका म्हणजे हे चलन अद्याप भारतात तरी अधिकृत नाही. दुसरे म्हणजे हे चलन प्रत्यक्षात अस्तित्वातच नाही. ते तुमच्याकडे असल्याची फक्त तुमची कल्पना असते. जोपर्यंत लोकांचा बिटकॉइन चलनप्रणालीवर विश्वास आहे, तोपर्यंत त्याला मूल्य आहे. त्यावरचा विश्वास संपला की बिटकॉइनचे अस्तित्व संपेल. जसे की, हजाराची नोट गेल्या वर्षी मौल्यवान होती, पण आता ती रद्दी आहे. बिटकॉइनची ऑनलाइन चोरी झाली तर ते चोरणारा सापडणे जवळपास अशक्यच. कारण, येथे सगळेच निनावी व्यवहार असतात. एकंदरीत बिटकॉइन या आभासी चलनप्रणालीने जगात आपले भक्कम जाळे निर्माण केले असून, अनेक देशांनी त्यातील व्यवहारांना मान्यता दिली आहे. पण, या चलनप्रणालीचे भवितव्य काय, याबाबत मात्र छातीठोकपणे कोणीच सांगू शकणार नाही

This is what our country wanted. This video clip shows Pakistan destroying fake Indian currency printed by them. Pakistan had planned to pump15 trillion notes to Indian economy. PM Narendra Modi's de-monitisation has defeated the nefarious intentions of pak and their agents within our country.

DEMONETISATION IS THE WEAPON AGAINST ASURAS

Demonetisation has killed or maimed several asuric forces. Most obvious of them is black economy that has dwarfed the legal economy. Simultaneously, it has corrupted political parties who protect this system at a price The demonetisation of high denomination currency notes is by far the most revolutionary feat of any Government in independent India, from which its opponents and victims are reeling even three weeks after the momentous announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the evening of November 8. The move must be assessed in the context of radical actions by his predecessors. Indira Gandhi’s nationalisation of banks and abolition of privy purses affected a miniscule elite; the poor were untouched and the middle class felt more secure with its savings in public sector banks which gave 15 per cent return on deposits, leading to the doubling of household savings in five years. The demonetisation by the Janata Party regime in 1978 impacted only the rich, who quickly managed the transition to currency notes of lesser denominations. As neither the middle class, urban poor, nor rural areas were affected, it grabbed headlines for a day or two and slipped from public memory. Today, however, the poor handle high denomination notes with equanimity. The Reserve Bank of India’s preference for high denomination notes (around 85 per cent of all currency in circulation at the time of demonetisation) made these the standard currency for the middle and more affluent classes. Naturally, Modi’s bombshell announcement shook everyone. It would be unfair to deny the inconvenience and suffering of many across the nation, yet it is undeniable that the majority support the Prime Minister, to the surprise of media persons who hoped to exploit their misery to embarrass the Government. Perhaps the native intelligence of the Indian people has discerned more than the nation-wide Lutyens elite, spawned by the Nehruvian socio-political matrix that has long dominated the public sphere. Demonetisation is the brahmastra (supreme weapon) that has killed or seriously maimed several asuric (demonic) forces tearing into the vitals of the nation. Most obvious is the black economy that has dwarfed the legal economy many times over, and frustrated development goals by denying the State its legitimate taxes. Simultaneously, it has corrupted political parties, politicians, bureaucracy, police, judiciary et al, who protect this perverse system, at a price, which further distorts the system. Often, the media and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) serve as fronts for these interests; this complex matrix is now collapsing in the absence of its most powerful glue — money. This will be a complicated process as those involved will resist being drawn into the white economy (recall the poor compliance with the recent disclosure scheme). Credit Suisse Group AG, the Zurich-based financial services company, asserts that the richest one per cent of Indians own 58.4 per cent of the country’s wealth; the Government has every right to make them pay their taxes. Interestingly, many small traders and shopkeepers have in the past decade moved from fully cash operations to computerising their sales and giving receipts to customers. They, and the urban poor (vegetable and street vendors, etc), bounced back from demonetisation within days and could offer change to customers with the new Rs2,000 notes. That is why the social unrest desired by many aggrieved parties failed to materialise. However, one must in fairness express sympathy for households with a wedding in the family; those who had difficulty in paying school fees and hospital bills, and tourists and travellers who landed in India in the immediate aftermath of demonetisation. The Government was also slow to respond to the needs of the farming community, imposing needless conditions on purchase of seeds. Fortunately, the acreage planted under the Rabi crop has increased 36 per cent. Cynics allege that the Prime Minister was motivated by the forthcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Goa, and has crippled his opponents who would have trouble organising rallies and undertaking election expenses. The Aam Aadmi Party’s near collapse in Punjab and forced withdrawal from the municipal elections in Mumbai supports this theory. But the rage articulated by the Trinamool Congress, with others following suit, shows that the impact is beyond States going to the polls. So far, only the Janata Dal (United) in Bihar and the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha have publicly supported demonetisation. But the real losers are the Great Crime Syndicates. Intelligence sources say the ban, smack in the middle of the wedding season, was driven by reports of a heavy infusion of fake currency to fuel terrorism. The timing preempts any precipitate action by the incoming Pakistan Chief of Army Staff. In one scoop, all fake currency stands junked as bank counting machines have scanners to detect faulty notes. In Kashmir, the inability to pay Rs500/day per stone-pelter has ended that menace to the police and security forces. Raids on the NGOs run by Islamist preacher Zakir Naik and allegations of a raid at the premises of separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani show the Centre’s determination to crackdown on the sources of extremism and terrorism. Maoists are equally affected. Worst affected are the drug mafia, hawala agents, extortion mafias, and even human traffickers (especially of young girls). Overall, the underworld has been badly crippled. There is also a large class of affluent urban professionals (one lawyer alone coughed up Rs125 crore in cash during a raid on his premises) which has large incomes outside the tax net. Many in Government service have amassed illicit fortunes. Much of this wealth, if held in cash, may go down the drain, bringing windfall profits to the Reserve Bank of India (we will know after December 30). However, it appears that many have used agents to dump money in Jan Dhan accounts that are suddenly flush with money. These rich people are unlikely to personally know so many persons with Jan Dhan accounts. Only agents could deposit over Rs64,000 crore in empty Jan Dhan accounts (over Rs10,000 crore in Uttar Pradesh alone) so quickly. By sealing these accounts and keeping a sharp eye on the Nepal and North-East India routes, many money laundering channels are being chocked. It was a wise move to close the cooperative bank route to depositing trashed currency, though that is possibly the surest way to bring all black currency into the system, and the Government may take a call on this after the December 30 deadline. Certainly, it must now push formal banks into rural areas, rather than leave villagers at the mercy of cooperatives controlled by political heavyweights. Demonetisation has decapitated a hydra-headed monster. It remains to be seen if it can regenerate itself, and to what extent.

Demonetization: Detailed Drama of How Modi Checkmated Pakistan’s Devastating Assault

Desh Kapoor 9 hours ago India, Pakistan, Terrorism Leave a comment 0 Views All the chairpersons and MDs of India’s top banks were meeting at Reserve Bank of India’s headquarters on the 15th floor of the Mint Street office in a special session that started at 7 pm. In Delhi, on the other hand, the top Cabinet ministers of the Modi government were meeting over an agenda regarding MoUs between India and Japan. None of the top bank chiefs or the ministers of the government were aware of what was to happen. #Demonetization: Detailed Drama of How Modi Checkmated Pakistan's Devastating Assault Click To Tweet . The Cabinet meeting ended at 7.30 pm and the PM went to meet the President to inform him about the plan. The ministers were instructed to remain in the meeting hall. The bankers on the other hand, were discussing the situation from the Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) in the economy. Just before 8 PM, the TV sets were switched on to listen to the PM, with the understanding that the meeting would continue after the PM address. Of course, the announcement from the PM was going to be earth-shattering for most bankers who had to rush back to their offices to handle the situation arising from the ban of Rs 500 and Rs 1000! The story of demonitization starts way back in at least 2010 with a company named De La Rue and its role in fake currency in India. Sometime during 2009-10, the CBI had raided around 70-odd Indian bank branches along the India-Nepal border and found counterfeit currency with them. That sent shock signals all over the intelligent community. Upon investigation, however, the intelligence officials found something even more scary! The branches had received the currency not from some smugglers, but RBI itself! RBI was sending counterfeit notes to the bank branches around the country! When the CBI raided the RBI, it found the same counterfeit currency in the RBI vaults in Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. The Central Bank of the country had been compromised beyond anyone’s imagination! The counterfeit and fake currency which Pakistan was pushing into India was being collected and distributed by none other than the Reserve Bank of India! Almost like real… In a little known case involving counterfeit currency caught in UP and Bihar, the defending lawyer rather nonchalantly argued that what was the proof that it was fake? When the currency was sent to the Indian government labs, they indeed confirmed that the currency nabbed from the ISI agents was actually real! When sent to foreign labs, it was found out that the currency was so close to real that it was extremely difficult to prove it being counterfeit. In fact, the small difference that helped them prove it was not real was probably inserted on purpose! Such was the confidence and arrogance of the counterfeiters! It was found by the CBI on further investigation that the mischief was happening at the end of De La Rue, a company from whom RBI imports 95% of its currency paper. In fact, RBI’s buy accounts for over 30% of De La Rue’s profits. At that time, De La Rue was blacklisted by the government and the company came to the point of bankruptcy with 2000 metric tonnes of paper lying unused! At that time, the De La Rue CEO James Hussey – godson of Queen Mother herself – resigned over what was called “paper quality issues”, which sounded fishy to begin with! “We don’t know whether the paper disintegrates under a drop of rain or whether there is just a fly in a roll of paper somewhere,” said one source. “The statement is so full of holes that is has created further suspicion.” De La Rue said the irregularities were of a “serious nature” but that it was “confident that neither the physical security nor the security features incorporated in the paper have been compromised for any customer and that the irregularities referred to relate only to testing of paper specifications at the relevant facility”. Meanwhile, in 2010 another serious security lapse was exposed! Outsourcing of Currency Printing by Government: Height of Betrayal The government had, unbeknownst to anyone, had outsourced the printing of currency notes to US, UK and Germany – amounting to Rs 1 lakh crores!! The entire economic sovereignty of India was at stake! The RBI had in 1997-98 outsourced printing of 2,000 million pieces of Rs 100 notes and 1,600 million pieces of Rs 500 notes to US, UK and Germany amounting to Rs 1 lakh crore. The committee, after questioning central bank officials, said the reasons provided were far from convincing. RBI had said the soilage factor and bad condition of notes resulted in the decision. The panel observed that RBI’s system of assessment with respect to demands and supply of bank notes in the country was off the mark resulting in a gap. (source) The three companies to whom the Indian currency was outsourced were American Banknote Company (USA), Thomas De La Rue (UK) and Giesecke and Devrient Consortium (Germany). On November 3, 2011 a complaint was received by the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) signed by “unnamed officers of the Ministry of Finance” – who said that the security was compromised not just by De La Reu, but also other companies – French firm Arjo Wiggins, Crane AB of USA and Louisenthal, Germany! What is most disturbing is that the information of compromise in security features of the paper for currency had at different times been withheld from the Home and Finance Ministry of India. Following the quality breach by De La Rue, in September-October 2010, the government tested samples of currency paper supplied by other companies as well. On November 3, 2010, BRBNMPL ( Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Ltd) — which signs currency note contracts on behalf of the RBI — wrote to the Directorate of Currency, Ministry of Finance, that currency paper supplied by Crane AB of USA and Louisenthal, Germany, had failed tests in Hoshangabad as well but cleared re-tests at the suppliers’ foreign laboratories. The complaint notes, “BRBNMPL in their letter of 3rd November 2010, concealed the failure of paper supplied by Arjo Wiggins ( a French company) from the Ministry of Finance as detected in the tests conducted on Arjo Wiggins paper at Hoshangabad”. In 2015, after Modi sought help in investigations in the fake currency notes from the US, it came out that the German company Louisenthal was also selling raw notes to Pakistan, resulting in a ban on the company. The Home Ministry has barred a German company, Louisenthal, from selling bank note paper to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after it discovered that the firm was also selling raw notes to Pakistan, according to a senior official. “We are only keeping our interests in mind,” the official told The Indian Express. “We have proof that high-quality fake Indian currency notes are being produced in Pakistan and pushed into India through Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The availability of a common supplier could be one of the reasons behind such high-quality fake notes.” This is how the Indian currency was compromised at every point – RBI, Home Ministry, Finance ministry, and the Indian and Foreign printing presses. Worse of all, our entire currency production was outsourced to unscrupulous forces who were merrily sharing the real stuff with Pakistan who was happily and arrogantly snubbing us and creating a havoc with our economy! How Pakistan was Check-mated? The free flow of Indian currency paper to Pakistan encouraged its government to set up 5 printing presses to print fake currency notes.these were smuggled to Nepal and Bangladesh (often on PIA flights). The currency entered India via UP and Bihar (Nepal border), via Malda in West Bengal (from Bangladesh), via Rajasthan border, Punjab border and via Chennai and Mangalore through the Indian expats from Gulf. Routes of Fake Currency to India Routes of Fake Currency to India (Courtesy IndiaToday) Pakistan used to pump in money to fund student bodies (like in JNU and Jadhavpur), media and journalists and also political parties to completely influence the elections. The “Imminent” Assault Given the aggression with which the Modi government has acted against Pakistan and given its options against Indian – specifically the Surgical Strikes and the heavy bombardment such that Pakistan had to beg India to stop beating them up! – Pakistan wanted another front for a major strike! As per General GD Bakshi, a prominent security and defense analyst, India has some Rs 16 trillion of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 in circulation (which is 96% of the entire money supply). Pakistan was already printing Rs 15 trillion (Rs 500 / Rs 1000) with a view to push them in India to completely “unhinge” the Indian economy in what Gen Bakshi calls an “Economic Pearl Harbour”! This would have led to unprecedented terror strikes and runaway inflation and steep price rise, which would have spelt doom for India in many ways. On the night of Nov 8th, when the Cabinet Ministers and the top bankers were caught unawares by the announcement of the Indian PM Modi on the ban on the notes – an act in extreme secrecy; all efforts to save Pakistan and its network were thwarted. Pakistan was checkmated. All those whom you see now coming together to fight demonitization know exactly what was being planned and what led to all this. If they still choose to fight this act by the Modi government, you should know exactly from which team they are fighting this existential war of India’s future

WAS PAKISTAN PLANNING AN ECONOMIC PEARL HARBOUR?

That makes the Demonetisation surgical strike most essential and it did not come a moment too soon. Lets consider some cold facts. There are four main firms that produce paper for printing Currency notes. These are ,Portal of USA,Gain of Sweden ,Arzo Vigiz of France and paper fabrics Leuscental. In 2010 Pak started buying paper from two of these firms from which India was sourcing its paper. Pak is economically much weaker than India . All of a sudden this coup gave the Pak ISI the option of printing fake Indian currency in the mass.This gave Pak the option of pumping in Hawala money to support Terror ops on a massive scale and destabilise J&K. it also began to buy sections of our student community and media and began to fund political parties to influence Indian elections. it set up 5 presses for Printing fake currency notes.These were then smuggled into India via Nepal( via the PIA flights). Bangladesh( into India mostly via Malda), Rajasthan border, Punjab border and via Chennai and Mangalore( via Indian expats from the Gulf). There are reports that our Indian intelligence agencies recently uncovered a plan by the ISI to execute an economic Pearl Harbour. India has some 16000 trillion currency notes of 500 and 1000 in circulation(96% OF OUR MONEY SUPPLY).As per this source , Pak was printing 15,000 trillion such notes and was about to push them into India to unhinge its economy and generate runaway inflation and price rise but above all to give a big push to terror activities in J&K and rest of India.. Frankly this was an act of war.Our response instead of being offensive ( military terms) had perforce to be defensive and PRE- EMPTIVE. That is what precisely has been done. the people crying loudest are those hit hardest by the sudden strike on their black and fake money hordes -mostly from abroad.The terrorist in J&K have been hard hit. All stone pelting is at an end.The Maoists are reeling- all their extortion money is now a heap of junk. Dauds Hawala racket is busted.Manyof the people now in lines were out of job labour from the House construction agencies darfted to deposit black money tranches and despperately try and convert them to white. We need to HOLD FIRM. have faith- this is BITTER Medicine but it will work

Mamata's Malda, the fake currency capital of India

Demonatiosation Part || : NIA arrests absconder from Mamata's Malda for procuring huge quantity of Fake Currency Notes Source: News Bharati English18 Nov 2016 11:05:20 Now the security agencies are taking simultaneous steps to capture and destroy the unholy nexus on Indian borders which pumped the fake currency in India from India's troubling neighbours and they spy agencies. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested one Tahir Sk @ Tahir Sekh, Aged around 34 years, a resident of Village Daulapur, Baishnabnagar from the Malda district of West Bengal which cosist the constituency of WB Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee. The arrest was made on 11.11.2016 from Malda in connection with NIA Case No- RC-06/2015/NIA/DLI on the strength of a Non- Bailable Warrant of Arrest. The said accused person was involved in the conspiracy for procurement of huge quantity of High-Quality Fake Indian Currency Notes, through the Indo- Bangladesh. Mamata's Malda, the fake currency capital of India Malda is termed and is famous as India's fake currency capital. So much is done under the nose of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who despite of taking any action of the serious threat to the national security and economny is shalelessly laeding the #stopdemonetization brigade against the Governmenet decision hailed globally and by citizen of India. “I have said this before, but given the way the young, old and everyone are suffering, I again appeal to the Central government to withdraw this 'black' political decision which is anti-commoner. Markets across India have been ruined, purchasing power is crashing, and people are at pain,” Banerjee tweeted. But according to security forces, the trans-border trade in fake currency is done mostly along the fenced border. Picking spots where vigil is slack, couriers from Bangladesh toss up the consignments in plastic packets for their counterparts on the Indian side to pick up. According to media report, the movement is done in chains. From the point of origin of the consignment in Bangladesh to the destination in Kaliachawk, there would be no less than 20 to 25 couriers in each chain. Each person in the chain normally covers a distance of 100 meters to hand over the consignment to the next one in the chain. It is an intricate network and very difficult to trap and dismantle. The fake notes then make their way across the country in various ways, the most prolific method being through syndicates dealing with the construction business in states like Pune, Maharastra, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Kerala. Construction workers from Malda and Murshidabad, another district in West Bengal, have often been used as couriers of fake currency to other states. In April 2014, the Pune police arrested a resident of Malda with fake Indian currency valued at Rs 1,96,000, which had been sourced from Kaliachawk. In December 2015, the Special Operations Group of the Mumbai crime branch arrested two brothers from Murshidabad with fake notes worth Rs 8,00,000. The police claimed the arrested men had admitted they had delivered around Rs 1.5 crore in fake currency to Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra in the last two years. In 2014 and 2015, 150 cases of fake currency seizures across the country had their origin in Kaliachawk. Such seizures – often said to be the tip of the iceberg – registered a sharp spike in these two years. According to official statistics, fake currency seized in the South Bengal Frontier, including Malda, totalled Rs 3.6 lakhs in 2012, Rs 80.9 lakhs in 2013, Rs 1.7 crores in 2014, Rs 2.6 crores in 2015 and Rs 1.3 crores this year till October. Officials said there had been a slump in the trade since the terror attack on a café in Dhaka in July. Is Mamta fully aware of the Fake Currency networka and shielding them? Is Mamata's Muslim vote bank politics compelling her to attack Modi's demonetisation drive? International Border at Daulatpur area under the limits of Baishnabnagar PS, Dist. Malda, having a face value of Rs 64,65,000/- on 07.05.2015, which was intercepted by a team of BSF deployed in the border area. NIA informs that an earlier investigation into the case revealed that the arrested accused person was a member of the FICN network involved in the transnational procurement of High-Quality FICNs through smuggling and distribution/ pumping the same into the Indian economy. The said accused person was avoiding the arrest and a Non- bailable Warrant of Arrest was issued by the Ld. Spl. NIA Court, Kolkata, for his direct involvement in the procurement of High-Quality FICNs in the instant case. The Court had sent the arrested accused person to police remand till 19 November.

in-depth scrutiny of terror and Maoist financing in the wake of the scrapping of Rs 500 an Rs 1,000 notes will be carried out at a top level three-day meeting of Director Generals of Police (DGPs) and Inspector Generals of Police (IGPs) that will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (NPA) in Hyderabad on 25 November.

This is the first time that the PM would be reviewing the impact of his decision to withdraw higher denomination notes on 8 November. After formally opening the conference, PM Modi will be spending a few hours with top law enforcing officials to get inputs from them on how his decision had affected the counterfeit currency mafia and black money that breed in the underworld. Though the impact of the cancellation of the big notes was originally not on the agenda of the conference that was decided a couple of months ago, the latest situation has come to occupy the centre stage of the deliberations that will be heard by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other top brass of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, said sources in the NPA. IB and NIA (National Investigation Agency), too, will join in. The DGPs of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are preparing detailed notes for the meeting, officials from both the states told The Sunday Guardian on the condition of anonymity. The Telangana police is of the view that the radical Muslim groups in the interiors of South India don’t have much cash reserves. However, Maoists who still control vast portions of forest areas of Chhattisgarh and Orissa have large amounts of cash stocks in their hideouts, which are called “Maoist dumps”. According to a rough estimate made by the Special Task Force (STF) that carries out anti-Maoist operations not only in Telangana, but also in Chhattisgarh and Orissa, the Maoists have amassed cash to the tune of around Rs 2,000 crore in the forest zones, called Dandakaranya. An equal amount of money must be in their hands in Jharkhand and Bengal borders, the officials said. However, this entire money is not stored at one single place or kept at the disposal of one single leader in the underground. The cash reserves are split into small portions of each around Rs 1-2 crore and would be placed in the custody of a district committee. The whereabouts of the exact location of these dumps, mostly hidden in inaccessible places, is well guarded with secret codes, said an official earlier worked with STF. Not infrequently, these local leaders quit ranks with the Maoists and run away with the cash in the dumps, thus causing losses to the underground outfit. The leadership of the extremists often launch hunts to track down the runaway renegades and even kill them. “We come to know of the money through those who escape from the ranks,” the official explained. Maoists mostly pool their money through donations from contractors in the forest areas and from the general public during special drives like “martyrs memorial week” observed in June/July every year. They also demand and collect big amounts from businessmen and leaders from their strongholds. The Telangana intelligence wing of the police believes that it would be difficult for the Maoists to convert their entire amount into new currency as they don’t have much access to banks in Chhattisgarh and Orissa. Some local people carrying amounts up to Rs 2-3 crore went to a bank recently for conversion and depositing. When questioned by the cops, the persons who carried the money couldn’t explain the source properly and the police believe that the money could be from the Maoists. The police have information from the surrendered Maoists in the past that the ultras had also massed their wealth in the form of real estate in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. Another wing of the underworld that was badly hit by the big notes’ withdrawal is radical Muslim groups—ISIS and SIMI moles in and around Hyderabad. The information gathered from the previously arrested militants had revealed that not much money was involved in the radicalisation of the youth. However, the cops are keeping tabs on the revenues of individuals and social and religious organisations that propagate radicalisation. The latest ban on the Islamic Research Centre in Mumbai and its funding is one such instance, but several other institutions are believed to be under the scanner of the police.

Smuggling of fake Indian currency notes from three international borders — Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal — has completely halted after the evening of 8 November". The collateral damage, according to Rijiju, also included proceeds from illegal sale of drugs, opium, arms and hawala transactions.

Denial of demonetisation crippling FICN and terror networks is dangerous, self-defeating Nov 19, 2016 18:48 I. By Sreemoy Talukdar . A narrative has gained currency of late that the demonetisation drive is akin to using a Bofors gun to kill a mosquito. Proponents of this theory — the entire ecosystem of our intelligentsia who has never accepted Narendra Modi as India's Prime Minister, the privileged urban class and the opposition — base their theory on two arguments. One, whatever be the size of India's shadow economy — and here they reveal deep skepticism about latest World Bank figures that put it around 23 percent of the GDP — black money is too entrenched in our system to be ferreted out by inconveniencing people. They believe that there was no need for such a radical step that puts in jeopardy so many lives. Hidden in this charge is the assumption that black money does not visibly harm the poor, the marginalised and it certainly wasn't a problem big enough to have triggered this amount of chaos. Having consistently labelled the prime minister as "all talk and no action", "a propagandist who works the headlines", post 8 November this amorphous group has amusingly shifted to advocating status-quoism. Notwithstanding the political positioning at work here, the efficacy of Modi's inordinately risky and deeply disruptive move to root out black money is however a legit question. The jury is still out whether there were less painful methods that could have brought similar results. But that is part of a larger, ongoing debate. In this piece, we will tackle the second argument against demonetisation. The theory that de-commissioning of notes, as a way to snuff out the fake currency racket, is too much ammo for too insignificant an objective. This argument is deeply flawed and reveals a total lack of understanding of what fake currency racket is, how it functions and the terrible cost it forces on us. It is also a callous argument to make in a country where more security forces die due to left-wing extremism and insurgency movements than even cross-border terrorism. The move to decommission higher denomination notes was as much targeted towards black money as demolishing this Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) industry that fuels terror networks in and around India, provides oxygen to forces of insurgency and serves to also destabilize the Indian economy. The tentacles of this industry spreads across Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and China. Through a complex network of smuggling that involves banks, couriers and even diplomatic channels, these notes are then circulated throughout India. An India Today report by Gaurav C Sawant states how Pakistan — which imports printing paper and ink far in excess of its own requirement and uses it to print FICN in government presses in Punjab and Balochistan province — uses the counterfeit currency to fund terror modules in several parts of India including Maharashtra and Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Bengal and Bihar. According to the report, Pakistan's ISI routes these high-quality fake notes through Nepal, Bangladesh, Dubai, Thailand and even China. Another article in Firstpost details the intricate functioning of ISI's FICN network through retired brigadier-rank officers of Pakistani Army like Lala, who procured and supplied 'RBI' (ISI's code name for fake India notes) through an intricate network of couriers and smugglers. The report quotes intelligence agency sources as saying that Modi’s action against black money has demolished a section of the ISI headquarters in Rawalpindi. The direct route for FICN, says the report, ran through Munabao-Khakrapar and the Attari border while the indirect route saw money coming to India through the UAE, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore before arriving in Kathmandu and Dhaka. And this is just one part of the FICN industry. The other major hub lies within India in West Bengal's Malda, the border district where fake currency is smuggled in from Bangladesh. Subrata Nagchoudhury's report in Scroll details how many residents in Kaliachak have gone into a state of shock since the prime minister outlawed the high value notes. The lucrative trade running into crores has stopped almost overnight with rumours abounding of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bills being dumped in rivers and fields. According to Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, an estimated Rs 70 crore worth of fake currency is pumped into India every year and Rs 400 crore of such notes is known to be in circulation in the country at any given time. Addressing a news conference in Delhi on Friday, the minister said: "Smuggling of fake Indian currency notes from three international borders — Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal — has completely halted after the evening of 8 November". The collateral damage, according to Rijiju, also included proceeds from illegal sale of drugs, opium, arms and hawala transactions. This choking of funds has resulted in Naxals going into a panic mode with reports emerging of Maoists using the Jan Dhan accounts of poor villagers to park or exchange their extortion cash which by some estimates runs into Rs 7000 crores in Bastar region alone. Latehar SP Anoop Birtharay told PTI that leftist extremists are using villagers to deposit their money into bank accounts so that it can be converted into legal currency. According to data from South Asia Terrorism Portal, since 2005 till 13 November, 2016, a total of 7,270 people have died due to Maoist insurgency attacks. The figure includes 2934 civilians, 1850 security forces personnel and also 2486 extremists. Well, may the Left and Congress shout on the floor of the House that fake currency constitutes only 0.02 percent of the total currency in circulation but to use reductionist logic and shrink the role of fake currency in fuelling cross-border and left-wing terrorism in India is intellectual dishonesty of the worst kind