Former Shiv Sena corporator Ashok Sawant stabbed to death in Mumbai

The incident took place when he was returning home after meeting a friend.

Shiv Sena Corporator Killed : Former Shiv Sena corporator, Ashok Sawant, has been stabbed to death outside his house in Maharashtra’s Kandivali.

Sawant (62) was accosted by two men late on Sunday night who then attacked him with sharp weapons.

The incident took place when he was returning home after meeting a friend.

He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Sawant was a two-time corporator of Shiv Sena from Samta Nagar.

Investigation in the case is on.

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75th Golden Globe Awards: Sterling K Brown makes history with Best Actor win in Golden Globes ’18

Brown previously won an Emmy for his performance a historic win, as it made him the first black actor to win the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series since 1998.

75th Golden Globe Awards : Sterling K Brown on Monday created history by becoming the first African-American to win Golden Globe in the Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama category for his performance as Randall Pearson on NBC’s breakout hit “This Is Us”.

In his acceptance speech, Brown gave a shoutout to the creator of the series, Dan Fogelman, for writing an inclusive role.

“Dan Fogelman, throughout the majority of my career, I’ve benefited from colourblind casting, which means, hey, let’s throw a brother in there. That’s always really cool. But Dan Fogelman, you wrote a role for a black man that can only be played by a black man.

“So, what I appreciate so much about this is that I’m being seen for who I am and being appreciated for who I am, and it makes it that much more difficult to dismiss me or dismiss anybody who looks like me,” Brown said.

He also thanked his wife, children, and his castmates.

Brown beat out Jason Bateman for Netflix’s “Ozark,” Freddie Highmore for ABC’s “The Good Doctor,” Bob Odenkirk for AMC’s “Better Call Saul,” and Liev Schreiber for Showtime’s “Ray Donovan.”

Brown previously won an Emmy for his performance a historic win, as it made him the first black actor to win the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series since 1998 along with an Emmy the year before for his turn as Chris Darden in the first season of “American Crime Story”.

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Bharatmala or Sagarmala? Ministries face turf issue in Rs 7-trn initiative

Experts feel that it is ideal to merge the projects within these two sectors.

Bharatmala Scheme : The Rs 7-trillion (Rs 7-lakh crore) Bharatmala initiative, an umbrella programme of the Union government, has some projects that have been completed and others that are already under the bidding process. For the shipping ministry, which had awarded the last-mile port connectivity projects under the Bharatmala scheme, it could mean that the credit of its labour would go to the ministry of road transport and highways.

A total of 94 port-related projects were identified under Sagarmala, of which 49 projects are now under the Bharatmala scheme and, hence, would come in the ambit of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the ministry of road transport and highways.

According to an official, the two ministries might work out a solution in order to deal with the overlap of projects and administrative jurisdiction. However, experts feel that it is ideal to merge the projects within these two sectors as there is one minister and it would lead to better synergy between the two ministries.

“The operation and maintenance of projects can be done under Bharatmala by the road ministry and NHAI, which will address the issue of overlap between the two schemes,” former shipping secretary Vishwapati Trivedi said.

In October 2017, the Union Cabinet cleared the Bharatmala project to construct 20,000 km of highways connecting western and eastern parts of the country at an estimated cost of Rs 7 trillion (Rs 7 lakh crore). In the first phase to be undertaken over three-five years, the project would cost Rs 5.5 trillion (Rs 5.5 lakh crore).

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Sara Tendulkar Harrased : West Bengal man arrested for stalking Sachin Tendulkar’s daughter Sara

He called Sara several times and expressed his desire to marry her.

Sara Tendulkar Stalking : A 27-year-old man from East Midnapore district in West Bengal was on Sunday arrested for allegedly harassing cricketer Sachin Tendulkar’s daughter, Sara, over the phone, police said.

Deb Kumar Maiti, a resident of Debkundu village near Geonkhali under Mahisadal Police Station, had gone to Mumbai sometime back to visit his elder brother when he somehow got hold of her number, they said.

He then called Sara several times and expressed his desire to marry her, they added.

A case was filed in this regard by the Tendulkar family in Mumbai, but the entire matter was kept secret by the Cyber Cell of the Mumbai Police.

A team of the Mumbai Police early today arrested Maiti near Andulia and later produced him before a court in Haldia, which allowed them to take him to Mumbai on a three-day transit remand, a senior officer of West Bengal police said in Haldia.

The police claimed that during interrogation the man admitted to calling her and also showed them a tattoo bearing Sara’s name on his arm.

Maiti’s neighbours, however, said he was suffering from mental issues from 2007.

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Bangalore Fire : Fire at Bengaluru’s Kailash Bar & Restaurant; 5 employees charred to death

The incident occurred at 2:30 am at Kailash Bar and Restaurant when the employees were asleep.

Bangalore Fire : Five employees of a bar-cum-restaurant were charred to death when a major fire broke out at Kumbaara Sangha building in Kalasipalya in Bengaluru during Monday morning, police said.

The incident occurred at 2:30 am at Kailash Bar and Restaurant when the employees were asleep.

Police identified the victims as Swami (23), Prasad (20), Mahesh, all residents of Tumakuru, Manjunath (45) from Hassan and Keerthi (24) from Mandya.

“An incident of fire has occurred at Kailash Bar and Restaurant located in the ground floor of Kumbaara Sangha building (in the vegetable market area). Fire and smoke was noticed by some persons at around 2.30 am and fire services were pressed into action. Two fire tenders and one fire rescue vehicle attended to it and it has been doused,” a senior police officer said.

The cause of the fire was unknown and was being investigated, he said.

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In pics: Florida sees first snowfall in 29 years as bitter cold grips US

Tallahassee, Florida’s capital in the far north of the “Sunshine State,” awoke Wednesday to a dusting of 0.1 inches of snow, the first significant measurement since 1989.

Florida Snowfall : It’s called snow, something residents of North Florida hadn’t seen in almost three decades until wednesday, and it is part of a deep-freeze striking the entire US East Coast.

The US National Weather Service warned that a major winter storm would bring heavy snow and ice, from Florida in the southeast up to New England and the Northeast on Wednesday and Thursday.

New York City was under a winter storm watch, with between three and six inches (8-15 centimeters) of snow expected from Wednesday night through Thursday.

Tallahassee, Florida’s capital in the far north of the “Sunshine State,” awoke Wednesday to a dusting of 0.1 inches of snow, the first significant measurement since 1989, according to the Weather Channel.

Floridians, more accustomed to hurricanes than this odd white substance, rushed to publish on social media their photos of snow covering their warm-weather flip-flop footwear and outdoor swimming pools.

#snowmageddon, they called it on Twitter.

The storm has already led to the closure of roads in northern Florida and southeastern Georgia, where governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency in the coastal area.

Florida’s governor Rick Scott urged people in the northern part of his state “to prepare for extreme cold weather conditions, including potential snow, sleet or ice accumulations.”

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Samsung to refresh popular A series in India, new GalaxyA launch on Jan 10

The device will come with “Infinity Display” which was exclusive to the company’s flagship smartphones

 

Samsung A Series :South Korean tech giant Samsung is set to refresh its popular “A” series in India with the launch of 2018 edition device in the second week of January.

Industry sources told IANS that the new device will be unveiled on January 10 and will be the first in the “A” series to be available only on an online platform.

“Galaxy A8” (2018) and “Galaxy A8+” (2018) with flagship-like features made a global debut last month. However, only one variant will be introduced in India on Amazon.in, the sources added.

The device will come with “Infinity Display” which was exclusive to the company’s flagship smartphones including Galaxy S8, S8+ and Note 8.

“With the release of the Galaxy A8(2018) and A8+(2018), we’re bringing features from our flagship smartphones, such as the ‘Infinity Display’ and our first dual front camera with ‘Live Focus’,” Junho Park, Vice President of Global Product Planning, Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.

Other features will include support for “Samsung Pay” — a mobile payment and digital wallet service (with MST), IP68 water-proofing, dust resistance and fast-charging with USB Type-C.

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Tharoor-Swaraj's war of words in LS over making Hindi official UN language

Tharoor questioned the need to push it while the Minister called his remark “ignorant”.

 

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Congress leader Shashi Tharoor traded barbs in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday over making Hindi an official language at the United Nations.

Tharoor questioned the need to push it while the Minister called his remark “ignorant”.

Sushma Swaraj, in her reply to a question, said: “It is often asked why Hindi is not an official language in the UN. Today, I will want to tell the House, the biggest problem is the procedure.”

The Minister explained that as per the procedure, two-thirds of the 193 members of the organisation — which comes to 129 — will have to vote in favour of making Hindi an official language and also share the financial expenditure that would be incurred in the process.

“The problem comes when apart from voting, the burden of the amount also falls on them. Economically weaker countries that support us shy away from this. We are working on it, we are making attempts to get support of countries like Fiji, Mauritius, Surinam… where people of Indian origin are there.

“When we get that kind of support and they are also ready to bear the financial burden, it will become an official language,” she said.

When a member pointed out that making Hindi an official language will require an expenditure of Rs 40 crore every year, Sushma Swaraj said: “Not just Rs 40 crore, the government is ready to spend Rs 400 crore on it.”

She, however, added that spending money would not serve the purpose.

Sushma Swaraj also highlighted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and she had spoken at the UN in Hindi.

“Even when we have (foreign) guests, if they speak in English, we speak in English. If they speak in their own language, we speak in Hindi. As far as glory of the language is concerned, the External Affairs Ministry never had so much work done in Hindi as now,” she said.

Tharoor, who worked in the UN and announced his retirement after finishing second in the 2006 election for UN Secretary-General, questioned the need to push for Hindi, which he pointed out was not even the national language of India.

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Donald Trump wanted to be the most famous man in the world, not US President

The book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” written by Michael Wolff, claims that the ultimate goal of Trump was never to win

 

Donald Trump did not want to be the president of the US and the First Lady Melania was in tears not of joy on knowing about the surprising electoral victory last year, according to a new book by an American journalist.

The book “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House” written by Michael Wolff, claims that the ultimate goal of Trump was never to win.

“His ultimate goal, after all, had never been to win. I can be the most famous man in the world,” he had told his aide Sam Nunberg at the outset of the race.

“His longtime friend Roger Ailes, the former head of Fox News, liked to say that if you want a career in television, first run for president,” according to the excerpts of the book.

“Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Wolff said, he was able to take up “something like a semi-permanent seat on a couch in the West Wing” an idea encouraged by the president himself. Because no one was in a position to either officially approve or formally deny such access, Wolff became “more a constant interloper than an invited guest.”

“There were no ground rules placed on his access, and he was required to make no promises about how he would report on what he witnessed,” the book said.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders has however denied this after excerpts from the book were published by New York Magazine with the title “Donald Trump Did Not Want to be President.”

“There was one brief conversation that had nothing to do, originally, with the book.It was, I think, around five to seven minutes in total since the President has taken office. And that’s the only interaction that he’s had,” she said.

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Aadhaar Breach: Rs 500 is all it takes to get details of a billion Indians

A report claims to have bought access to a cheap software, which can be used to print the Aadhaar card of any individual

 

Aadhaar Breach : Anonymous sellers on Whatsapp are said to be providing ‘unrestricted’ access to the Aadhaar details of more than a billion Indians for just Rs 500, according to an investigation by The Tribune on Wednesday. The paper also claims to have bought access to a software for Rs 300, which can be used to print the Aadhaar card of any individual by entering their Aadhaar number.

Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identification number that is issued by the UIDAI( Unique Identity Development Authority of India) to every resident Indian citizen, after recording biometric and demographic information about an individual.

The report says that the racket may have started when over 300,000 Village Level Operators(VLEs), earlier mandated to make Aadhaar cards across India were rendered jobless when post offices and banks were given the job instead, in November 2017. Over 100,000 VLEs, sensing an opportunity to make easy money, might have gained illegal access to UIDAI data and provided “Aadhaar services” to common people for a charge, including the printing of Aadhaar cards.

If true, this would spell a serious breach of national security as the UIDAI has linked Aadhaar to individuals’ fingerprints and iris scans. The government’s unfettered access to citizens biometric details has already been in the centre of much debate in the civil society.

Earlier, in August, a Supreme Court judgement had deemed ‘privacy’ as a fundamental right, while dealing with a batch of petitions that claimed the illegality of Aadhaar based on the fundamental right to life and liberty. Most importantly, the government’s argument that Aadhaar will be a useful instrument to aid national security be questioned. Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, in his judgement on the case, had noted that that big data-fuelled “profiling can also be used to further the public interest and for the benefit of national security”.

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Modi, Tendulkar most popular parliamentarians on Facebook in 2017

Among political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the most popular. The Indian National Congress came third as the Aam Aadmi Party took the second spot in terms.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the most talked about Lok Sabha member and Sachin Tendulkar was the most popular Rajya Sabha member on Facebook in 2017.

The results appeared on Wednesday when Facebook released information on its top-ranked pages of government bodies, ministries and political parties in India for the January 1 to December 31, 2017 period.

Facebook categorised the information on its its top-ranked pages of government bodies under Parliament of India, Union Government, State Governments and Union Territories, and political parties.

Among State Governments and Union Territories, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was the most popular followed by his Rajasthan counterpart, Vasundhara Raje.

Among political parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the most popular. But surprisingly, the Indian National Congress came third as the Aam Aadmi Party took the second spot in terms of Facebook popularity.

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Union Budget of India: What it is and why it is so important

Business Standard explains the importance of Union Budget of India and the whole process of its making and passing in Parliament

 

In a federal country like ours, the constitution of India demarcates the governance structure through a three-tier system – the Union government, state governments, and local governments. In the scheme of distribution of power among them, the central or Union government enjoys the highest position.

Budget 2018 Under Article 112 of the Constitution of India, the central government is constitutionally bound to lay down the ‘annual financial report’ of the country. This report is commonly known as the Union Budget of India.

The Union Budget holds the same character as the budgets of other levels of government, except in the source of revenue and expenditure.

The Union Budget comprises the most extensive account of the Indian government, and it can be considered the statement of the government’s income and expenditure. Presented in Parliament every year, the Budget document details how much money the Union government expects to raise in the coming financial year, and how and where it intends to spend that money.

The Union budget gives the statement of receipts and expenditure of three consecutive years:

1. Actuals for the preceding year
2. Estimates for the present year
3. Estimates for the coming year

The Union Budget also includes the Finance Bill and Appropriation Bill, both of which are to be passed by both Houses of Parliament before implementation on April 1 of the new financial year.

Union Budget is usually presented in Parliament on the last working day of February by the Finance Minister of India and it comes into effect a little more than a month later from April 1.

However, for the first time, the Union Budget for the 2017-18 financial year was presented on the first working day of February by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

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No charges on debit card transactions up to Rs 2,000

MDR would be borne by govt for two years with effect from January 1, 2018 by reimbursing the same to banks

 

Customers will not have to pay any transaction charges for payments through debit card, BHIM app and other payment made for up to Rs 2,000 from today onwards.

Last month, Union Cabinet approved a proposal that government will bear the merchant discount rate (MDR) charges on transactions up to Rs 2,000 made through debit cards, BHIM UPI or Aadhaar-enabled payment systems to promote digital transactions.

“Happy Digital 2018. December Quarter BHIM transaction rises 86 per cent to 145.6 million with value of Rs 13,174 crore,” Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Kumar said in a tweet.

“Further impetus to digital payments, government to reimburse charges for transaction up to Rs 2,000 on debit cards/BHIM. Zero charges on merchants. Go Digital, embrace transparency,” he said.

The merchant discount rate (MDR) will be borne by the government for two years with effect from January 1, 2018 by reimbursing the same to banks.

The move will have an impact of Rs 2,512 crore on the exchequer.

The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Income Tax dept notifies new helpline number for ITRs e-filing

The new helpline numbers can be called in case of any trouble on the e-filing portal

 

The Income Tax Department on Monday notified a new helpline number for taxpayers who e-file their returns and conduct other tax-related businesses online.

The department issued an advisory and said: “Attention taxpayers: e-Filing help desk number has been changed. New Helpdesk number is: India Toll-Free- 18001030025. Direct Number-+918046122000.”

Taxpayers use the e-filing portal of the department to file their income tax returns (ITRs) and perform other income tax related tasks on the web portal: https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.

“The new helpline numbers can be called in case of any trouble on the e-filing portal,” a senior official said.

The department has separate helpline numbers to take questions and queries on various other issues that a taxpayer faces.

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Maternity benefit scheme to become fully functional by February-end

So far, the benefits of the scheme have reached 10,000 women approximately, says govt

 

The Centre is trying to make the maternity benefit programme, which has been marred by delay, ‘fully functional’ by February-end, a senior official said on Monday.

The top economists of the country wrote to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last month flagging the delay in the rollout of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), which promises pregnant and lactating mothers Rs 6,000 for the birth of the first living child.

In his address to the nation on New Year’s Eve last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the pan-India expansion of the maternity benefit programme which was being implemented on a pilot basis across 53 districts.

Secretary, Women and Child Development Ministry, R K Shrivastava, acknowledged that the implementation of the programme has been slow and attributed it to “initial hiccups” faced in executing a new scheme.

“We are trying that the scheme becomes fully functional by February end. There has been some delay as there were initial hiccups and we were making efforts to streamline procedures,” Shrivastava told PTI.

“Now that the discipline of escrow account has been enforced, we hope the scheme will reach the people within the next two months,” he said.

The Centre had asked state governments to open an escrow account so that funds can be transferred there instead of the state treasury. The move will allow the Centre to ensure that states use the money for the scheme it is meant for instead of diverting it to another programme.

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SBI’s New Year gift: Base rate cut by 30 bps, home loan fee waiver extended

Eight million customers to gain from move designed to reward loyalty

 

In a surprising move at the start of the year, State Bank of India (SBI) reduced its base rate and benchmark prime lending rates (BPLR) for existing customers by 30 basis points each effective from January 1.

One basis point is a hundredth of a percentage point.

The bank said it would also extend its ongoing waiver on home loan processing fee till March 31 for new customers and for customers switching their loans from other banks to SBI.

Though all new customers are offered the marginal cost-based lending rate (MCLR), a large chunk of retail customers — especially on the home loan side — as well as old corporate loans, are still in the base rate system.

About 8 million customers would benefit from this move, said P K Gupta, managing director (retail and digital banking), SBI.

The revised base rate for the bank is now 8.65 per cent, while the BPLR is 13.40 per cent. The base rate is the minimum a bank can offer to its customers.

“The reduction in the base rate is a New Year gift to the bank’s loyal customers, as a large number of consumers who have their loans linked to the base rate will benefit. This reduction is part of the bank’s efforts to ensure transmission of the reduction in policy rates of the recent past,” Gupta said.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR BORROWERS…

• SBI’s revised base rate is now at 8.65%, while BPLR is now 13.40%
• 1-year MCLR stands unchanged at 7.95%
• About 8 mn customers will benefit by the base rate cut
• Move expected to be followed by other banks
• SBI to also extend waiver on home loan processing fee till March 31

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Virat outplays Shah Rukh, tops brand value list with $144 mn

Deepika 3rd; Varun Dhawan, P V Sindhu enter Duff and Phelps brand value list

 

Virat Kohli has overtaken Shah Rukh Khan as the most valuable celebrity in the country, according to the latest Duff and Phelps brands report.

Kohli’s brand value was $144 million, Shah Rukh Khan’s $106 million and Deepika Padukone’s $93 million — the top three on the list. Padukone managed to hold her spot from last year, while Kohli and Khan swapped places in the pecking order.

“For the first time since we began publishing our rankings, Shah Rukh Khan has slipped from the top ranking and been replaced by Virat Kohli,” said Varun Gupta, managing director and region leader-India, Japan and Southeast Asia of Duff & Phelps. “Kohli is now the first choice of brands to engage and attract consumers, fuelled by his extraordinary on-field performances and off-field charisma.”

This year also saw two new entrants in the top-15 celebrity brands – Varun Dhawan at 10 (brand value $32 million) and P V Sindhu at 15 (brand value $15 million).

Ten of the top-15 celebrity brands were millennials.

The brand value of the top 15 celebrities together was $712 million.

“In addition to Kohli, other young celebrities such as Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and badminton champion P V Sindhu have either risen in the rankings or entered our top-15 list, backed by note-worthy performances in their respective fields and strong endorsement signings over the last year,” Gupta added.

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Shops, hotels in Maharashtra can remain open 24X7; bars, discos can’t

The government notified the amended Act on Tuesday which covers hotels, malls and restaurants

 

Shops, hotels and malls can now remain open round-the-clock through the week in Maharashtra, according to a new law, which will not apply to bars, pubs, liquor shops and discotheques, the state’s Labour Minister Sambhaji Nilangekar-Patil said.

The government notified the amended Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Service Condition) Act, 2017, on Tuesday which covers hotels, malls and restaurants.

The bill was passed by the Maharashtra legislature during its last session.

The new law excludes bars, pubs, wine shops and discos which have to open and close at a particular time.

“The amendment now allows all shops to remain open in three shifts. It can remain open for 24 hours on all seven days. It is, however, mandatory to give one-day leave to their employees every week,” Nilangekar-Patil said.

The amended law says smaller establishments would not require licences to run their operations but will have to register online with the authority concerned.

It exempts small and medium-sized establishments, which have less than 10 workers, or employees working from home, or which are run as online businesses, from registering for a licence.

This relaxation is expected to benefit about 22 lakh establishments, the minister said.

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RBI may be holding back Rs 2,000 notes or stopped printing them

High-value notes worth Rs 2.46 lakh cr not released, says the report

 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may either be holding back Rs 2,000 notes or could have stopped printing high denomination currency, says a SBI Research report.

Juxtaposing the data presented in the Lok Sabha recently with the one provided by RBI in its Annual Report earlier, the SBI Ecoflash report said today, “we observe” that the value of small denomination currency in circulation up to March 2017 was Rs 3,501 billion.

This implies that the value of high denomination notes was equivalent to Rs 13,324 billion as on December 8, after netting out the small denomination notes from the currency in circulation on that day, it said.

The report further said that as per the Ministry of Finance in the Lok Sabha recently, the RBI has printed 16,957 million pieces of Rs 500 notes and 3,654 million pieces of Rs 2,000 notes as on December 8. The total value of such notes translates into Rs 15,787 billion.

“This means that the residual amount of high currency notes (Rs 15,787 billion Rs 13,324 billion) of Rs 2,463 billion may have been printed by the RBI but not supplied in the market,” said the report authored Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser, SBI.

Interestingly, the report added, “it is safe to assume” that Rs 2,463 billion may be on the lower side as the RBI must have printed notes of small denomination in the interregnum (Rs 50 and Rs 200).

“As a logical corollary, as 2000 denomination currency led to challenges in transactions, it thus indeed seems that RBI may have either consciously stopped printing the 2000 denomination notes/or printing in smaller numbers after initially it was printed in ample amount to normalise the liquidity situation,” said Ecoflash.

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