-The Hindu New Delhi: Days after it was revealed that the Centre is likely to dismantle the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Agency (NPPA), its chairman said the decision was ‘rushed’ and the agency was not consulted. “There were two meetings and the NPPA was not a party to them. Both meetings were held at short notice. This has been a rushed decision. For any policy change, there needs to be consultation. I understand...

There are reports from all over the country that the recent decision by the government to demonetise currency notes of Rs. 500/- and Rs. 1000/- denomination has affected everyone. However the consequence of this financial measure is lopsided and it will be mainly borne by the farmers, informal sector workers, women and the financially excluded.   Please check the links/ urls below this news alert to know everything about demonetisation. Till a few...

-Deccan Herald Trading stopped indefinitely in Bagalkot market The Scrapping of the notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination by the Central government has severely affected onion traders in the district. Following a request by the traders, the agriculture produce marketing committee has deferred onion trade for an indefinite period. The traders had requested the APMC to stop trading till the currency situation becomes “normal.” However, the move has not gone down well...

-Livemint.com Demonetization could cause temporary pain to those who have unaccounted incomes One of the biggest issues which helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi capture power in 2014 was the promise to crack down on corruption and black money. Midway in his tenure, he has announced Scrapping of currency notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 to curb black money and other illegal activities such as counterfeiting of notes and money laundering. Given the fact...

-Livemint.com Nandan Nilekani, one of the brains behind the Unified Payments Interface, on the near-term challenges of going cashless While the government’s decision to scrap Rs500 and Rs1,000 bank notes has been met with resistance from some quarters and been called too abrupt, Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani backed it, saying it was needed to speed up the move to a cashless economy. “There is no question that this is a very bold...