-The Hindu The government has declared an incentive package to encourage non-cash payments for fuel, new insurance policies from public sector firms, train tickets and highway toll, among other things. For credit and debit card transactions up to Rs.2,000, the Reserve Bank of India has relaxed its stringent two-factor authentication requirement, and service tax stands waived. Taken together, these moves to encourage cashless payments are significant not just because they can...

-Business Standard Say old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes coming back to Banking channels in much higher proportion than expected New Delhi: Burdened by the deluge of suspected black money cases after demonetisation of high denomination currency, two staff associations of income tax (I-T) department have in a recent letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi said they are reaching the breaking point. "Personnel and infrastructure are severely short," the Income Tax Employees...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has started to fumble for explanations, with the original raison d'etre for the demonetisation drive coming under strain because of the high volume of cash deposits that have poured into bank accounts. Almost 80 per cent of the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that were demonetised on November 9 has come straight back into the Banking system, prompting the government to change the...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's labour arm today said that far more jobs had been lost than were created since the Narendra Modi government assumed office, adding that the demonetisation had cost many jobs too. "Under the new government, 1 lakh and 35 thousand job opportunities have been created so far but 20 lakh people have lost their jobs," Baij Nath Rai, president of the Bharatiya...

-Frontline.in Interview with Utsa Patnaik, professor emerita of economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University. By T.K. RAJALAKSHMI THE FALLOUT of the decision of the National Democratic Alliance government to demonetise currency of higher denominations has been felt across all sections of people. There are concerns that it will lead to an overall economic slowdown given the acute shortage of currency for industrial and agricultural operations. The impact on agriculture and those dependent on agriculture...