-CounterCurrents.org While much has been written and said about the demonetisation move by the government, the question of its legality has received scant attention. The issue however is not the desirability or the economic viability of the decision and the undoubted public and national interest it serves. The goal of eliminating black money from circulation is undoubtedly in public interest. While I unambiguously support the policy of removing black—untaxed—money from the...

-The Hindu KC Chakrabarty, who was deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) between June 2009 and March 2014, said that there was no economic rationale behind the ongoing demonetisation drive and that such a proposal had been floated in the past too. Excerpts from a conversation: * What is your view on the ongoing demonetisation exercise? It has no economic rationale. It does not serve any purpose. * Why do you say...

-The Hindu In its first reaction, State govt. says disbursement of crop loans severely hit Chennai: Reacting to the demonetisation-triggered crisis for the first time, the Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday said that disbursement of crop loans to farmers through primary agricultural co-operative credit societies has been affected and it would severely affect food production in the State. The government was “unable” to give new loans to farmers for samba cultivation which accounts...

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...

-Hindustan Times Kolkata/ Darjeeling/ Guwahati: More than five lakh workers in West Bengal’s biggest labour-intensive industries of tea and jute have not got wages since Wednesday when the union government withdrew two high-denomination currency notes. A similar predicament exists in neighbouring Assam and the rest of the Northeast, which has tea estates in remote areas where currency notes will take days to arrive. In Bengal, owners of several tea gardens and jute mills...