My Scribles

The black money hunt rhetoric is fast losing steam. Why not focus on stalling future creation of black wealth? On December 13, RBI deputy governor, R Gandhi had an interesting statistic to share with the media. As on December 10, Rs 12.4 lakh crore of old notes that were scrapped under demonetisation have been deposited in banks by the public, he said. This should have been reason to cheer for both banks and the government after the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currencies announced on November 8. But it is not to be. Here’s why. When the PM announced the scrapping of these currencies, that formed 86 per cent of the currency in circulation, the calculation was that Rs 4-5 lakh crore would never return to the banking system, which it expected would roughly be the quantum of black money in the economy. Narendra Modi’s war against black money would have seemed comprehensive and complete, with income tax evaders biting the dust, and illegal currency hoarders pleading for me

The demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes came as a surprise to almost everyone. The details of re-monetisation are still to become entirely clear. What follows is a set of personal opinions of likely outcomes arising from this move to demonetise. Each of those opinions could be entirely wrong but they are all centred on subjects that are worth thinking about. But, first, some basic statistics. About 85% of all currency in circulation has just been turned into coupons that can only be exchanged in specific places. These notes can be converted into currency again only with identity proofs (which hundreds of millions don’t have) and the additional hardship of standing in many queues for many hours. Over half of India’s population doesn’t have any sort of bank account at the moment and about 300 million don’t have basic ID such as Aadhaar either and hence, cannot access the banking system at all. About 130 million Indians have mobile wallets (about 25 million have

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for fighting black money and corruption is a bold move. But this sudden move would have implications for the people as well as economy. A jolt to unorganised economy - The Indian economy has the unique characteristics of a parallel unorganised economy which also contributes to employment , consumption and growth. This economy will receive a big jolt from scrapping of high value notes like Rs 1,000 and Rs 500. Fight against counterfeiting - Of late , the large value notes like Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 gave a big push to counterfeiting. The RBI has issued many advisories in the past against fake notes in the market. The current decision would act against counterfeiting. Cost of replacement - There is a cost of replacement of such notes as they comprised a big chunk of the total volume of currency in the market. Banks' logistical issue - People are going to flood the banks for tendering their notes for re

Indian Railway Ministry never tires of introducing new and cool features to the lifeline of India.<br> In a highly anticipated move, the Indian Railways’ new AC-III tier compartment will come loaded with features like CCTV cameras in the aisles, a GPS-based passenger information system and tea and coffee vending machines in the coaches. <br> New AC-III tier train coaches to have GPS, coffee-machine and CCTVhttps://t.co/8CvDEfh3Gr pic.twitter.com/129O1pRlrs <br> — Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) November 3, 2016<br> The Indian Express  has reported that these new coaches will be deployed on the all-AC-III tier Humsafar service mid-November. Humsafar is tentatively scheduled to run between Delhi and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. The new coaches designed by the Rail Coach Factory in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh will be part of four trains as of now.<br> Apart from these, the coaches will also boast of the following super cool features:<br> A GPS

St Louis jury has awarded a California woman more than $70 million in her lawsuit alleging that years of using Johnson & Johnson's baby powder caused her cancer, the latest case raising concerns about the health ramifications of extended talcum powder use.<br> The jury ruling ended the trial that began September 26 in the case brought by Deborah Giannecchini of Modesto, California. She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2012.<br> The suit yesterday accused Johnson & Johnson of "negligent conduct" in making and marketing its baby powder.<br> "We are pleased the jury did the right thing," said Jim Onder, an attorney for the plaintiff. "They once again reaffirmed the need for Johnson & Johnson to warn the public of the ovarian cancer risk associated with its product."<br> Carol Goodrich, a spokeswoman with Johnson & Johnson, could not immediately be reached for comment.<br> In a statement provided to th

Cyclone Kyant over the Bay of Bengal is unlikely to make a landfall, but the coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Odisha may expect a wet Diwali, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday. “Cyclonic storm Kyant over east-central Bay of Bengal moved further west-southwestwards and lay centred at 1130 hrs IST 450 km southeast of Gopalpur, 520 km east-southeast of Vishakhapatnam and 730 km east-northeast of Machilipatnam. It is most likely to move west-southwestwards towards westcentral Bay of Bengal during the next 72 hours,” the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said.

Flying Delhi to San Francisco (SFO) over the Pacific Ocean instead of the Atlantic, as it had done till last week, has earned Air India the record of operating the world's longest nonstop flight. The Pacific route is almost 1,400km longer than the Atlantic one, and the flight covered 15,300 kilometres in 14.5 hours. Despite the route being longer, the flight took almost two hours less thanks to tailwinds — winds that blow in the same direction as an aircraft and thus make it go faster.<br> "The Earth rotates from west to east, and winds flow in that direction too. Flying west means facing strong headwinds (that decreases an aircraft's actual ground speed), and flying east means getting strong tailwinds, which does the opposite," said a senior AI official. "While taking the (western) Atlantic route to SFO, we usually face headwinds of 24kmph. This means that if our aircraft is doing 800kmph, its actual ground speed is 776kmph. Taking the (eastern) Pacific

With GST's nationwide rollout just around the corner, everyone seems to be a little confused about what the implications on the automotive industry might be. More importantly, no one really knows if cars will become cheaper or more expensive as compared to what they are today. SIAM has put out a draft on what it thinks should be the structure for GST for India to make life easier for both consumers and the automotive industry in general. According to SIAM, the proposed tax structures should be divided into three slabs. They are as follows: 1. All small cars, MUVs, two wheelers, three wheelers and commercial vehicles should be clubbed into a standard GST rate. 2. All other cars (other than small cars) to be clubbed into a second GST structure that will be 8% higher than the standard tax structure. 3. All hybrid-electric and full-electric vehicles to be clubbed into the third tax bracket which will be 8% less than the standard GST taxation rate. The two part structure for

The United States presidential election of 2016, scheduled for Tuesday, November 8, 2016, will be the 58th quadrennial U.S. presidential election. Voters will select presidential electors, who in turn will vote for a new president and vice president through the Electoral College. The term limit established in the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the incumbent president, Barack Obama of the Democratic Party, from being elected to a third term. The 2016 election will determine the 45th President and 48th Vice President of the United States. The series of presidential primary elections and caucuses took place between February and June 2016, staggered among the 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. This nominating process was also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of delegates to a political party's nominating convention, who in turn elect their party's presidential nominee. Businessman and reality

India raised Rs. 65,789 crore ($9.9 billion) in an auction of airwaves, a fraction of the Rs. 5.6 lakh crore that the government had sought, as several mobile-phone carriers shunned the sale to preserve cash amid intensifying competition in the industry. Bharti Airtel Ltd., the nation's largest carrier, bought Rs. 14,244 crore of spectrum, the company said in a statement. Third-ranked Idea Cellular Ltd. said it had added airwaves to enable it to offer mobile broadband in most of the country. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd., India's newest carrier, said it spent Rs. 13,700 crore, while Vodafone Group Plc's Indian unit also participated. No bids were received for spectrum in the 700 megahertz band that had the highest minimum price. "The lack of enthusiasm was majorly due to its unrealistic pricing, high debt and single-digit growth that the industry is currently reeling under," said COAI, an industry lobby group, in an e-mailed statement. "On many an occasio

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus are deeply unusual devices. They are full of aggressive breaks from convention while wrapped in cases that look almost exactly like their two direct predecessors. Even that continuity of design is a break from convention; after almost a decade of Apple’s steady two-year iPhone update pattern, merely retaining the same design for a third straight year plays against expectations. Inside that case, everything else about the iPhone 7 is a decisive statement about the future. The dual cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus promise to usher in a new era in mobile photography. The iconic iPhone home button is no longer a physical button, but instead a sophisticated ballet of pressure sensors and haptic vibration motors that simulate the feel of a button. The new A10 Fusion processor blends two high-power cores that rival laptop performance with two low-power cores that combine with a much larger battery to extend run time by up to two hours. And, yes, Apple has removed the headph

CAST: Rajini Chandy, Bhagyalakshmi, Suraj Venjaramoodu DIRECTION: Jude Anthany Joseph Often in our films, grandparents are either characters yearning for love or mentoring those around them with some 'seen-it-all' gyan, except may be for a Manassinakkare. Jude Anthany Joseph's Oru Muthassi Gadha, like the Sathyan Anthikad film, is about a muthassi who gets a chance to materialize a few of her little wishes. But the similarity is no hindrance to enjoy the film as the exuberance of the story and characters is contagious, and the director has smartly weaved in so many little elements to keep the energy flowing and the excitement up. Rowdy Leelamma (Rajini Chandy) is quite a talking point in her family and the neighbourhood, for her devil-may-care, rough attitude. She doesn't know fear and hardly minces words about what she dislikes. While the nature doesn't bother the woman, her family, consisting of her son (Suraj Venjaramoodu), his wife (Lena) and two children,

It requires some very special effort to make a revenge saga appear amazing these days; and director Jeethu Joseph, armed with a hum-ho script and a storyline that is as decrepit as the ancient Roman empire, appears clueless in 'Oozham' as to how to keep his audience occupied. Regardless of the countless explosions that 'Oozham' has in store, it strikes the viewer as little more than a mere mock drill that leaves nothing but some black smoke in its wake. Surya (Prithviraj), an IIT passout who is employed in the US as a controlled explosions specialist, watches haplessly as his family back in India - comprising of his dad (Balachandra Menon), mom and younger sister - is ruthlessly murdered by a nameless gang. Seeking vengeance, Surya teams up with Aju (Neeraj Madhav) and Gayathri (Divya Pillai) to hunt down the master minds behind the murder of his dear ones. Thematically, 'Oozham' springs no surprises, and one banks on a film maker as Jeethu Joseph to come u

The perturbed stillness and gut-wrenching calm that encompass 'Oppam' is what makes it a fulfilling thriller. The irrefutable tension that leads onto a passable denouement makes this cinematic jaunt worthwhile, and it's the uptight ambience that is imposing much more that its ultimate payoff. Jayaraman (Mohanlal) is a blind man who works as a caretaker at a multi storied apartment complex in the heart of the city and when a retired judge Nambiar (Nedumudi Venu) gets murdered in his flat, tumbles across more than just the corpse. When he realizes that the assassin would stop at nothing until he has his hands over Nambiar's daughter who is away at a boarding school, Jayaraman decides to battle it out in the dark. 'Oppam' has enough and more of those gasp inducing instants, thanks to its very unique idea of the killer being at just an arm's length away from the target and with the sense of intense intrigue hanging in the air. It's the kind of film th

India conducted surgical strikes last night along the LoC to safeguard our nation, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday. “Significant casualties have been caused to terrorists and those trying to shield them. We don’t have a plan to further conduct such strikes. India has spoken to Pakistan,” DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said. “… Now, based on very specific and credible information we received yesterday, that some terrorist teams had positioned themeselves at launch pads along the LoC with an aim to carry out infiltration and terrorist strikes in J&K and various other metros in our country. There were launch pads at the LoC where terrorists were present waiting to infiltrate the nation and attack areas in Kashmir and metros across the country,” the DGMO said. No Indian casualties occurred during the surgical strikes that were carried out last night by the Indian Army. We have recovered items including GPS which have Pakistani markings. Captured terrorists hailing from PoK or Pak

Seventeen soldiers were killed in a militant attack in Uri area of Baramulla district on Sunday morning. Police sources said that fidayeen militants stormed an Army camp in Uri near the Line of Control (LoC) around 4 a.m. Four militants were killed in the encounter. “A group of heavily armed terrorists targeted the rear administrative base of a unit at Uri, Kashmir. In the counter action, four terrorists were eliminated and combing operations are in progress,” the Army said in a statement. “The administrative base had large strength of troops of units turning over after their tour of duty who were stationed in tents/temporary shelters which caught fire, and resulted in heavy casualties. We salute the sacrifice of 17 soldiers who were martyred in the operation." Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will visit Kashmir to meet the injured soldiers. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has postponed his visit to Russia and the U.S in the wake of the terror attack. Mr. Singh was to lea

Mukesh Ambani announced the long-awaited official launch of Reliance Jio Infocomm's services next week, outlining a strategy that promises to transform India's telecom business by offering free voice calls and mobile internet at a fifth of current rates along with a wide range of entertainment options underscoring the theme of convergence. "The era of paying for voice calls is ending," Ambani said. "No Jio customer will ever have to pay for voice calls again." he unveiling sent the stocks of phone companies tumbling, wiping out investor wealth of Rs 13,000 crore as Ambani spoke at the Reliance IndustriesBSE -1.53 % Ltd annual general meeting in Mumbai. No. 1 Bharti AirtelBSE -1.69 %, third-ranked Idea Cellular and Reliance CommunicationsBSE -10.98 % fell by 6.4 per cent, 10.5 per cent and 8.8 per cent, respectively, on the Bombay Stock Exchange on fears that they would have to either match Jio or risk losing users. Shares of Reliance Industries fell 2.

" Much Awaited JNU Student Union Election results are out . most of the national Media even did not reported it .JNU laal hai!" (JNU is red!) a message writ large and shouted with great zest, filed the air of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus on Saturday evening, after the alliance of the left parties in the campus swept all four seats in its students’ union (JNUSU) elections. In a move that was seen as an ‘ideological compromise’, Communist Party of India (Marxist) affiliated Students' Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students' Association (AISA), the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), decided to form a ‘united front’ to fight the JNUSU elections. The alliance won all the four posts that includes president, vice president, general secretary and joint secretary of JNUSU. The winners were Mohit K Pandey (president), Amal Pullarkkat (vice president), Satarupa Chakraborty (general secretary) and Tabrez Hasan (joint secr

There are nearly 400 million Muslims and Dalits in India. According to the 2011 census, Muslims comprise 14.2 per cent of the population, Dalits 16.6 per cent. Every third Indian is therefore Muslim or Dalit. For politicians a Dalit-Muslim combination forms an electoral juggernaut. In Uttar Pradesh, which has 20.5 per cent of India's total Dalit population (over 40 million out of the country's 210 million Dalits) and another 40 million Muslims, the combination could prove decisive. Mayawati has regained lost momentum after a series of atrocities on Dalits in recent weeks and the crude personal remark by BJP Uttar Pradesh vice-president Dayashankar Singh, expelled last week from the party and arrested on July 29. The Samajwadi Party's misgovernance could also nudge a part of its Muslim base to vote strategically for the BSP in order to keep the BJP at bay. With eight months to go for the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, much can change on the ground. Polarisatio

At no time in Indian history has a single journalist been as influential as Arnab Goswami is today. One of the weirder sidelights of the JNU controversy is the way in which a controversy-within-a-controversy has mushroomed on the back of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar's arrest. Many journalists have called for a boycott of Goswami and Times Now, the channel he runs. Angry articles have appeared - many of them written by senior journalists - slamming Goswami for the stand he has taken on the issue. Other TV anchors have broken with tradition to tweet against him. And at least one news channel has rearranged itself to seem like a downmarket clone of Times Now. What irks the journalists is not just the stand that Goswami has taken on the JNU issue. They are even more annoyed by the fact that this stand, and others like it in the past, are finding favour with viewers. For something like three years now, Times Now has been the number one English news channel in the markets that

Emirates has been voted the best airline in the world for 2016, according to a consultancy firm that surveyed millions of passengers worldwide. Skytrax, which runs an aviation consumer platform, presented on Tuesday the 2016 World Airline Awards at a gala ceremony held at Farnborough Airshow, which was attended by representatives of more than 40 airlines around the world. This year’s awards marks the fourth time that Emirates has won the top prize. Other Gulf carriers also made it to the top ten list, with Qatar Airways taking the second spot and Etihad Airways securing the sixth position. The awards was based on a comprehensive consumer survey conducted among 19.2 million air travellers between August 2015 and May 2016, covering a range of indicators, including seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, check-in and boarding experience, quality of staff service, among many others. The poll attracted feedback from more than 104 nationalities, which rated at least 280 low-cost and full-ser

The 16-lane flyover bridge, which is part of the Dubai Water Canal project, has been under construction since November 2014. In January this year, the Roads and Transportation Authority (RTA) had opened the first part of the flyover — Sharjah-bound — for traffic. On Friday, the other six lanes of the Abu Dhabi-bound bridge were opened, while two more lanes are expected to open mid-July. The 800-metre-long flyover, located near Interchange two on Shaikh Zayed Road, rises up to 8.5 metres, allowing yachts and boats to operate underneath. The opening of the flyover fully will allow for the remaining canal drilling work underneath. Once ready, the 16-lane flyover will take motorists eight metres over Dubai Canal, a man-made waterway that will cut across Shaikh Zayed Road, Al Wasl Road and Jumeirah Road before emptying into the sea. Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, had said in a previous statement that, “by opening the sout

The world’s largest Ferris wheel has officially been given a name: Ain Dubai. Ain, which means ‘eye’ in Arabic, was aptly given to the project as it intends to provide visitors with a bird’s eye view of Dubai’s splendid skyline. Photographs of the project’s construction has revealed just how much construction work is taking place on Bluewaters Island, located off the coast near Jumeirah Beach Residence. Two of the world's largest cranes – each comprising a 180 metre-long boom and boasting a lifting capacity of over 3,000 tonnes each – have soared over the construction site, setting the hub and spindle in place on top of the 126 metre-high legs. The spindle, with a diameter of 6.25 metres, was made of steel, similar to that used for nuclear plants, and was rolled and welded to serve its vital future purpose. Three special machines imported from Singapore undertook the fine-tuning work to produce circularity to meet incredible fine tolerances. Delivered with fully-fitted

Regional Connectivity Scheme -This scheme will come into effect in the second quarter of 2016-17 - Airfare of about Rs 2500 per passenger for a one-hour flight -This will be implemented by way of: Revival of airstrips/airports as No-Frills Airports at an indicative cost of Rs 50 crore to Rs 100 crore Demand driven selection of Airports/airstrips for revival in consultation with State Govts and airlines Viability Gap Funding(VGF)to airline operators RCS only in those states which reduce VAT on ATF to 1% or less, provide other support services and 20% of VGF - Concessions by Stakeholders There will be no airport charges Reduced Service tax on tickets (on 10% of the taxable value) for 1 year initially Reduced Excise duty at 2% on ATF picked at RCS airports State government will provide police and fire services free of cost. Power, water and other utilities at concessional rates -Creation of Regional Connectivity fund for VGF through a small levy per dep

Many Indian expatriates in the UAE whose passports were issued by a different Indian passport authority in the UAE or outside have a reason to cheer. They had to wait for 40 working days to renew their passports and it was even applicable to Abu Dhabi residents whose passports were issued from Dubai and vice versa. Now the Indian diplomatic missions in the UAE have managed to reduce the time taken for renewal of such passports to just five working days, a top Indian diplomat told Gulf News in an interview. “We started renewing all passports within five working days [if applicants fulfil all legal requirements] from the beginning of this month,” T.P. Seetharam, the Indian Ambassador to the UAE, said. He said this is applicable to passports issued by all other Indian passport authorities in India and abroad, including the Indian Consulate in Dubai. Many Indian residents were delighted to hear this news. Haneefa Sulaiman, 47, who runs a travel agency in the capital, said he waited m

The death of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight champion known as much for his political activism as his boxing brilliance, triggered a worldwide outpouring of affection and admiration for one of the best-known figures of the 20th century. Ali, who had long suffered from Parkinson's syndrome which impaired his speech and made the once-graceful athlete almost a prisoner in his own body, died on Friday at age 74. The cause of death was septic shock due to unspecified natural causes, a family spokesman said on Saturday. Ali was admitted to a Phoenix-area hospital, HonorHealth, with a respiratory ailment on Monday. "He'll be remembered as a man of the world who spoke his mind and wasn't afraid to take a chance and went out of his way to be a kind, benevolent individual that really changed the world," the family spokesman, Bob Gunnell, said at a press conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. Despite Ali's failing health, his youthful proclamation that he was

Planned to irrigate 75,000 hectares of land and generate 42 MW of power, the Afghan-India Friendship Dam is a landmark infrastructure project undertaken by India in this strategically-important province in Afghanistan. Built on River Harirud at Chist-e-Sharif in western Herat neighbouring Iran, the Rs. 1,700-crore dam has been executed and implemented by WAPCOS Ltd, a government of India undertaking under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. The construction of the multipurpose project involved more than 1,500 Indian and Afghan engineers for several years in difficult condition. Located 165 kilometres east of Herat town, the project is connected with earthen road. Due to security reasons, all Indians working on the project had to reach the site once a month in a helicopter provided by the Afghan government. Many of the hydro-mechanical equipment used for its construction have been dispatched by India via Iran as the dam sits in the strat

he trial of Spanish train Talgo, the lighter and faster vehicle with speed up to 115 km per hour, was conducted between Bareilly and Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh as part of the Railways' strategy to increase the speed of trains. "It was a smooth ride," said a senior railway official after nine Talgo coaches were hauled by a 4,500 HP diesel engine on the 90-km line for the first trial run. The train left Bareilly at 9.05 AM, moved at a speed ranging between 80-115 km per hour, and reached Moradabad at 10.15 AM, the official said. As of now, the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani Express runs at an average speed of 85 km per hour. Besides reducing travel time, Talgo's lighter trains consume 30 per cent less energy. The nine-coach Talgo train consists of two Executive Class cars, four Chair Cars, a cafeteria, a power car and a tail-end coach for staff and equipment. Hamid Akhtar, Executive Director of Railways' Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) who was

In an apparent reply those questioning his government's performance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi om Sunday said his two-year dispensation had initiated over 700 schemes and even if some tasks remain undone, "I will not let the nation go on the wrong path". Addressing a public meeting as part of 'vikas parv' (development festival) on completion of two years of his government, he asserted that he would "never go on the path of sins" as he charged that the previous government had "yielded" to pressure from various lobbies, including diesel and petrol ones. Slamming the critics who "started questioning his work" even when he had not seen my office properly, Modi said his government's programmes are mostly for the benefit of farmers and poor people, besides ending the role of middlemen, including in jobs. "My government had not completed even one week in office and some people started questioning its work. We were asked to