Relief on old notes may trigger new demands

DHNS
June 22, 2017

New Delhi, Jun 22: The government’s surprise announcement late on Monday night to allow district cooperative banks to exchange demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 with the RBI may trigger more such demands from those still left with the old bills.

oldnotes

The government had set December 30 as the deadline for exchanging the banned notes, barring some exigencies for which the window was open until March 31 only with the RBI.

However, much after the deadline, the RBI kept getting requests from individuals who failed to exchange the notes. Most of the requests came from students who accidentally found the demonetised notes inside their cupboards or in their books.

“There is a ray of hope that the RBI may open a small window for this category too,” a government official said. But he was not sure of the move, especially after the government issued an ordinance to penalise people holding more than 10 banned notes.

Another official said the government may have allowed the exchange facility to cooperative banks because it would help states to deal with farm loan waiver. Many states have been demanding such a relief as the Centre is not lending financial support.

The Shiv Sena last week vociferously demanded that the RBI exchange old notes close to Rs 2,772 crore for new ones in central cooperative banks, which were worst hit after demonetisation.

As the Centre's announcement coincided with the Sena extending support to BJP's Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, the Opposition Congress asked if Sena’s pressure worked.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said, “Was the midnight gazette notification perfectly timed with garnering support for the Presidential candidate?” Six days after demonetisation on November 14, the RBI had banned cooperative banks from exchanging scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. It had also asked the banks not to accept the junked currency notes as deposits.

Though the RBI did not give any reason for its directive, it is believed that money laundering suspicions forced the bank to do so. States like Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, where cooperative banks are actively involved with providing credit to farmers, have since been asking the Centre to relax certain norms to help the farm sector.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had even said that cooperative banks in the state have Rs 90,000 crore in deposits and Rs 75,000 crore in credits. The deposit-credit ratio at 80% is much higher than the state's largest nationalised bank, State Bank of Travancore.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 26,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has detained two suspects in connection with the Rameshwaram Cafe blast case in Bengaluru, sources confirmed on Tuesday.

The preliminary probe has revealed that the two suspects were in direct contact with the suspected bomber.

The NIA sleuths have picked up the suspects from an area in the state capital. However, a statement is yet to be made by the NIA in this regard.

Even as the investigating agencies, both NIA and state special wing CCB teams have launched an extensive search operation in various states, the bomber has remained elusive. The authorities had obtained the bomber’s images and videos from CCTV footage on March 1, soon after the incident.

Sources said that the sleuths were suspecting that the bomber had come from Tamil Nadu and was staying in a neighbouring state for two months before carrying out the blast.

The hair samples of the accused were gathered from the hat of the accused which he abandoned in Bengaluru near a religious place. The authorities have sent the samples for the DNA testing and were hoping for a breakthrough.

The Rameshwaram Cafe bomb blast took place on March 1 on the International Technology Park Limited (ITPL) road in the Brookfield area. Low intensity Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used to carry out the blast and nine persons were injured in the incident.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 14,2024

busowner.jpg

Udupi: In a freak mishap, a 65-year-old man lost his life after being hit by his own bus which was being repaired at a garage at Athrady in Udupi district on Wednesday, March 13.

The deceased has been identified as Dayanand Shetty, the owner of a private bus.

It is learnt that the bus had been kept for repairs at the garage and Dayanand had gone there to inspect the repair works.

At this time, the mechanic started the engine and the bus moved ahead. Dayanand, who was standing in front of the bus, came under its wheels.

He was immediately rushed to a hospital where he died without responding to the treatment. A case is registered at jurisdictional Manipal police station.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 27,2024

Bengaluru: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday launched simultaneous raids in multiple places, including Bengaluru and Shivamogga.

Reports suggested that the ongoing raids are in connection with the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Bengaluru’s Rameshwaram Cafe on March 1. The blast had injured at least ten people as per the police report.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) had launched an investigation alongside the NIA, and the trail of the suspect led them to Tumakuru first and subsequently to Ballari. Investigators believe that the bomb was planted by Mussavir Hussain Shazib, a handler of the Islamic State’s Shivamogga module who was aided by another IS handler called Ahmed Taahaa.

Sources in the know said that Shazib and Taahaa had stayed in Chennai for about a month between January and February using fake credentials. The names of the suspects were identified after they traced the cap worn by Shazib to a shop in a mall in Chennai. The cap, which was abandoned by the bomber in Bengaluru after the blast, was reportedly bought by Taahaa, around January-end.

As per the NIA, Shazib hails from Masjid Road in Thirthahalli, Shivamogga district, and Taahaa from Fish Market Road, Soppu Gude, Thirthahalli Rural. Both "wanted" suspects have been termed "absconders" by the NIA.

The NIA has questioned seven jailed terror suspects so far in connection with the blast. The investigation agency had also obtained seven-day custody of a jailed terror suspect named Maaz Muneer Ahmed.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.