Serendipity : Musings of an Islander

One decision and they got what was due to them – pieces of trash. Ever since the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi , in a televised address to the nation said … “t o break the grip of corruption and black money, we have decided that the five hundred rupee and thousand rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight tonight, that is 8th November 2016” there has been a sense of joy and jubilation among the masses, save a few intellectuals who went to the town doubting and questioning the move, specifically in curbing corruption and black money. Let me cite one example to explain my understanding of how the current demonetisation will help curb corruption and blackmoney. Recall the August 2016 train robbery wherein Rs 5.75 crore, belonging to RBI was robbed from the Salem-Chennai Eg more Express train by cutting open the train’s roof. According to media report...from box number 20, a total of 80,000 notes of Rs 50...

This June sounded the death knell for coins of lower denominations i.e., coins below 50 paisa now cease to be legal tender. With the close of the deadline on J une 30th   2011, the last day to exchange coins of value 25 paisa and below with banks or the R eserve B ank of I ndia (RBI) , coins of lower denominations are now part of history of I ndian C oinage. From now on such coins would be seen either in museums or sold as artifacts to coin collectors and numismatists (one who studies coins or medals). It is believed the first recorded use of coins (derived from L atin “cuneus”) was in C hina and G reece in around 700 BC and in the sixth century BC in I ndia . Almost all the rulers of various I ndian S tates issued their own unique coins of different shapes, sizes, weights and denominations, in gold, silver, brass and other metals to facilitate trade. Early coins were cast and die-struck manually on one side with symbols of animals, plants, and humans. Therefore the coins of...