Demonetisation Day 24: 'Make in India' innovator caught with fake notes; queues get longer at pumps

The All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA) and All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA) have urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to advise the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to publicly announce the details of currency notes supplied to various banks. In a joint letter to Jaitley, the two major unions pointed out that RBI’s repeated public statements that adequate cash is being supplied to banks, contrary to the reality, makes it seem to the public as if the RBI is supplying cash to banks and bank staff are deliberately not extending payments. The news updates from day 24 show their concerns to be quite valid. Punjab innovator arrested with fake notes A young engineer, whose innovation got appreciation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year, landed in the police net after he and his accomplices were caught with fake Rs 2,000 notes in Mohali town of Punjab. Abhinav Verma had claimed to have created ‘Live Braille’, a wearable technology innovation that helped blind people to walk around without the aid of a walking stick last year. The device used sensors to guide blind people and was hailed as a success. It even got a mention from Modi in December last year at the Indian Science Congress in Bengaluru. The device was commercially launched this year, touted as an innovation under the ‘Make in India’ programme, and sold in India and over 15 countries. The Punjab Police in Mohali, adjoining Chandigarh, recovered fake currency worth Rs 42 lakh in Rs 2,000 denomination and arrested Abhinav Verma, his cousin Vishakha Verma, and Ludhiana-based property dealer Suman Nagpal. The trio, along with two others, were duping people by exchanging the demonetised Rs 500 and 1,000 notes for the fake Rs 2,000 notes. They were charging 30 percent commission for the exchange. Heavy rush in banks, treasuries continues in Kerala Banks and treasuries in Kerala are witnessing heavy rush and serpentine queues on Friday for the second consecutive day, with people queueing up to withdraw salaries and pensions. The state government had asked RBI to release Rs 127 crore to meet the demand for distributing salaries and pensions, but received only Rs 57 crore till 11 am, official sources in Kerala said. As many as 50 treasuries are yet to receive any amount and the treasury employees are waiting at the banks to get the money released, they said. Protesting the fund crunch in treasuries and difficulties faced by people, around 50 government employees, under the aegis of NGO association, took out a march to the district treasury in Thiruvananthapuram. [caption id=“attachment_3136602” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Cash seizure in new currency rises to Rs 5.7 crore The biggest-ever seizure of cash in new currency on Friday grew to over Rs 5 crore even as the Income Tax department said it detected unaccounted income worth Rs 152 crore after it conducted searches in a dozen premises in Bengaluru and other locations. I-T officials said the cash found after searches were launched, on Thursday, on the premises of two engineers, working with the state government, and two contractors have risen to Rs 5.7 crore and these notes are in the denomination of the newly introduced currency of Rs 2,000. A team of over 50 I-T sleuths and police personnel had launched operations on Thursday and searched premises in Bengaluru, Chennai and Erode (Tamil Nadu). What had surprised the tax authorities is the sheer amount of new currency stashed by these individuals at a time when new notes are not available to the common public which is queuing up to withdraw even small amounts from their accounts.“Some entry operators and bankers are under the scanner. Such volume of new currency cannot be obtained without the connivance of bank officials,” a senior I-T department official said. Queues get longer at pumps As the new deadline allowing petrol pumps to accept scrapped high-denomination notes ends on Friday, long queues were witnessed at several fuel stations across the metropolis of Mumbai. Besides the queues at petrol pumps, people lined up outside the banks and ATMs with many waiting to deposit old notes and withdraw money in Mumbai, as those who could not withdraw salary from banks on the first day post-demonetisation, queued up on Friday, struggling to withdraw cash to meet their monthly commitments. Many queues were especially for the senior citizens and pensioners. Also, non-functional and dried up ATMs worsened the situation prompting people to take to e-payments. School children teach locals to make payments via mobile apps Taking inspiration from the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for making “Cashless India” in his Mann Ki Baat programme, school children in Khargone have started encouraging locals to use mobile transaction app for utility and other necessary payments. The children are not only making people aware of mobile transaction apps but also teaching them how to use it for paying power, telephone and municipal taxes among other things. KK Convent School has also set up a helpline desk to raise awareness among the parents to go for cashless transactions or make payments through cheques. With inputs from agencies