Morning Brief: Demonetisation Targets Terror Funding, Government Tells SC; Nationwide Strike Call; Rupee At All-Time Low

Good Morning, Swarajya Readers! Here's What You Need To Know Today.

Demonetisation To Curb Terror Funding, Government Tells SC: The Narendra Modi government told the Supreme Court on Thursday that demonetisation would curb terror funding and black money. In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the Centre said the decision would also put the economy on a high growth path that would create more jobs and make housing in urban areas affordable to the poor.

Old Currency Swap Rethink Ruled Out: The Government on Thursday ruled out a rethink on its decision to stop over-the-counter exchange of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes after midnight of 24 November. It said international tourists will be allowed to exchange foreign currency up to Rs 5,000 a week. However, petrol pumps and LPG stations will continue to accept old Rs 500 notes until 15 December.

Opposition Calls For Nationwide Strike On 28 November: In a fallout to the demonetisation drive by the Narendra Modi government, the opposition parties on Thursday called for a nationwide strike on 28 November. Earlier yesterday, a united opposition attacked the Centre in Parliament over poor implementation of demonetisation.

Unaccounted Deposits To Attract Heavy Taxes? The Union Cabinet on Thursday is believed to have discussed amending laws to levy close to 60 per cent income tax on unaccounted deposits in banks above a threshold, post demonetisation of high-denomination currency notes. There are 23 places where you can still use old Rs 500 notes.

Rupee Plunges To All-Time Low Against Dollar: The rupee went into a free fall on Thursday as it slumped for the fifth session and even hit an all-time low of 68.86 against the dollar as the demonetisation after-effect played out and concerns grew about a possible Fed rate hike in the near term.

Indian Man Attacked In US Bar: In the latest in a series of anti-Muslim hate crimes that have erupted since Donald Trump’s victory, an Indian man was brutally attacked at a bar in the US. Ankur Mehta, mistaken for a Muslim, was allegedly hit multiple times on his head and face at the Red Robin Restaurant in Pennsylvania.

Tata Turmoil Won’t Affect Partnership, Says Boeing: The turmoil within the Tata Group will not have an impact on business and joint ventures in India and that there is a good potential for growth in the future, the Indian conglomerate’s biggest partner in the defence and aerospace sector, Boeing Company has said.

Supreme Court Slams Government Again: For the second day in a row, the Centre came in for some stinging criticism from the Supreme Court on Thursday, with a bench pulling it up for doing precious little to make government buildings disabled-friendly.

Pakistan Bows Down After India’s Counter Offensive: After India intensified counter offensive, Pakistan Director Generals of Military Operations called his Indian counterpart and spoke on ceasefire violations and infiltration attempts. Meanwhile, Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif threatened that his armed forces were capable of teaching India "a lesson" if the border tension escalates.

Tsunami Alert After Central America Earthquake: A strong earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Central America shook the region on Thursday, and could prompt hazardous tsunami waves, US monitoring agencies said, just as a hurricane barreled into the Caribbean coasts of Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Indian VCs And The Elusive Quest For Domestic Investors: In India, in the absence of pension trusts and university endowments, corporate endowments and family offices have an opportunity to play a dominant role in the country’s private equity and venture capital market.

Should It Be Called Design In India? The Make in India programme needs design in order to succeed in its fundamental endeavour of positioning India as a global manufacturing destination.

With Demonetisation Starts A Tectonic Shift From Vote-Buying Politics To Clientelism: Research in economics and political science shows that while clientelism works particularly well for incumbents, vote-buying is more effective for challengers.

GST Got Your Tongue? It is important that the thinking while dealing with GST moves from ‘what happens today’ to ‘what should ideally happen’. After all, GST is not an incremental change. It’s a quantum leap in tax reforms.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

Dr Manmohan Singh Got A Few Things Right But Many Wrong: He is right that even 50 days is too long for the poor to suffer. But, in that case, was it right to let them suffer for 1,830 days between May 22, 2009 and May 26, 2014?

Half Of PSU Banks Won’t Survive Next Decade; Demonetisation Will Accelerate Failure: Demonetisation may have been their finest hour in the service of the aam aadmi, but it is also likely to speed up the disruption of the banking sector for which PSU banks are under-prepared, if not unprepared altogether.

This Day, 156 Years Ago, ‘The Origin Of Species...’ Was Published And Humanity’s View Of Itself Changed Forever: The book made humans realise that they were a species as ephemeral as any one of all those species that have gone extinct in the long march of evolution. And in that realisation of the impermanence, our dreams of a golden future for not just our species, but all life were born.

US Dollar At Rs 70? Don’t Blame It All On Demonetisation And It’s Not Panic-Worthy: While demonetisation has sparked a correction in the rupee, there is absolutely no need to think this is some kind of catastrophe. It is not, and it could even be mildly beneficial to us in the short run.

We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!

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