IS BALBIR SINGH SOOCH WRONG TO ASK THE QUESTION?
COULD IT NOT BE PRESUMED THAT ‘BLACK MONEY CRACKDOWN’ UNDER THE CHAOS-MADNESS OF DEMONETISATION FAILED NOW IN INDIA?
Demonetisation: Urjit Patel faces parliamentary panel, says RBI issued new notes worth Rs 9.2 lakh crore:
BLACK MONEY CRACKDOWN Updated: Jan 18, 2017 17:35 IST
About Rs 15.4 lakh crore worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were removed from circulation after the November 8, 2016 announcement from the government.(HT File Photo)
(i) The RBI governor was also scheduled to appear before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on the same issue on January 20, 2017
(ii) Modi turned India into Hiroshima, Nagasaki with demonetisation bomb: Shiv Sena
(iii) According to the RBI’s own admission made before a parliamentary committee, the central bank was given just a day’s notice to execute the decision.(HT)
(iV) RBI facing ‘reputational’ risk, says former governor YV Reddy
BLACK MONEY CRACKDOWN Updated: Jan 18, 2017 12:20 IST
Manasi Phadke
Hindustan Times, Mumbai

HIGHLIGHTS OF STORIES:
1. The Shiv Sena, an ally of the ruling BJP at the Centre, has been critical of the government ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s November 8 announcement recalling 500 and 1000-rupee notes that sucked out
86% of the banknotes in circulation.(AP)
2. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has turned the country into Hiroshima and Nagasaki by dropping the demonetisation bomb, the Shiv Sena has said in its most vicious attack on the government over the shock recall of high-value banknotes.
3. The Sena, an ally of the ruling BJP at the Centre, has been critical of the government ever since Modi’s November 8 announcement recalling 500 and 1000-rupee notes that sucked out 86% of the banknotes in circulation.
4. In an editorial in its mouthpiece, Saamana, the Sena also accused Modi of taking decisions unilaterally, besides making the comparison with the two Japanese cities destroyed by atomic bombs dropped by the United States during the World War II.
5. It said Modi was “not in a state” to listen to anyone and has “not taken the counsel” of even the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor.
6. “The way he has picked deaf and dumb parrots to sit on his cabinet meetings, he has also chosen the RBI governor and turned the country’s economy into shambles,” the editorial said.
7. The party’s taunts a came day after it attempted to push the BJP into a corner and beat its ally with the same transparency stick it was using against the Sena amid seat-sharing talks for the forthcoming civic body
polls in Mumbai.
8. The BJP has been insisting that the Sena commit itself to transparency in administration as a key factor for a pre-poll alliance between the two parties. The BJP move is being seen as an attempt to distance itself from
graft allegations against the Sena.
9. The Sena on Tuesday hit out at the BJP, saying it was fully on board in wanting transparency in administration, but it should be seen in the Central and state governments too, and decisions should not be unilateral.
10. In the Saamana editorial, the Sena also criticised Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar for first welcoming the demonetisation decision and then back-tracking once it stifled the cooperative sector,
where the NCP has always had a strong grip.
11. The Sena lashed out at the Modi government for not allowing district cooperative banks to accept demonetised currency notes, saying farmers suffered the most because of the decision.

B. Demonetisation: Why PM must pay attention to YV Reddy’s warning on RBI
1. Yaga Venugopal Reddy is a man of few words, but his words carry a lot of weight — especially in the world of finance. Earlier this week, the soft-spoken former governor of Reserve Bank of India chose strong words to
describe the state of play at the central bank. The “institutional identity of the RBI has been damaged” and it is facing “reputational risk”, Reddy told a television news channel, referring to demonetisation — the way the
decision was made and handled:
2. RBI facing ‘reputational’ risk, says former governor YV Reddy
3. Reddy regretted the fact that RBI is being treated just as a regulator although regulation is only one of the functions of the central bank
4. Comparing RBI with army, Reddy said that financial and monetary security of the country rest with RBI.
5. Comparing RBI with army, Reddy said that financial and monetary security of the country rest with RBI.
6. New Delhi: Former governor Y.V. Reddy on Monday said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is facing ‘reputational’ risk and its identity as an institution has been damaged.
7. He also said that the problem of black money cannot be eliminated only by destroying cash through demonetisation. “There is a confusion (about the role of RBI) at philosophical level. There are two types of confusions. To be very frank, my own frustration is that the institutional identity of RBI has been damaged,” Reddy said in an interview to CNBC TV18.
8. Reddy, who served RBI for 11 years as deputy governor and governor, regretted the fact that RBI is being treated just as a regulator although regulation is only one of the functions of the central bank. “The RBI is a
monetary authority. Yes but it is full service central bank ... It was incharge of many other things. The recent emphasis appeared as though the monetary policy is the main function. Governor is accountable to monetary
policy. Then he is not accountable to regulation, he is accountable for currency coins.

The RBI’s bounty and its independence:
9. “There is confusion about the relative importance. The relative importance is being decided outside more than...,” he added. Noting that the procedure applicable for a regulator has to be different from the monetary authority or central bank, he said, “For central bank, regulation is just one function and to say that head of an institution who performs eight functions and one function is regulation is equal to other regulator.
I think there is some lack of clarity.”
10. Expressing concern over comments against RBI by international agencies like S&P, Reddy said, “for central bank reputational risk is worst risk, credibility is the worst risk. If this is happening in international opinion I would say this is a national problem now.” He also called for national debate cutting across party line on the autonomy central bank.
11. “I think it’s the time there should be a debate at this juncture, given the type of comments internationally, cutting across parties that what should be the nature of the central bank and how it should be run,” he said.
Parliamentary committee to question RBI governor Urjit Patel on cash crunch:
12. Comparing RBI with army, Reddy said that financial and monetary security of the country rest with RBI. He also suggested that financial stability function should have been with non-political set-up like RBI
governor. Most emerging economy financial instability, political instability happen simultaneously, he said.
13. On the demonetisation, Reddy said, “the black money problem cannot be solved by destroying cash. It is a bigger problem.” Asked whether the position of RBI governor has been devalued, he said, “definitely there is a
problem especially after legal amendments, the way governor is selected, the way deputy governor is selected.

C. Demonetisation: Urjit Patel faces parliamentary panel, says RBI issued new notes worth Rs 9.2 lakh crore: LATEST AS UPDATED AS REPORTED:
1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has injected Rs 9.2 lakh crore worth of new currency notes into the banking system to help replace the banknotes banned in November, a parliamentary source quoted central bank governor Urjit Patel as saying on Wednesday.
2. Patel met a parliamentary panel on finance to answer questions about the Narendra Modi government’s move to abolish old notes, or 86% of the currency then in circulation, in a bid to unearth unaccounted money.
3. Members of the committee also criticised Patel for his alleged inability to answer queries, ANI reported.
4. “Patel was unable to tell us how much money has come back to the banks,” said Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy, a member of the panel.
5. Congress to protest at RBI offices in 2nd phase of anti-demonetisation stir
6. About Rs 15.4 lakh crore worth 500- and 1,000-rupee notes were removed from circulation after a November 8 announcement by the government.
7. Senior bureaucrats, including department of economic affairs secretary Shaktikant Das, banking secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal and revenue secretary Hasmukh Adhia, and top banking honchos such as Chanda Kochhar of ICICI Bank and Usha Ananthasubramanian of the Punjab National Bank were to appear before the committee.
8. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is one of the members of the panel, headed by Congress leader Veerappa Moily.
9. The RBI governor was also scheduled to appear before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on the same issue on January 20, 2017
10. Demonetisation woes: Too many vegetables, too little cash hits sellers hard:
11. PM Modi’s surprise announcement to scrap the banknotes sparked chaos and confusion across the country, with millions of consumers queued outside banks and ATMs to change a limited number of old notes for new ones or withdraw cash.
12. The government said the move was aimed at rooting out black money and corruption, but met with stiff resistance from opposition parties, which alleged the implementation of the programme was faulty and blamed the government for close to 100 deaths reported after the shock announcement.
13. On Wednesday, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the RBI’s autonomy had taken a hit in the wake of the move and asked for Patel’s resignation.
The Extracts courtesy by: HT- Hindustan Times
IN VIEW OF THE ABOVE, IT SEEMS SAFE TO CONCLUDE AND PRESUME THAT ‘BLACK MONEY CRACKDOWN’ UNDER THE CHAOS-MADNESS OF DEMONETISATION FAILED NOW IN INDIA?
BALBIR SINGH SOOCH- SIKH VICHAR MANCH SAID

Commented and forwarded by:
Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch
http://www.sikhvicharmanch.com/
https://www.facebook.com/balbir.singh.355
About Rs 15.4 lakh crore worth Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were removed from circulation after the November 8, 2016 announcement from the government.(HT File Photo)