The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 09

The International News Weekly INDIA
August 25, 2017 | Toronto
11
India not banning Rs 2,000 notes
Agencies
NEW DELHI: The Indian government is
not considering banning Rs 2,000 notes
while the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will
decide when to issue the new Rs 200 note
that has been notified, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday.
Asked whether the government was
considering the phasing out of newly introduced
Rs 2,000 notes, Jaitley told reporters
here after a meeting of the cabinet:
"No, there was no such discussion."
On the Rs 200 notes notified by the government
on Wednesday, Jaitley said the
RBI would decide on the matter.
"The whole process regarding when
the notes will be printed, RBI will take
care of that issue. Thus, it will be appropriate
for the RBI to announce about dates
and matters related to the note printing,"
Jaitley said.
The Finance Ministry on Wednesday
Rajiv Gandhi killing convict
gets parole to visit ailing father
Agencies
formally announced the launch of
the new Rs 200 note. Earlier, Minister
of State for Finance Santosh
Kumar Gangwar told IANS that
the Rs 200 note, printing of which
had begun, would be in circulation
soon. The move to introduce the
new currency was to increase the circulation
of smaller denomination notes. Postdemonetisation,
there have been reports
of people facing problems in using the Rs
2,000 note as sufficient quantum of smaller
denomination notes of Rs 100 and Rs 500
were not available.
Chennai: The Tamil Nadu
government on Thursday
granted parole to A.G. Perarivalan,
one of those convicted
in the assassination of former
Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi,
to visit his ailing father.
It is the first time Perarivalan
has been given parole
since his arrest in 1991.
His mother had applied
for one month parole for him
to visit his ailing father.
The government order,
granting him 'ordinary leave'
or parole, did not specify the
number of days of parole. It
also said that strong police
escort should be provided to
Perarivalan during the leave
period. PMK founder S. Ramadoss
in a tweet expressed
happiness at the development.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu
Chief Minister K. Palaniswami
had told the assembly that
the matter is under the government's
consideration.
He said the government
would take into consideration
the feelings of all concerned
and take a decision.
Perarivalan and six other
convicts have been in prison
since 1991, the year a woman
Tamil Tiger suicide bomber
blew herself up and killed
Gandhi at an election rally
near Chennai.
India linking Aadhaar with
PAN in 'national interest'
IANS
New Delhi: Law Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad on Thursday said linking the Aadhaar
number with the Permanent Account Number
(PAN) was in the national interest as it would
prevent money laundering.
Prasad, who is also the
Information Technology
Minister, was answering
a question on the issue of
linking the Aadhaar number,
in view of the Supreme
Court's Thursday judgment
that right to privacy was a
fundamental right.
The government had in
June notified rules that required
all assessees to mandatorily
link their Aadhaar
number with their PAN effective from July 1.
It had also said that from July 1 onwards,
every person eligible to obtain Aadhaar must
quote their Aadhaar number or their Aadhaar
enrolment ID number for filing of income tax
returns as well as for applications for PAN.
Asked to clarify the government telling
the Supreme Court that citizens could not
claim "absolute" right over their body parts,
Prasad told media persons these were just exchanges
in the court.
"You quote one of the
exchanges in the courts.
Whenever cases are argued,
there is banter, exchanges,
but ultimately, the core of
the argument is noted in the
judgment and conclusion is
reached. Therefore what I
read of Attorney General's
argument is what is noted
in the judgment itself," he
said.
Prasad did not comment
on a query about the impact of the judgment
on the surrogacy bill that does not allow homosexuals
and live-in couples to go for surrogacy.