CounterCurrents: Losing Faith In Rupee, Losing Faith In Government!

Dear Friend,

The government of India is punishing the marginalised section of the society with its maniacal and diabolical changes in policies relating to the present demonetisation decision. From today onwards ordinary people can change their old notes only in Reserve Bank of India branches, situated in state capitals. People will have to travel long distances, stand in long queues to change Rs 2000.

Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, in his November 8th speech said as item number 7 &8 

7. For your immediate needs, you can go to any bank, head post office or sub post office, show your identity proof like Aadhaar card, voter card, ration card, passport, PAN card or other approved proofs, and exchange your old five hundred or thousand rupee notes for new notes.

8. From 10th November till 24th November the limit for such exchange will be four thousand rupees. From 25th November till 30th December, the limit will be increased.

The government first limited the exchangable amount from four thousand rupees to two thousand rupees and now stopped it altogether. 

People have already lost faith in their own currency. Now, by going back on the word, given by the Prime Minister himself, will the Indian people lose faith in their own government?


Also more stories from around the world. 

If you don't mind, and if you think the content of this news letter is critical for the dignified living and survival of humanity and other species on earth, please forward it to your friends and spread the word. It's time for humanity to come together as one family! You can subscribe to our news letter here http://www.countercurrents.org/news-letter/. 

In Solidarity

Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org




Is Going Cashless A Possibility?
by Sudhirendar Sharma 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/25/is-going-cashless-a-possibility/

There is no denying the fact that massive quantities of unaccounted large-denomination currency is a huge public policy problem, but what purpose does replacing high-denomination notes with fresh notes of similar or higher denomination may serve is beyond easy comprehension? With each passing day, it is becoming clear that the government had indeed hurried through its decision, counting the proverbial chickens before hatching. Having opened the Pandora’s box of divisive politics, the government should avoid going on an overdrive to make its erroneous decision look optimal ex post. Losing peoples’ faith and investor’s confidence will prove costly in the long run. It is a risk that is not worth taking!






Anything But Disruptive: Blockchain, Capital And A Case Of Fourth Industrial Age Enclosure
by Vasilis (Bill) Niaros 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/25/anything-but-disruptive-blockchain-capital-and-a-case-of-fourth-industrial-age-enclosure/

So, should we still take seriously the possibility that blockchain might still evolve into something other than capitalism’s latest technological fetish? Perhaps not. Blockchain is, after all, arguably a product of the capitalist imagination, albeit a marginal and anarchic species of capitalism outside the mainstream





Zapatista Communique: May The Earth Tremble At Its Core

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/25/zapatista-communique-may-the-earth-tremble-at-its-core/

“…commemorating resistance and rebellion also means ratifying our decision to continue to live, constructing hope for a future that is only possible upon the ruins of capitalism. … This is the time of dignified rebellion, the time to construct a new nation by and for everyone, to strengthen power below and to the anticapitalist left…”






Beggars Among The Rich Is A Clue To The Working Class Vote For Trump
by Dr Arshad M Khan 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/25/beggars-among-the-rich-is-a-clue-to-the-working-class-vote-for-trump/

Whatever Trump does, it is not going to be easy to bring jobs back.  Not only have these been shipped abroad but technology has changed.  Robots on the shop floor are replacing humans, and robots don’t need breaks or sick leave or vacation time. As for the panhandlers, heaven help them.  The ‘more tax cuts’ mantra means less for them. A common measure of civilization is how well a society looks after its weakest and most vulnerable.  The new crop of leaders shows little promise in that regard.





The Reality Of Fake News
by Dr Binoy Kampmark 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/25/the-reality-of-fake-news/

Fake news as reality; the inability to navigate the waters in which it swims; a weakness in succumbing to material best treated with a huge pinch of salt. That, we are told, is the new condition of the global information environment. Laura Sydell of National Public Radio’s All Things Considered furnished readers with one such example: “FBI Agent Suspected In Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide.”  Shared over half a million times, it ran on a site “that had had the look and feel of a local newspaper” (not that you can feel the website Denverguardian.com).





Voices for Peace – Kia Scherr Speaks
by Aaghaz-e-Dosti 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/25/voices-for-peace-kia-scherr-speaks/

As part of our aim to embed critical thinking and peace, Aaghaz-e-Dosti through interview series – “Voices for Peace” features inspiring peace personalities who have worked significantly for Indo-Pak Peace. We start this series with Ms. Kia Scherr, an inspiring Peace Personality. She is known to the world as the 26/11 (Mumbai attack of 2008) victims’ family member who forgave the terrorists, thereby refusing to submit to hatred which is the goal of terrorism.





India’s Agrarian Crisis
by Moin Qazi 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/25/indias-agrarian-crisis/

We need to arrest this influx and inject the rural economy with new skill development programmes to generate local employment .That is the right way of saving both the cities and villages –in a way the civilization itself.





Plebiscite, Kashmir And The Indian State – Experiments With Untruth
by Dr P S Sahni 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/25/plebiscite-kashmir-and-the-indian-state-experiments-with-untruth/

The Indian state wishes to forcibly have Kashmir as its live-in partner with the daily round of domestic violence inflicted on the latter. Kashmir is denied justice and freedom as the Indian state fears that it would lead an independent existence or worse get wedded and welded to Pakistan.





“Where Is Najeeb?” Protest Rally In Mumbai

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/11/25/where-is-najeeb-protest-rally-in-mumbai/

Today a protest rally was held from Piperoad Masjid to Kalina campus of Mumbai university as a mark of protest against the attack on JNU student Najeeb Ahmed and his disappearance. Najeeb was badly thrashed by ABVP goons in his hostel on 14th October and since the next day he has been missing. It has been more than 40 days since he went missing even more than a month since JNU student Najeeb Ahmed’s disappearance, but the police claim that they have no clues about his whereabouts.