CounterCurrents: Demonetisation: Recessionary Conditions Take Hold

Dear Friend,

Yesterday one of my friends had to go to a hospital. A place which used to be teeming with hundrends of patients and bystanders is now almost vacant! He found very few patients at the hospital. Have the people suddenly became healthy, or people decided not to take treatment for illness because of cashlessness brought on by India's demonetisation of high valued notes? 

Dr Arun Kumar, a reputed economist points our that recessionary tendencies have set in India. It is going to have a major impact on Indian economy and the lives of ordinary Indians. He warns banks are going to be hit hard by the demonetisation. 

Dr Arun Kumar's article could perhaps explain the lack of people seeking essential healthcare. Dr. Shah Alam Khan told similar stories yesterday from his own experience at AIIMS, that too of critically ill people. 

Aseem Shrivastava another reputed economist argues that the agenda behind demonetisation was never 'black money' as it was being propagated.  He argues that demonetisation is actually a "Weapon Of Mass Digitisation". He points out "according to research conducted by the Boston Consulting Group there is an annual jackpot of $500 billion (a quarter of India’s GDP) waiting to be made within the next five years in the digital payments industry. But this is only if millions can be persuaded to abandon cash as the preferred mode of daily transactions. Even if the top half of the Indian population can be drawn into the digital net, there are big fortunes to be made. The bottom half can be ignored, unless they become politically restless and vocal."

In our #HumansOfDeMonetisedIndia series we present the stories of homeless fisher people of Kerala. 

Also other stories from around the world. 

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Binu Mathew
Editor
www.countercurrents.org





Demonetisation: Recessionary Conditions Take Hold
by Dr Arun Kumar 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/19/demonetisation-recessionary-conditions-take-hold/

Demonetization is all about currency and the amount of money with the public. Since the public has no interface with the Reserve Bank of India, they have to deal with the banks for their daily requirements of money. Consequently, demonetization has had a dramatic impact on banks in India and this is likely to persist.






Weapon Of Mass Digitisation: PM Modi’s Gambit Has Nothing To Do With Black Money
by Aseem Shrivastava 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/19/weapon-of-mass-digitisation-pm-modis-gambit-has-nothing-to-do-with-black-money/

According to research conducted by the Boston Consulting Group there is an annual jackpot of $500 billion (a quarter of India’s GDP) waiting to be made within the next five years in the digital payments industry. But this is only if millions can be persuaded to abandon cash as the preferred mode of daily transactions. Even if the top half of the Indian population can be drawn into the digital net, there are big fortunes to be made. The bottom half can be ignored, unless they become politically restless and vocal.





#HumansOfDeMonetisedIndia: People Are Suffering

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/19/humansofdemonetisedindia-people-are-suffering/

Fisher people who are dislocated from their homes due to sea erosion are hit hard by the note ban. Women of Valiyathura relief camp tell their woes caused by the note ban. Nobody has work. No money. No food. Who benefited from the note ban? They say, politicians, while the people are suffering.






Clinton’s Defeat And The ‘Fake News’ Conspiracy
by Jonathan Cook 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/19/clintons-defeat-and-the-fake-news-conspiracy/

If Russia did indeed seek to influence the election by releasing truthful information that made Clinton and her allies look bad that would be far more legitimate interference than the US has engaged in against countless countries around the globe. For decades the US has been actively involved in using its military might to overthrow regimes in Latin America and the Middle East. It has also compromised the sovereignty of innumerable states, by sending killer-drones into their airspace, manipulating their media and funding colour revolutions.





Deck The Halls With Boughs Of Holly? Celebrating The Corporate Plunder Of Agriculture
by Colin Todhunter 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/19/deck-the-halls-with-boughs-of-holly-celebrating-the-corporate-plunder-of-agriculture/

We need look no further than India to appreciate the important relationship between culture agriculture and natural world, not least the vital importance of the monsoon and seasonal planting and harvesting. Rural-based beliefs and rituals steeped in nature persist, even among urban Indians. These are bound to traditional knowledge systems where livelihoods, the seasons, food, cooking, nutrition, seed exchange, healthcare and the passing on of knowledge are all inter-related and form the foundations of culture and the essence cultural diversity within India itself. In this link, Vandana Shiva describes the role that mustard plays in all of this.





The Beard Question: Religious Duty or Discipline?
by Mirza Yawar Baig 

http://www.countercurrents.org/2016/12/19/the-beard-question-religious-duty-or-discipline/

It is very interesting to note the judgement regarding the Muslim IAF officer who claimed that keeping a beard is his religious obligation. The Indian Express reported that the ruling given was, “Emphasising the need to “maintain discipline” in the Indian Air Force (IAF), the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Muslim personnel cannot keep beards by citing religious grounds.”