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Despite every government efforts, demonetisation has turned out to be a failure. Not just because its implementation was disastrous, but because a black market has evolved to convert black money into white ridiculing this ‘bold’ and ‘historic’ move. I have summarized in my previous post why just demonetisation cannot end corruption or even black money. It must be noted that demonetisation has been implemented before it could leak out to the media sources. There must have been a large workforce for printing a huge number of notes in such a small time and for other preparations to enforce this plan smoothly. The new ₹2000 note had already begun leaking on social media as everyone could not remain silent for a long time. That probably explains why this decision has been taken in some haste and the government and RBI of not being ‘fully prepared’ for this move resulting in a cash crunch. But, it's good that what began as demonetisation has now been transformed into a cashless...

It was November 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a dramatic announcement, decided to scrap or demonetise two high-value Indian currency of the denomination of ₹500 and ₹1000. It means 85% of currency in circulation will no longer be a legal tender. All that precious notes have been converted into wastepaper overnight. It became the biggest talking point in every Indian household  —  from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Kutch to Arunachal Pradesh. After all, in a country where 98% of all transactions are conducted in cash, it was a big jolt. Demonetisation is usually associated with degrading economies and hyperinflation and often done by military dictatorships. It was surprising that a popular and democratically elected prime minister of a booming economy has resorted to demonetisation. Black money is the money held by people that have evaded taxation. It is illegal hoarding of unaccounted money which tends to exacerbate inequality because the biggest evas...

Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons or its technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament. The biggest incentive of NPT, due to which a large number of countries have signed it, is the agreement that the nuclear countries would share "peaceful nuclear technology" with the non-nuclear countries so that they can be able to produce nuclear energy domestically and use nuclear material for other peaceful purposes. This treaty was formalised in 1968 and those states that have detonated nuclear weapon before that were recognised as nuclear weapon state. As only five countries at that time have formally detonated their nuclear weapon successfully, this treaty recognizes these five countries - United States, Soviet Union (Russia), France, United Kingdom and China - as nuclear power. India conducted its first...

The religious orthodoxy versus gender justice debate is not new. The debate has been ignited in the past from time to time challenging the sanctity of personal laws. The Muslim Personal Law Application Act, 1937, allows Indian Muslims to be governed by the  Shariat  (Islamic laws) based on Quran and  Hadith  (utterances of the Prophet) in matters of personal law. It is the Shayara Bano case that once again has ignited the debate. Shayara is a resident of Kashipur in Uttarakhand who was given an instantaneous triple talaq by her husband. She then approached the Supreme Court and filed a petition against practices of talaq-e-bidat (instantaneous triple talaq), nikah halala and polygamy. There are many progressive Muslim groups along with some secular bodies which demand to reform the unjust personal laws of the Muslim community. However, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) opposes any interference by the Supreme Court in matters of religious an...