Modi's lost his oratorical touch: all sound, no substance - probably because he is waking up to the reality that his soaring rhetoric is fast losing credibility. Mamata again: "Empty vessels make the most noise", topped by the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana: "old dhokla in fresh chutney"; alternatively: "stale bhaji fried in oil again". Saamana's punch line: "He simply thanked all those who stood in long queues and died, and shook an umbrella full of promises on their heads".
The widespread expectation was that the Prime Minister would provide the nation a full assessment of his demonetization drive, explain why 50 days has proved totally inadequate to restore normalcy, and set a target date by which the economy would be back on the rails. He ducked all these questions - probably because he has no answers. We are adrift, with no motor, no sails, no oars, no rudder, no compass, no map. What a New Year's gift to give the "125 crore deshvasiyon, mitron, bhaiyon aur behnon" that constitute his staple invocation (as if we don't know how to count!)
So how much currency has he collected - and how much of it is black? He dared not say. For indications are that where he expected several lakh crore to be held back for him to claim as "black money", most informed estimates are that virtually all the old notes in circulation are back in bank vaults awaiting replacement. And banks are overburdened with unwanted money ("India's banking system has never before received a such a large amount of money in such a short time": Modi's boast) - unwanted because banks have to pay interest on these unsolicited deposits, while waiting for the RBI to furnish new currency to replace old currency, at which point all they have found deposited will transmogrify into a flood of outflows, plunging the banking system into yet another crisis! (Who is this guy's economic adviser?)
About Nepal Samaj
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