First print, now stop – India’s Rs 2,000 note policy is just bad planning

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India has stopped printing the Rs 2,000 note it rushed into the system after demonetisation. Replacing Rs 1,000 notes with Rs 2,000 notes didn’t reduce high denomination notes, or make it difficult to hold black money. The new note was also quickly counterfeited. Poor policy and bad planning all around.

Parliament becoming a spectacle is not new. But the last full session before general elections has become a virtual campaign ground. Parties are grandstanding on everything, from Rafale and triple talaq to Cauvery water and special status for Andhra. No meaningful legislative business is transacted as they perform for eyeballs.

India can ignore Trump’s library remark but should showcase its Afghan effort

There’s no need for India to be thin-skinned and offended by Trump’s throwaway, albeit derisive, remark about New Delhi building a library in Afghanistan. India needs Trump to take on the Chinese and extend the Russian arms waiver. But India must do more to project its efforts to rebuild Afghanistan.