below the line

Colour display

With social media abuzz with the new ‘waterproof’ ₹2,000 note bleeding colour, it was amusing to see Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sitting in the Lok Sabha and rubbing white paper on an old ₹100 note. He soon displayed the white paper, which had traces of blue colour, to his colleague SS Ahluwalia, conscious of a watchful press gallery above him. Now that’s called the art of communicating without words!

Settle later

The demonetisation has hit real estate and vehicle registrations. But that does not mean that the parties concerned are letting cash shortage become a stumbling block in transactions; they have decided that ‘settlement’ can happen at a later date. However, it is another matter that the buyers’ sentiment is hit and they have put off purchases for a later date.

Auto demonetisation

While much has been said about the new ₹2,000 note, one fallout of the washable ink on the new note, pointed out by a bureaucrat, is worth pondering over. “See, the washable ink will ensure that the notes will self-destroy in a year. That will be automatic demonetisation,” he said.

Can’t hide smiles

Thanks to demonetisation, mutual fund houses are a happy lot. As one fund house chief pithily put it, banks are going to come to their (fund house) door steps to help manage the huge pile of deposits flowing into the banking system.

Anti-climax

The demonetisation drive has compelled film distributors to push back their Friday releases — particularly after seeing the fate of much hyped Rock On 2 that released on November 11. One of the lead actors of Rock On 2 Arjun Rampal was quoted as saying when the entire country does not have enough money, how will the movie do business.

Did Congress miss it?

When the discussion on demonetisation started in Rajya Sabha, everyone thought former finance minister P Chidambaram would start the proceedings. But the discussion was opened by the deputy leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma. Initially, there was no indication of a discussion taking place. The decision of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman to have a discussion took everyone by surprise, and Congress was perhaps not prepared for it.Chidambaram spoke next.

Another game

India and Pakistan have started yet another ping-pong game around the Heart of Asia Conference taking place next month in Amritsar. While India has invited Pakistan to attend the multilateral forum, no official confirmation has been received from Pakistan. Meanwhile, media reports from Pakistan have stated that Sartaz Aziz, advisor on foreign affairs to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, is coming to India.

Take an SIP, no MFs!

Nimesh Shah, MD & CEO of ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund, says he’s grateful to the media for spreading the cult of mutual funds, especially the concept of SIPs (systematic investment plans). He says, even his yoga teacher talks about investing in SIPs. He even overhead someone saying, don’t invest in mutual funds, they are risky, invest in SIPs only!

All design fails

The celebrated CEO of a marquee IT company in trying to be politically correct about the de-monetisation policy ended up calling it as a true example of design thinking, something which he has implemented across his organisation. Design thinking is all about finding creative ways to solve a specific issue. If only he had walked across to any of the ATMs outside the office campus, he would have realised that there is a flip side to design thinking as well.

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