In the last couple of weeks, some drastic changes happened in the biggest democracies of the world. The United States of America has selected Donald Trump as its new President which was very shocking for the rest of the world. Another big change the largest democracy of the world, India, witnessed. It was the demonetization of its currency. ₹ 500 and ₹ 1000 notes will not be considered legal currency anymore. In turn, ₹ 2000 notes will come into effect. People of India have 50 days since the announcement (until the end of 2016) to deposit their ₹ 500 and ₹ 1000 notes to the banks and to adjust to the change.

On November 8, when Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi made the biggest announcement related to the Indian economy, it seemed that this would be the best ever move by any Government so far to combat corruption and tax cheating. The demonetization policy, that too, in such a short notice, would force tax cheaters and people who inherit "Black Money" in India as cash to come to banks to deposit their ₹ 500 and ₹ 1000 notes. Once they deposit such a large amount of cash, they will be scrutinized automatically if they won't be able to produce the proof for source of such a large amount of money.

Take a look at the chart below if you are unclear about the tax you'll be paying depending upon the amount you are going to deposit in the bank.




The Government of India is calling this policy of demonetization a complimentary campaign to their "Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan" (Clean India Campaign) where they want to sweep out corruption from India as well.

CONS

Inconvenience

55 - Total number of people who lost their lives amidst the chaos while exchanging money in the long queues of the banks. The shocking element of this exchanging money process is that no rich person is ever seen in those long tiring queues. There are numerous cases which come into light every day when someone's wedding is delayed, someone's treatment in the hospital is delayed and the worst I've heard is someone is delayed blood transfusion and basic access to food because of the unavailability of the cash as one is allowed to withdraw not more than ₹ 10,000 a day.

Since the whole demonetization process was a swift one in order to not give enough time to black money or unaccounted money holders to "whiten" their money, the banks were also not given heads up to prepare themselves for the upcoming chaos. It has been 2 weeks but people are still struggling to get their hard earned money deposited and withdrawn in banks because banks are still not equipped to accommodate such large deposits and withdrawals.

Loss of manhours

Many remote villages or small towns in India do not have access to any banks nearby. Most of the residents of all those places have never been to a bank and don't have an account in banks. With the demonetization policy in effect, all those people will be forced to have a bank account so that their money which they have saved all their lives to be considered legit money and call it their own money. Those people are traveling far and wide to stand in the bank queues early in the morning so that they don't lose their daily wages by not showing up to their work. This may destabilize the rural economy.

Vulnerability in financial crisis

Indian economy is mostly constituted of cash. People use cash for their daily transactions. The Government of India is forcing everyone to use banks and in turn, withdraw less money and use cheques (like MnRega). Is our system too strong to check the authenticity of cheques? Can small businesses rely on cheques for their daily transactions? Unfortunately, these habits of using cash cannot be changed overnight.

According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI), ₹ 16, 415 billion is in circulation (as of March 2016). 47.8% of this huge amount is constituted by ₹ 500 notes while ₹ 1000 notes make 38.6% of it. Thus, demonetization policy is going to freeze a whopping amount of money.

Ineffective in eradicating corruption

Corruption has little to do with this new policy because all the black money or illegal money is not necessarily in cash as the assets can be held in other forms. According to the estimates, only 20% of the black money is held in cash. The appearance of ₹ 2000 note in Indian economy will also resurface the corruption because corruption does not need the choice of notes, it needs the conscience to do something against the system.

After writing about heroes, it is time to write about Zero. An element from which all the heroes evolve. Zéro (French), Zefiro (Italian), Sifr (Arabic), Sunya (Sanskrit) - they all represent a term "empty" and in the modern world we know it as "Zero". Zero is a foundation and a fundamental start for all of us.

"Nothing" can be "Something"

Imagine the world without zero. Without zero, there will be no decimal system in place. The distance between planets, their orbits, their shapes and other heavenly bodies existing in the universe would not have been found out by humans. No algebra, financial accounting, calculus or arithmetic calculations are possible without zero, hence, no real mathematics. On a humorous note, we would have less to study and women wouldn't stress to get their figure size zero.

Every hero whom we idolize must have started from a zero. The concept of null, empty and nothingness emerged from zero. We all strived from a starting point which is always a zero and we calculate our success or failure based on this starting point which is defined by zero.

Power of Zero 

Zero is supposed to be nothing, but works wonders if on the right side.
Anonymous

When being asked who do you consider your hero or superhero, I have always answered "my father". For almost every girl, her father is her first superhero. I am no different. We see our fathers performing supernatural and next to impossible activities for us to keep us happy so we tend to compare them with superheroes. In my humble opinion, every individual who takes pride in serving his country and countrymen, is a hero.

My another reason to call my papa "superhero" is - he made my country proud. Yes, he served in Indian Army. Married to a daughter of another army soldier, my papa has been a pride for his country and his family. He had been a part of three wars during his service to the country - two with Pakistan (1965 & 1971) and one with China (1962).

On being selected in Indian Army and going through his months-long strenuous training, he was ready to accept all the challenges his life was about to throw at him. His life, while at service, had never been a bed of roses but he never complained about it. He could have worked in offices like some of his friends but he always says that the feeling to make your country proud will never match any other feeling even when you make the six-figure salary.

Having posted at the coldest place in India at Siachen to the hottest place in Rajasthan, we had never seen his mental and physical stamina being shaken. We didn't see him for months unless we all lived in army quarters together.

It has been 26 years since he retired from the Indian Defence Services but the soldier inside him is still in action. Like every other Indian, his blood boils too when he hears the blood being shed at the border. He is still ready to go and fight for the country if called by the services.

When being asked what is his biggest asset, his answer is always his "Uniform and medallions" which are precious to him. They are his pride and honour. We have grown up listening to his stories during his service life. Needless to say, when the head of the family is in Army, discipline is instilled in the family as well.

I am one of those lucky daughters of army personnel who loves her father to be at a phone call's distance away. Life never gives another chance to a soldier and there are no runners-up in war. Yes, my father is my "superhero".

Be the change you want to see in the world.
- Mahatma Gandhi

Duties of a common man

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada has showed once again that Canada is inclusive. There could be a delay in an apology but there is one for sure. He formally apologized from Sikh community in the House of Commons for the infamous Komagata Maru incident on May 18, 2016. The apology came after 102 years of the Komagata Maru incident which was the symbol of discriminatory and exclusion laws in Canada designed to keep out immigrants of only Asian origin.

All you need to know about Komagata Maru

April 4, 1914 

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Canadian Immigration Policy and the ill treatment of Indian passengers in 1914

When thought of writing and researching about a country I knew the least about, I couldn't resist thinking about India. The country where I was born and to whom I owe my heritage is full of paradoxical mysteries. The land of linguistic, cultural, racial and culinary diversity often seems to be generalised and stereotyped. I seem to know a lot yet feel ignorant when it comes to facts about India.

Sharing some facts about India which I researched about:

1. If you are a non-Indian:It is illegal to keep Indian passport if you acquired citizenship of another country. Also, it is illegal for foreigners or non-Indians to take Indian currency (₹) out of India.
2. The most expensive home: Mukesh Ambani's "Antilia" is the most expensive private home on this planet constructed with whopping $689 million and the cost of the land contributing together towards $ 1 billion . It has 27 floors, 3 helipads, 6-floor car park, 4-storey hanging garden, a cinema and around 600 staff members working in it 24x7.

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3. The largest civilian evacuation operation in the history of mankind: Only after watching Airlift, a recent bollywood movie of Akshay Kumar, I found out about the civilian evacuation operation which was successfully completed by Indian Government with the help of Air India . It was indeed the largest civilian evacuation operation done ever in the world which saved the lives of 1,70,000 Indians stranded in Kuwait during Gulf War when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Indians living in Kuwait had nowhere to go and were scared of their lives. Over the course of 59 days, it took 488 Air India flights to evacuate all the stranded Indians from Kuwait to India for which Air India still holds the Guinness Book of World Record. 
4. Dolphins cannot be kept captive: India is fourth and the largest country to put a ban on captivating dolphins. According to the scientists who researched on dolphins stated that dolphins have high intelligence and sensitivity closer to humans and thus can be regarded as "non-human persons". They should also have their own rights and it is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment reasons.
5. Unbeaten Kabaddi world cup winners: India has never been beaten in any of the Kabaddi world cups ever held till date. Both in men's and women's category, India has been invincible in any of the league games of Kabaddi and has always won the world cup for the country.
   

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6. Stark financial inequality: According to the Asia-Pacific 2016 Wealth Report by New World Wealth, India is amongst the top 5 nations in Asia Pacific with her total numbers of individuals whose net worth is $1 million or more. India ranks 4th on the list with 2,36,000 such high net worth individuals. In correlation to the above achievement, India is also at the bottom of per capita income. Even though the World Bank's data shows that India's gross national income per person has increased from previous years but it is solely due to the addition of new millionaires into the list rather than the overall increase in income levels. Sadly, to buy a big mac from McDonald's in India, an average person has to work 6 hours.
7.  The largest free kitchen inside Golden Temple: Everyone knows that Golden Temple is Mecca of Sikhs but this is not entirely true. Golden Temple, also known as Shri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar city of Punjab, feeds more than 100,000 people every day irrespective of their religion, race and class. The food is entirely free and never runs out at this holy shrine. The langar or free kitchen service is practised in the temple everyday where everyone, sits cross-legged, row upon row and enjoys the food without paying anything for the food.

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8. Pollution - a silent killer: According to a report by Global Burden of Disease (GBD), outdoor air pollution is 5th largest killer in India. Nearly 100,000 premature deaths happen in India due to air pollution. World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Delhi as the most polluted city in the world surpassing Beijing which puts residents of Delhi at a high risk of respiratory diseases and lung cancer. The air that school children in Delhi breathe is 4 times more toxic than the required safety limit. Similarly, breathing the air in Mumbai for just one day is equivalent to smoking 100 cigarettes. Approximately 30 million people in India including children suffer from Asthma. 
9. More mobiles than toilets: The world's second most populous country has surprisingly more mobiles than toilets. A report by Water Aid shows that approximately 774,222,300 people in India alone out of 2.3 billion people of the world, do not have access to a safe and private toilet. This means that more than 60% of India's population does not have access to sanitation and it invites diarrhoea and other diseases due to the lack of sanitation in children. On the other hand, there are 1,017,968,757 mobile connections in India which means 80% of the population has mobile connections.
   
   
   
   
10. Banned alcohol consumption: Alcohol consumption is banned in 5 Indian states namely Gujarat, Bihar, Nagaland, Manipur and Lakshadweep (Union Territory). Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Mizoram and Tamil Nadu had previously imposed the ban but were forced to withdraw the ban. Drinking age also varies in different states from 18 years to 25 years. 30% of Indian population consumes alcohol on regular basis where 11% of them are moderate to heavy drinkers. An average rural Indian consumes more alcohol than an urban Indian. Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Daman & Diu, Sikkim and Puducherry are among the highest consumers of alcohol and spirits in the country.

If you know some more facts about India, please share.
Writing for In^dispire topic116.

My friends love Indian food. None of them belongs to India but they crave for butter chicken, curry, chai tea (as foreigners call it). Of course, it is our food that makes us special in the world. Indian food, famous for its spices which contribute to 70% of the total world spices, are famous and widely used by people worldwide.

Do you know that 195 million people of the same country sleep hungry every day?

Another infographic by Rick Westhead showing major food wastage in India: