Mysore, Kochi to use plastic Rs 10 notes soon

May 3, 2013

plastic_Rs_10Bangalore, May 3: As recoveries and seizures of counterfeit currency notes by various agencies continue in big numbers in South India, Mysore and Kochi will become first two cities in the country to have plastic/polymer currency notes of Rs 10 denomination in circulation, in line with the Centre’s initiative.

One of the objectives of the move is to tackle the counterfeit currency menace, the Union Finance Ministry and the RBI have maintained.

Mysore and Kochi are among five Indian cities where the Centre has decided to introduce such notes on a trial basis. The government plans to introduce one billion pieces of Rs 10 notes in Jaipur, Bhubaneswar and Shimla apart from these two.

Although authorities maintain that the selection of the cities will help test such notes in varied geographical locations and climatic conditions, the move will be India’s latest in tackling the fake note problem, which, investigations in the past have revealed, are being used to fund terror groups among other anti-national activities.

And South India is slowly becoming a major centre for smuggling of such notes.

Going by statistics from the National Crimes Record Bureau , 6,386 notes of Rs 1,000, 12,226 notes of Rs 500, 1,247 notes of Rs 100 and 1,057 notes of Rs 50 and one note of other denominations have been seized in Karnataka, from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2012. The total face value of the notes stands at Rs 1,26,76,560.

During the same time, the face value of fake currency notes recovered and seized in Kerala stood at Rs 29,09,300, while it was Rs 1,97,81,910 in AP and Rs 2,54,25,005 in Tamil Nadu. (See table for statistics from Jan 1, 2010 to Dec 31, 2012 of all the four states).

Although the number of counterfeit notes of Rs 10 denomination is not negligible compared to Rs 1,000, Rs 500, Rs 100 and Rs 50, the pilot project is restricted to Rs 10. Sources, however, said plans to introduce notes of higher denomination is being considered.

Globally, countries like Australia and New Zealand have opted for such notes to counter fake currency notes, and India will join this club once the project kicks off, the source said.

RBI spokesperson Alpana Killawala told Deccan Herald, “We have already floated tenders in this regard but no other details can be discussed at this juncture.”

On whether the RBI has fixed any timeline to begin the project, she said: “There are a lot of external factors that have to be taken into consideration, we cannot arbitrarily set deadlines. We are taking the process forward, it will be complete when it is.”

The sources said the RBI has sought interested manufacturers of polymer banknotes submit their expression of interest and expected to submit specifications of the substrate along with 500 pieces of sample banknotes printed on the proposed substrate.

The sample banknotes should be serially numbered, distinguishable, prominently marked “SAMPLE” across the face and carry the applicant’s name in indelible ink.

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News Network
June 16,2020

New Delhi, Jun 16: With an increase of 10,667 cases and 380 deaths in the past 24 hours, the COVID-19 count in India has reached 3,43,091 on Tuesday, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

It is noteworthy that today's spike in cases is lower than the 11,502 registered in the country yesterday and has also stayed below the 11 thousand mark it had been crossing for the past two days in a row.

However, there is an increase in the number of deaths due to the infection from yesterday, with 380 deaths being reported from across the country, the toll due to COVID-19 has now reached 9,900.

The COVID-19 count includes 1,53,178 active cases, while 1,80,013 patients have been cured and discharged or migrated so far.

Maharashtra with 1,10,744 cases continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 50,567 active cases while 56,049 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. The toll due to COVID-19 has crossed the four thousand mark and reached 4,128 in the state.
It is followed by Tamil Nadu with 46,504 and the national capital with 42,829 confirmed cases.

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News Network
March 25,2020

Mumbai, Mar 25: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday confirmed that five people from a family in Sangli and four others from Mumbai tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total count to 116, which is the highest in any state of the country.
"The current count of COVID19 patients in the state of Maharashtra is 116. In Sangli, 5 people from one family are identified as positive due to contacts and 4 people from Mumbai are identified as positive due to travel history or contacts," Tope tweeted.
The state Health Minister informed that out of 116 people, 14 people have recovered and are in the process of being discharged from the hospitals.
"14 people from these have been recovered and are in the process of being discharged from the hospitals," he said in another tweet.
Meanwhile, the Sangli district administration in Maharashtra has released contact numbers for citizens to get home delivery of essential items during the 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The police personnel and district administration will be in charge of facilitating delivery for the essential commodities during the lockdown.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday confirmed 539 positive cases of coronavirus in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

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News Network
March 3,2020

New Delhi, Mar 3: A day after two new cases of novel coronavirus that included one from Delhi were reported, the Health Ministry on Tuesday said six cases with "high-viral load" were detected during sample testing in Agra and these people have been kept in isolation. The six people had come in contact with a 45-year-old patient from Delhi, whose case came to light on Monday, and they include his family members.

According to government sources, the man, who is a resident of Mayur Vihar, had visited them in Agra.

The six have been kept in isolation at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi and their samples are being sent to NIV, Pune for confirmation.

Contact tracing of the people who came in contact with the six is simultaneously being done through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) network, the ministry said in a statement.

Sources said the patient from Mayur Vihar was shifted to a quarantine ward at Safdarjung Hospital on Sunday night.

His other family members have been asked to stay alert and look out for symptoms. One accountant, who came in contact with the man and some of his family members, was also quarantined, they said.

India on Monday reported two new cases of the novel coronavirus, one from Delhi and another one from Hyderabad. The government has stepped up its efforts to detect and check the infection which has killed 2,912 people in China.

On Monday, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma had said that an Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur.

The first sample collected from him on February 29 tested negative but his condition deteriorated, so a second sample was collected which tested positive on Monday, the minister said, adding, "Since there is a variation in the reports, the samples have been sent to the NIV, Pune for testing".

India had earlier reported three cases from Kerala, including two medical students from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the deadly novel coronavirus. They had self-reported on their return to the country and tested positive for the infection. They were discharged from hospitals last month following recovery.

The infected person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, while the other patient who tested positive for the COVID-19 infection is from Telangana and had recently travelled to Dubai.

Both the patients had self-reported after they developed symptoms.

"They tested positive. They are stable and being closely monitored," ministry said on Monday.

The government has asked people to avoid non-essential travel to Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore and said India was in discussions with authorities in Iran and Italy, two countries badly affected by the infection, to evacuate Indians there.

The novel coronavirus or COVID-19, which originated in China, has spread to over 60 countries.

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