People crowd inside a bank to deposit and exchange discontinued currency notes in Allahabad, India, on November 12, 2016. Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP Photo
People crowd inside a bank to deposit and exchange discontinued currency notes in Allahabad, India, on November 12, 2016. Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP Photo

Anger and scuffles as Indians crowd banks to swap banknotes



NEW DELHI // Chaotic scenes played out across India on Saturday, with scuffles breaking out as millions of anxious people stood in long queues to change currency notes that the government had declared worthless.

There were minor stampedes at two banks in the capital’s old quarter when thousands of people waiting in line surged forward.

Paramilitary troops posted at banks in some of the most congested areas of New Delhi walked among the crowds urging people to stay calm, but frustrations grew as reports came in that some banks had run out of new currency notes.

Delhi police said they received more than 3,000 calls reporting fights and scuffles in the city on Friday as people crowded outside banks, waiting to exchange old notes or withdraw money. On Saturday, they had received nearly 200 calls in the four hours since the banks opened at 9am.

In the southern India, furious crowds smashed glass panes and vandalised a bank branch in the city of Kollam after the manager announced that it had run out of the new bills.

The government made a surprise announcement on Tuesday that all 500 and 1,000-rupee notes in circulation no longer had any value, and introduced a redesigned 500-rupee note and a new 2,000-rupee note in their place.

Prime minister Narendra Modi said the move was taken to tackle corruption and tax evasion, but there has been growing public resentment over the government’s handling of the switch.

“I am so angry at the lack of planning on the part of the government before taking such an enormous step,” said Raju Sundaram, an executive who had been waiting in line for four hours outside a bank in the south Delhi neighbourhood of Saket.

Mr Sundaram said he was queuing for a third day. “On Thursday and Friday, they ran out of cash before my turn,” he said, as he clutched a bunch of identity papers and a bottle of water.

Scuffles also broke out at ATMs after they ran out of bills.

More than half of the more than 200,000 ATMs in the country have not yet been reconfigured to dispense the new notes. The finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday that the process would take several more weeks.

He said the recalibration could not have been done in advance to ensure the planned currency change was kept secret.

Meanwhile, anger was mounting as people, frustrated with the delays and long hours spent in serpentine lines, lost their cool, lashing out at the government and bank employees.

“If it’s bad outside the bank, it’s complete chaos inside,” said Suniti Kumar, a housewife, as she elbowed her way out of a bank through a restive crowd.

Bank staff, who have been working long hours or in shifts, appeared helpless.

“This is a hugely disruptive step,” said a bank teller in Delhi’s shopping hub of Connaught Place, as he stepped outside for a cigarette. “It required a lot more planning, but that didn’t happen.”

* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
3%20Body%20Problem
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Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

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Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

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Veere di Wedding
Dir: Shashanka Ghosh
Starring: Kareena Kapoo-Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania ​​​​​​​
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  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
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Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

The Details

Kabir Singh

Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series

Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa

Rating: 2.5/5 

The winners

Fiction

  • ‘Amreekiya’  by Lena Mahmoud
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The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award

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The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award

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Children/Young Adult

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1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281

2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247

3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222

4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177

5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138

6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 93

7. Sergio Perez, Force India 86

8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 56

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