Business
Budget 2022: On digital currency, PM Modi explains what it’ll mean for economy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India’s new blockchain-based digital currency will just be a virtual form of the standard Indian rupee (INR), the official currency of the country that now exists in a physical form. Just as the issuance of this currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the digital currency, too, will be regulated by the central bank, said the Prime Minister.
Modi was on this day addressing his fellow Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) colleagues on the Union Budget 2022-23 presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Highlighting key features of the annual financial statement, the Prime Minister said that the “people-friendly” has made adequate provisions for India’s upcoming digital currency, keeping in mind the rapidly changing financial scene that is increasingly dealing with cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other forms of digital assets.
Elaborating on the nature of this virtual currency, Prime Minister Modi said that it can be exchanged with its physical counterpart given that the two are equal in value but only different in form. This currency will strengthen the digital economy and boost the fintech sector, he said.
“In today’s newspaper, there has been a lot of discussion about the central bank’s digital currency,” said the Prime Minister in his televised address to BJP party workers today. “This will strengthen the digital economy. This ‘digital rupee’ will be the virtual form of our standard physical currency and will be overseen by the RBI. It can be exchanged with physical currency.”
Stressing on the fact that the annual budget is aimed at taking forward his government’s vision over the past seven years, the Prime Minister reminded his colleagues that in the wake of the pandemic, a new world order is in the making, where many of the things from a pre-Covid society is going to change.
“Post-pandemic, things are meant to change,” he said. “India, too, is seeing itself in a new light. The world’s perspective of looking at India has also changed a lot these days. It is imperative for us to take the country forward at a rapid pace by strengthening our economy with the goal of achieving Aatmanirbharta (self-dependency).”
The Prime Minister said that it is extremely important for India, as a modern nation, to be self-reliant. The nation’s economy is “continuously expanding” in the direction of modernity, he said.
“Digital payments will be regulated, much like standard currency is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),” the Prime Minister said. “Such payments are more secure, efficient, and safe, and goes a long way towards paving the way for a global digital payments’ infrastructure.”
Finance minister Sitharaman had a day prior unveiled the ₹39.45 lakh crore budget, wherein she announced that India’s own digital currency will soon be a reality. The currency will be issued by the RBI in 2022-23 using blockchain technology, the minister said, adding it will boost the digital economy.
Notably, the RBI had said in July last year that it was working towards its own digital currency. Calling it the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), RBI deputy governor T Rabi Sankar had said that it will be the same as a fiat currency and that it will be exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat.
He had further said that CBDC is not comparable to the private virtual currencies that have mushroomed over the last decade. Private virtual currencies sit at substantial odds with the historical concept of money, Sankar added.
The RBI has held on multiple occasions the opinion that cryptocurrencies like BitCoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin – among many others – pose a risk to financial stability. The central bank has also questioned the crypto market value, asking investors to not get “lured” by the promises of lucrative returns on these digital assets.
Complete News Source : HIndustan times
india
Oppn seeks probe into Adani charges in US: ‘Obvious protection of PM Modi’
Following US SEC charges of bribery against Gautam Adani, opposition parties criticise PM Narendra Modi and call for a JPC investigation.
As billionaire Gautam Adani faces charges in the US for alleged bribery and fraud, the Opposition on Thursday intensified its attack on the Centre over its alleged links with the Adani Group.
Gautam Adani has been charged in the US with allegedly paying $250 million in bribes to Indian officials between 2020 and 2024 to secure favourable terms for solar energy contracts. The scheme, prosecutors said, could have earned Adani’s group over $25 billion in profits.
Congress demands JPC probe
Reacting to the charges, the Congress called for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into alleged scams involving Adani’s conglomerate. The party also demanded the appointment of a “new and credible” Sebi chief to investigate Adani’s financial dealings and compliance with securities laws.
ALSO READ- At 65.2%, Maharashtra records highest voter turnout since 1995 assembly election
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) actions highlight the failure of Indian institutions to investigate the group. “The indictment vindicates Congress’s demand since January 2023 for a JPC into the Modani scams,” Ramesh wrote on X.
He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of shielding Adani and claimed Congress’s “Hum Adani Ke Hain Kaun” (HAHK) series had exposed the businessman’s alleged fraud and his ties with the PM.
The fact that it has taken a foreign jurisdiction to properly investigate Adani only shows how Indian institutions have been captured by the BJP, and how decades of institutional development have been undone by greedy and power hungry leaders, the Congress leader said in another post.
“All of this is consistent with a long record of fraud and criminality carried out with impunity with the obvious protection of the Prime Minister,” Ramesh charged.
Other Oppn leaders join attack
Other opposition leaders joined the attack. Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale questioned the BJP’s involvement in Adani’s dealings and demanded an independent judicial probe.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh accused PM Modi of allowing Adani to tarnish India’s global reputation.
ALSO READ- Adani Group shares plunge after US SEC charges, Adani Green down 16%
Adani stocks latest updates
The allegations rattled markets, with Adani Group stocks plunging. Adani Enterprises fell 20 per cent in pre-open trade, while shares of Adani Ports, Adani Green, Adani Power, and others dropped between 7 per cent and 18 per cent.
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