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The <keyword id="44734" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Government">Indian Government</keyword> wants small traders to move to digital payments as soon as possible and is luring them with 46% tax savings. This is possible as the Centre has decided to tweak presumptive income norms that will reduce tax liability. 
 
"Apart from making a tax saving of almost 46 per cent by migrating to banking mode, the small businesses would be able to build their books which may also help them get bank loans easily," the finance ministry said in a statement. 
 
Other benefit of going for digital payments is that if transactions are carried out through banking channels, then anybody having annual turnover up to Rs 66 lakhs will have zero tax liability after availing the benefit of Section 80C, after amendment of this new rate structure. 
 "The object is if you do transactions using digital mode then you can pay less tax. It is a tax incentive to support digitisation of the economy. And if we calculate it, then some traders would get over 30 per cent tax advantage if he transacts through digital mode," said <keyword id="6355261" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Finance-minister">Finance Minister</keyword> <keyword id="42575" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arun-Jaitley">Arun Jaitley</keyword>. 
 
Under the existing Section 44AD of the Income-Tax Act, 1961, in case of certain assessees (an individual, HUF or a partnership firm other than LLP) carrying on any business having a turnover of Rs 2 crore or less, the profit is deemed to be 8% of the total turnover for taxation. 
 
Jaitley cleared that in the Budget for 2016-17, small traders and businessmen, with turnover of up to Rs 2 crore who did not maintain proper accounts, were presumed to have earned 8% income or profit for tax purposes. But if they use digital mode of payments, their income will now be presumed to be 6% of the turnover and not 8%. 
 
After the decision to demonetise old Rs 500/1,000 notes, the government has taken several measures to encourage digital payments to promote less cash economy.

Govt is luring traders with 46% tax savings to push them towards digital payments

Dr <keyword id="6359397" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Manmohan-Singh">Manmohan Singh</keyword> feels that Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>’s <keyword id="3315394" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="demonetisation">demonetisation</keyword> scheme is a "travesty of his fundamental duty" and has lowered the confidence of more than a billion Indians to nil. 
 
Dr Singh, in critique published in The Hindu newspaper-"Making of a Mammoth Tragedy" – predicts a bad affect on GDP and jobs, and a tough period over the coming months, "needlessly so". 
 
He also write that this scheme would lead to "grievous injury" to the honest Indian and the dishonest black money hoarder will get away with a "mere rap on the knuckles." 
 
Earlier, Dr Singh said in parliament that the impact of the ban on high-denomination notes as "organised loot, legalised plunder". Now, his article elaborates on that view. 
 
"In one impetuous decision, the Prime Minister has shattered the faith and confidence that hundreds of millions of Indians had reposed in the Government of India to protect them and their money," he writes. 
 
"It is now evident that this sudden overnight ban on currency has dented the confidence of hundreds of millions of Indian consumers, which can have severe economic ramifications. The scars of an overnight depletion of the honest wealth of a vast majority of Indians combined with their ordeal of rationed access to new currency will be too deep to heal quickly." 
 
Taking a dig at the government, he says: "It may be tempting and self-fulfilling to believe that one has all the solutions and previous governments were merely lackadaisical in their attempts to curb black money. It is not so." 
 
He also describes what he feels about the note ban- checking tax evasion and fake money used by terrorists - as honourable and worthy of whole-hearted support. But, he points out, more than 90 per cent of India's workforce still earns wages in cash and more than 600 million Indians live in a town or village with no bank, who save their money in bigger notes. 
 
"To tarnish these as 'black money' and throw the lives of these hundreds of millions of poor people in disarray is a mammoth tragedy," he writes.

Manmohan Singh says demonetisation will have severe economic ramifications, a mammoth tragedy

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Kamala Harris criticized Donald Trump on abortion during the presidential debate Tuesday.</li><li>She looked directly at Trump during an impassioned response about the consequences of abortion bans.</li></ul>Vice President <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris ">Kamala Harris</a> hammered former President Donald Trump on abortion during the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kamala-harris-donald-trump-presidential-debate-takeaways-2024-9">presidential debate on Tuesday</a>, invoking real-world consequences of abortion bans.Trump noted his success in appointing Supreme Court justices that ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade, arguing that "everyone" wanted it and that the issue should be left up to the states. (In the summer of 2022, a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2022/07/06/majority-of-public-disapproves-of-supreme-courts-decision-to-overturn-roe-v-wade/">Pew Research survey</a> found that 57% of adults disapproved of the SCOTUS decision.)Harris responded by saying more than 20 states have since passed "Trump abortion bans," including some that do not have exceptions for rape or incest, calling the bans "immoral."During the exchange, the vice president looked directly at Trump with a powerful response that included specific examples of how state-level abortion bans have impacted reproductive rights."You want to talk about this is what people wanted? Pregnant women who want to carry a pregnancy to term <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/pregnancy-emergency-care-abortion-supreme-court-roe-9ce6c87c8fc653c840654de1ae5f7a1c">suffering from a miscarriage being denied care</a> in an emergency room because the healthcare providers are afraid they might go to jail, and she's bleeding out in a car in a parking lot? She didn't want that. Her husband didn't want that," Harris said.Harris said that as president, she would sign legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade into law. Trump, for his part, declined to say whether he would sign a national abortion ban."I think the American people believe that certain freedoms, in particular the freedom to make decisions about one's own body, should not be made by the government," Harris added.Her impassioned response is likely to resonate with many Americans, as 63% believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/fact-sheet/public-opinion-on-abortion/">Pew Research Center</a> polling.Abortion is also a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/abortion-rights-decisive-issue-democrats-politics-desk-rcna147615">winning issue for Democrats </a>and has been important for turnout in states where abortion referendums have been on the ballot. President Joe Biden, notably, botched his answer on abortion during his debate with Trump before he dropped out of the race.Trump, in 2016, turned out evangelical voters by running on an anti-abortion platform, and his selections of Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court only solidified his already strong standing among conservatives — especially after they voted to overturn Roe in 2022.But Trump in 2020 faltered among swaths of suburban voters, notably those in many onetime GOP strongholds in states like Arizona and Georgia. While most Republicans that year stuck with Trump, independents and a small bloc of more moderate Republicans helped Biden find success in the Sun Belt.Harris has been a powerful voice in advocating for reproductive rights, and it's an issue that, in poll after poll, is the one that voters trust her most on — a dynamic that could cause electoral hiccups for Trump in November.

Kamala Harris nailed her debate response on the Democrats' most winning issue: abortion

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Ukrainian President Zelenskyy banned the activities of political opposition parties in the country. </li><li>In an address Sunday, Zelenskyy said that "everyone must now take care of the interests of our state." </li></ul>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a ban on activities by political opposition parties in the country. "Given the full-scale war waged by the Russian Federation and the ties of some political structures with this state, any activity of a number of political parties during the martial law is suspended," Zelenskyy said in a video <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/sho-bilshe-rosiya-zastosovuye-teroru-proti-ukrayini-girshi-n-73685">address</a> on Sunday.The 11 opposition parties named were: Opposition Platform - For Life, Shariy Party, Nashi, Opposition Bloc, Left Opposition, Union of Left Forces, State, Progressive Socialist Party of <keyword id="11985141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ukraine" source="Orion">Ukraine</keyword>, Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialists Party, and Volodymyr Saldo Bloc.Ukraine <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/ukraine-imposes-martial-law-asking-citizens-to-stay-at-home-after-russia-declares-war/articleshow/89794554.cms">imposed martial law</a> directly following <keyword id="11894337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="russia" source="Orion">Russia</keyword>'s invasion. Martial law is a law administered by the military rather than a civilian government and may be declared in an emergency or as a response to a crisis."I want to remind all politicians from any camp: wartime shows very well the meanness of personal ambitions of those who try to put their own ambitions, their own party or career above the interests of the state, the interests of the people," Zelenskyy said in the address. "Any activity of politicians aimed at splitting or collaborating will not succeed. But it will get a tough response," he added. "The activities of those politicians aimed at division or collusion will not succeed, but will receive a harsh response."The Ukrainian Ministry of Justice will "immediately take comprehensive measures" to enforce the ban," Zelenskyy noted. "Everyone must now take care of the interests of our state, the interests of Ukraine," Zelenskyy said. "Because it's for us. Because it is for the sake of life."

Zelenskyy suspends Ukrainian opposition parties with 'ties' to Russia, warns of 'harsh response' if they don't comply with ban

<ul><li><keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>’s central bank, the <keyword id="6354335" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india">Reserve Bank of India</keyword>, refused to state the cost incurred in the destruction of banned currency notes when questioned by <keyword id="55120" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Right-To-Information">Right to Information</keyword> (RTI) activist. </li><li>However, the bank revealed that of the total junked currency, ₹107.2 billion did not return to the banking system post <keyword id="3315394" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="demonetisation">demonetisation</keyword>. </li><li>The invalidated notes were destroyed through the currency verification machines and processing system. </li></ul>A large amount of money was returned to the banks post demonetisation but when the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was questioned under the Right To Information (RTI) Act, it refused to reveal the cost of destroying the banned currency <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/rbi-refuses-to-disclose-cost-of-destroying-banned-notes-after-demonetisation/story/288827.html">amounting to</a> nearly ₹15.3 trillion. In response to a query by Chandrashekhar Gaud, posted on 29 October under the RTI Act, RBI got away with saying that the process of destruction of the banned currency notes was over by March 2018. The bank also mentioned that the invalidated notes <a href="https://www.bloombergquint.com/markets/rbi-refuses-to-state-how-much-destruction-of-banned-notes-cost-rti#gs.8X2b9zQ">worth</a> ₹107.2 billion did not return to the banking system in the first place. On further questioning by Gaud, on how much the destruction of banned currency cost, the reply had no numbers from RBI. In fact, the bank said that the information was unavailable and that providing it would ‘disproportionately divert the resources’, citing Section 7(9) of the RTI Act. All of this information was sourced from the <a href="https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/AnnualPublications.aspx?head=Department%20of%20Currency%20Management">Department of Currency Management</a> of RBI, which said that the banned currency was destroyed through the currency verification machines. Questions unanswered Even on being asked about the number of ₹500 and ₹1000 notes that were destroyed, the bank had nothing to offer. However, the bank had earlier informed the public that nearly 99.3% of the total demonetised money was returned to the bank. During the advocated time-frame of demonetisation the RBI successfully aggregated ₹15.3 trillion. But, if we go back to when demonetisation was originally announced, in November 2016, over 15.4 trillion in denominations of ₹500 and ₹1000 were in circulation.

India’s central bank refused to disclose the cost of destroying banned notes after demonetisation

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=atms&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">ATMs</a> are dry and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=cash+crunch&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">cash crunch</a> is back to haunt you yet again. No, the government has not <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=demonetisation&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">banned any notes</a> but the automatic teller machines (<keyword id="60866" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ATMs">ATMs</keyword>) are empty over the past few days and many sections are facing the problem. 
 
Reportedly, most of the 60% working ATMs are getting loaded with cash in full capacity. 
 
ET reported ATMs are not being filled to the maximum capacity of around Rs 30 lakh because of insufficient cash supply. In fact, only Rs 10 lakh is being loaded in each machine. 
 
"We are still loading less than 70% of the full capacity of ATMs and there are concerns around the (inadequate) supply of Rs 100 denomination notes," chief executive of one of India's biggest ATM manufacturing companies, which also manages ATMs, told ET. 
 The reason of the <keyword id="3888095" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cash-crunch-in-ATMs">cash crunch in ATMs</keyword> is attributed to high withdrawals towards the end of a financial year. 
 
"Every year we usually see a spike in supply of currency notes to meet this higher demand. The demand this year has been high as usual, but there was no increase in supply, causing a serious cash shortfall across the country," another top executive with a cash logistics company responsible for transporting cash and managing ATMs told ET, adding “Usually we see about 35% of the entire cash supply for the month of March happening in the fourth week. But that much cash was not supplied this year.”

Cash crunch is back! ATMs are dry yet again

In a shocking news, the Income Tax (I-T) Department found out that Rs 40 crore were deposited in a branch on <keyword id="6355975" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Axis-Bank">Axis Bank</keyword> in New Delhi. Post demonetization, this is one of the largest seizure of black money, hinting that even banks are involved in such money laundering cases. 
 
The Rs 40 crore were deposited in banned notes. . Authorities are now keeping a close watch on associates of some politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists. 
 
Post this event, the I-T officials searched the premises of two of its managers along with the axis bank, in the last three days and cash and documents were seized. 
 The racket has been uncovered and is said to be operating from old Delhi and <keyword id="6396180" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Laxmi-Nagar">Laxmi Nagar</keyword> areas where some jewellers and entry operators were found collecting and in connivance with bank officials. 
 
In the Axis Bank case, the managers were allegedly paid Rs 40 lakh to facilitate 'under-the-counter' transactions. 
 
According to sources, the illegal notes were deposited in three newly-opened accounts in the Axis Bank branch between November 11 and 22. 
 
The interrogation of three accused revealed that the bank managers extended special counter facility beyond banking hours for deposits of the banned currency notes. 
 However, the official spokesperson from Axis Bank said, "The deposits were made in the existing accounts of our customer at <keyword id="6488268" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kashmere-Gate">Kashmere Gate</keyword> branch, Delhi." 
(image: IndiaTimes)

I-T department finds Rs 40cr deposited in old notes in an Axis Bank branch; on a lookout for more such rackets

When the government announced <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/topic/demonetisation">demonetisation</a> in the country, banning currency notes and pushing for digital payments, nobody could have thought that illegal businesses like betting on cricket matches would also go digital. However, bookies of Indian Premier League (<keyword id="6354312" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="IPL">IPL</keyword>) matches have taken their business online, dealing with digital payments just like market trades. With the rise of IPL came a generation of younger bookies and bettors, who started to place bets on these teams and earn money, going up in lakhs. While earlier these transactions happened in hard cash, now the busyness has gone digital and payments are done online. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/ipl-2017-5-players-who-missed-this-ipl-season/articleshow/58237646.cms">IPL 2017: 5 Players who missed this IPL season</a> Not only payments, the transactions and process of booking have also been upgraded to Telegram, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/small-business/tech/offensive-posts-on-whatsapp-or-facebook-group-can-now-land-group-administrator-in-jail/articleshow/58282251.cms">WhatsApp, and Facebook</a> groups. The payments are sent to digital wallets of their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/retail/e-commerce/paytm-launches-food-wallet/articleshow/58224469.cms">Paytm</a> and FreeCharge accounts, while funds are transferred via international merchants like Neteller and Skrill. Not only this, sports betters also use websites like Bet365, Betway, LadBrokes, William Hill and Skybet for online betting. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/what-the-ipl-can-teach-us-about-investing/articleshow/58225290.cms">What the IPL can teach us about Investing</a> Even the police department knows about these transactions, accepting that online transactions have grown but are yet to become mainstream. "20% of betting might happen digitally, rest everything still happens in cash and over the phone," S Ravi, additional CP-crime, Bengaluru City Police, told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/this-ipl-season-bookies-and-bettors-have-gone-high-tech-and-cashless/articleshow/58351728.cms">ET</a>. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/paytm-freecharge-bhim-etc-have-serious-privacy-concerns-here-are-the-details/articleshow/58109151.cms">Paytm, Freecharge, BHIM, etc have serious privacy concerns. Here are the details</a> As per a 2012 report by <keyword id="50041" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="KPMG">KPMG</keyword>, the betting market in India was worth Rs 300,000 crore, and time and again, there have been requests from betters to legalise <keyword id="1084645" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports-betting">sports betting</keyword>, saying that doing so would make government revenues rise. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/sports/cricket-betting-should-be-legalized-say-experts/articleshow/50639341.cms">Here’s what you need to know about ‘legalised’ cricket betting</a> (Image source NewsWorldIndia)

In first IPL post demonetisation, bookies have gone ‘digital’ in their transactions

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Dershowitz-Papers/f2ac557e01754acc9883e57d7140d595/14/0">AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov</a>Famed Harvard Law professor and attorney Alan Dershowitz harshly criticized President Trump's immigration ban in an interview with Newsmax on Monday.</div></div></div>Famed Harvard Law professor and attorney Alan Dershowitz harshly criticized President Trump's immigration ban <a href="http://www.newsmax.com/t/newsmax/article/771151?section=Newsfront&amp;keywords=Alan-Dershowitz-travel-ban-badly-executed-constitution&amp;year=2017&amp;month=01&amp;date=30&amp;id=771151&amp;aliaspath=%2FManage%2FArticles%2FTemplate-Main&amp;oref=www.google.com">in an interview with Newsmax on Monday. </a>"It was badly executed, overbroad, and just not consistent with the best values of what America should be like," he said, before adding: "I think the whole thing was rolled out very poorly. They apparently never really checked with the lawyers. It could have been crafted in a way that made constitutional challenges more difficult. So, I think the roll out was very unfortunate."Still, Dershowitz, a leading proponent of civil liberties and a defense attorney who advised on the O.J. Simpson murder trial and worked on Nelson Mandela's defense team, stopped short of calling the ban unconstitutional, noting that determination is incredibly nuanced, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/01/31/alan-dershowitz-fareed-zakaria-sally-yates-attorney-general-fired-travel-ban-ctn.cnn">in an interview with CNN.</a>The question over constitutionality of Trump's executive order on immigration - which bars citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen from traveling to the US for 90 days - heated up <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sally-yates-trump-refugee-ban-attorney-general-2017-1">after acting Attorney General Sally Yates said the ban might not be lawful.</a>Dershowitz pushed back on this assertion on Monday. "Sally Yates is a terrific public servant, but I think she's made a serious mistake here," Dershowitz said on CNN."There is also a distinction between what's constitutional, what's statutorily prohibited, what's bad policy - this is very bad policy - but what's lawful," he said. "I think by lumping them all together she has made a political decision rather than a legal one," he concluded, noting that he believed parts to be constitutional while other parts may not hold up under scrutiny.Trump fired Yates on Monday, according to a statement from White House press secretary Sean Spicer. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ramit-sethi-business-idea-test-email-friends-2017-1">There's a simple way to see if your business idea is any good</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="E2ZXMxOTE6MTU9sNsy9idQGmyeNnJ_Vz" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Famed Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz rips Trump's immigration ban as 'badly executed' and inconsistent with American values

<ul><li><keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>’s <keyword id="6358156" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="central-bank">central bank</keyword>, the Reserve Bank of India (<keyword id="30067" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="RBI">RBI</keyword>), released its <keyword id="3608734" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Annual-report">annual report</keyword> for 2017-18 on Thursday. </li><li>Both negative and positive, the report says that <keyword id="6356076" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-economy">Indian economy</keyword> will have to precariously balance itself to brace for the coming year. </li><li>The report also highlights how, despite the Indian government's objectives, the goals laid by the Prime Minister are far from their intended targets.</li></ul>India’s central banking institution, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), just released its <a href="https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/0ANREPORT201718077745EC9A874DB38C991F580ED14242.PDF">annual report</a> for the year 2017-2018, bringing some key issues of the Indian economy into the limelight. On the one hand, the report states that the Indian economy is set to unlock its growth potential through the intensification of structural reforms but on the other, the threat of inflation and non-performing assets (NPAs) still looms overhead. And, though the RBI predicts strong growth for India’s secondary and primary sectors, it also speculates that the country will face challenges in the banking industry and from volatility in international markets. The good with the bad, these are some of the key observations put forward by the RBI in their report. The curious case of India’s current account deficit Domestic consumption hasn’t lost its step with India maintaining its stature as the preferred destination for foreign direct investments (FDIs). As per the report, it’s the manufacturing sector supported by its counterparts that have made this possible. Domestic consumption, in turn, is a result of an increase in capital expenditure as well the push towards exports. Foreign capital is largely flowing into communication and computer services, retail and wholesale trade, as well as financial services. Mauritius and Singapore take the lead in FDIs with combined equity investments of around 61%. Turmoil in international waters The sanctions placed by the United States on Iran won’t only impact India’s imports but the overall international supply of oil. That in turn, won’t play out well for India’s trade deficit primarily because of India’s increasing energy demands. A potential increase in India’s current account deficit opens the doors for inflation risks to throw shade on the Indian economy. The RBI has stressed on the importance of heading off these pressures before they generalise into adverse trends. The counting of demonetised notes is complete Last year’s report told us that 99% of the banned currency notes had found their way back to the banks, and this year that’s up by 0.3%, which isn’t really all that significant. While the RBI’s efforts to process and verify specified bank notes should be commended, one has to ask whether the effort was all for nought. Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>’s initiative to catch black money only seems to have led to an extreme cash shortage that steamrolled into sluggish economic growth, a loss for businesses and over a million people losing their jobs. The informal economy, in particular, is still suffering from its after-effects. To fake or not to fake The new currency notes despite the numerous so-called ‘úpgrades’ are still vulnerable to being counterfeit, just like the old currency notes. And, it’s not just the bigger denominations of ₹500 and ₹2,000, but also the ₹50 note. The only difference is that the overall number of <keyword id="6364565" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="fake-notes">fake notes</keyword> that are in circulation has taken a dip. Return of the cash economy While demonetisation and the resulting short supply of cash did lead to an increase in digital cash payments, the return of liquidity in the economy shows people coming back to the comfort of cash. In fact, if RBI’s estimates are to be taken at face value, the liquid currency kept at home has increased to 2.8% of the total gross national disposable income (GNDI), which is the highest it’s been in seven years. Even savings are at a seven-year high of 11.1%. That being said, it’s not that the Indian population has reverted from digital payments altogether. Non-cash transactions are still increasing, just a rate slower than last year’s and that is indicative of the fact that despite all the new online payment platforms, cash is still the preferred method of exchange. Banking drama With the number of bank frauds that have come into the limelight this past year, it’s hardly surprising that the RBI speculates that bad loans is going to increase even further in the coming year. According to the report, the ‘prevailing economic situation’ is a combination of mark-to-market treasury losses and the increase of provisioning against non-performing assets (NPAs). Which basically means that the banks didn’t make much of a profit on their investments in the stock market and have had to set aside an increasing amount of money to hedge against bad loans. That being said, the overall flow of financial resources from the banking sector to the commercial sector has shown an increase, with the former accounting for 43% of all fund flows to the latter. That means that there's scope for credit absorption. But that will only be efficiently done if the problem of NPAs is appropriately addressed and banks are sufficiently re-capitalised after facing large losses.

RBI’s annual report paints a cloudy picture of what’s next for the Indian economy

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Ian MacNicol/Getty Images</div></div></div><ul><li>Golf diplomacy is the regular practice of country leaders playing golf together, which can help bolster ties between countries.</li><li>Japan has been very successful at exercising golf diplomacy with US President Donald Trump.</li><li>But in China, golf is politically taboo and effectively banned for party officials.</li><li>Instead, Trump's visit to China involved a lot of military flair and pomp, rather than golf.</li></ul> For all the pageantry and pomp on US President Donald Trump's recent trip to China, the itinerary missed one thing: golf.Country leaders golf together so often the practice has been dubbed "golf diplomacy."And considering Trump's passion for the sport - the president has visited golf clubs <a href="http://trumpgolfcount.com/">more than 70 times</a> since his inauguration, including several games with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - the absence of the sport in China might have seem like a mistake.But that's not the case. Golf is controversial in China and party officials are essentially banned from playing.As <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/23/china/china-party-members-golf-ban/index.html">CNN reported in 2015</a>, cadres are prohibited from accepting golf club memberships as gifts or using public funds to purchase them. But club fees cost far more than most officials' incomes so "the rule effectively amounts to a ban," CNN noted.Since Mao Zedong called golf a "sport for millionaires,"it has occupied a moral grey area in a Communist country trying to operate a capitalist economy. And though Xi could probably afford a golf club membership, the sport remains politically taboo, even for the country's leader.So with China unable to repeat <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-asia-trip-japan-2017-11">Japan's success with Trump on the links</a>, Xi instead used <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/trump-in-china-xi-jinping-spectacular-display-of-diplomacy-2017-11">military parades, fancy state dinners and elaborate performances</a> to win <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/928519663780208640">Trump's</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/928770248370728960">praise</a>.<h2>Golf diplomacy humanizes world leaders</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesThen-Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump drives a golf buggy during his visits to his Scottish golf course Turnberry on July 30, 2015 in Ayr, Scotland.</div></div></div>Golf diplomacy is popular between leaders because it encompasses critical aspects of traditional diplomacy - having open communication and strengthening ties between leaders - in a relaxed, low-pressure environment.Ahead of a game with Abe earlier this year, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/usa-trump-japan/trump-to-team-up-with-japans-abe-for-round-of-golf-in-florida-idUSL5N1FR53Y">Trump said</a> "that's the one thing about golf; you get to know somebody better on a golf course than you will over lunch."Diplomacy experts agree."Any personal contact between leaders - including golf, but assuming players enjoy the serenity of the course and count their strokes accurately - can potentially show the human side of a negotiating partner," Geoffrey Wiseman, the director of Australian National University's Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy, told Business Insider.It's possible that Beijing's approach to golf could have in fact harmed their international relations."Golf is popular throughout many parts of Asia and President Trump's affection for the game suggests that China's soft-power diplomacy may have overlooked golf diplomacy," Wiseman said.<h2>Despite being banned, golf thrives in China</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Courtesy of Mission Hills GroupMission Hills Golf Club is the world's largest golf club.</div></div></div>Golf has a tumultuous history in China, having first been banned by Mao in 1949.The country's first course was built in 1984, but another ban - targeting the construction of new courses in order to protect land and water resources - went into effect in 2004.Still, golf began to thrive.Over the last decade <a href="https://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/q-and-a-dan-washburn-on-the-forbidden-game/">China has built more golf courses than any other country</a>. In 2004, there were 174 golf courses in China, and 10 years later there was reported to be <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-washburn/golf-banned-china_b_5770180.html">more than 1,000</a>."One developer likened golf in China to prostitution. 'That's illegal, too,' he said. 'But there are still prostitutes everywhere in this country,'" wrote author Dan Washburn in his book "The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream.""People unfamiliar with the way China works often express confusion as to how a country can experience a golf course boom during a moratorium on golf course construction," Washburn said. "Those who've spent more than five minutes in China do not suffer from such confusion.""In fact, the Chinese have several sayings for the disconnect that often exists between Beijing's best intentions and how they're interpreted - or simply ignored - out in the provinces," he said.One of those sayings is, "Where there are policies from above, there are counter-policies from below."Local governments blatantly ignored the Communist Party's golf course crackdown. Instead local officials encouraged the building of golf clubs to raise profits from selling land, driving tourism, and benefiting from the golf courses' 23.5% tax rate.Some golf courses applied for approval by using other euphemisms, such as "parks," "green space," "leisure facility," and "health facility," or were converted into golf clubs once plans were approved.But the use of natural resources, and golf as a symbol of wealth in a communist country, weren't the only worries.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Thomas Peter-Pool/Getty ImagesChinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump attend a welcoming ceremony November 9, 2017 in Beijing, China.</div></div></div>Amidst an anti-corruption crackdown, Xi's party was concerned that exorbitant golf fees could be used to corrupt, or give the image of corrupt, officials.As a result, politicians began <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=S9sjDAAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PR12&amp;lpg=PR12&amp;dq=golf+china+fake+names&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=aUFYg0lyK4&amp;sig=-SP6d6t7mzmJrygjkGdeoSpGphg&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjMheG1m8LXAhWEu7wKHeXTBsoQ6AEIPDAG#v=onepage&amp;q=golf%20china%20fake%20names&amp;f=false">registering at golf clubs under fake names.</a>But earlier this year, in one province where cadres are banned from playing golf during work hours, party officials have been performing unannounced spot-checks at golf clubs.One <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/06/23/534052842/chinas-government-tightens-its-grip-on-golf-shuts-down-courses">club manager told NPR</a>:"They'll say, 'On this day, was this person was here?' They actually look through your computers. Then they start checking day by day, how much he spends, who [he] is playing with, all that."CNN <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/02/politics/trump-xi-jinping-golf-diplomacy-wont-work/index.html">asked Washburn earlier this year</a> whether it was at all possible for Xi to play golf with Trump, and his answer was decisive."For Xi, golf is just such a touchy topic back home, saddled with so much baggage - the optics would be awful, with or without Trump," he said. "It represents a lot of the things he has spent much of his presidency fighting, so it's hard to envision the government embracing the game any time soon - at least publicly."It has been <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-washburn/golf-banned-china_b_5770180.html">more than 25 years</a> since a member of China's elite was pictured holding a golf club.<h2>Japan has found success in golfing with Trump</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Kyodo/ReutersVisiting US President Donald Trump gives Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a "fist bump" as they played golf, accompanied by World No. 4 golfer Hideki Matsuyama at the Kasumigaseki Country Club in Japan.</div></div></div>Japan's leader has put great effort into building a relationship with Trump, and using golf has been key to that effort.Shortly after the US election, Abe visited the president-elect in Trump tower and gifted him a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2016/11/21/donald-trump-gets-3755-gold-golf-club-from-japanese-prime-minister/?utm_term=.84a80d9e842b">gold $3,755 golf club</a>. Abe received <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-17/abe-heads-into-first-meeting-with-japan-bashing-donald-trump">a golf shirt from Trump</a> in return.Less than two weeks after Trump's January inauguration Abe again visited the US and played 18 holes with Trump - one of the first times the president had played since taking office.And on Trump's recent visit to Japan, Abe organized for the two to play nine holes with Japan's <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/03/sport/hideki-matsuyama-profile-president-trump/index.html">Hideki Matsuyama</a>, the world's No. 4 golf player, before gifting Trump with a golf cap emblazoned with the two leaders' names.Abe even described his actions as golf diplomacy during Trump's visit."Yesterday's diplomacy between Donald and me attracted so much attention, and we actually made everything public, except for the score. When you play golf with someone not just once, but for two times, the person must be your favorite guy," said Abe.Importantly, he used Trump's first name - a rare signal of friendship that Trump reciprocated back to Abe, the only leader he referred to by their first name during his Asia tour.The closeness of the two leaders is also evident in the frequency of their communications. Aside from the two visits and games of golf, Abe has spoken to Trump 13 times on the phone - <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/05/world/asia/japan-trump-north-korea-abe.html">more than he did with Obama during his second term in office</a>.While there are some concerns in Japan that <a href="https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20171108/p2a/00m/0na/018000c">golf diplomacy skirts the norms of keeping records of diplomatic exchanges</a>, Trump continues to praise Abe and their time golfing together: "Playing golf with Prime Minister Abe and Hideki Matsuyama, two wonderful people," Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/927059219370643456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">boasted earlier this month</a>. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-tom-steyer-releases-ad-video-donald-trump-impeachment-2017-10">A billionaire spent $10 million on an ad calling for Trump's impeachment</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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