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The Bitter-Sweet of India’s #Demonetisation Drive

© REUTERS / Danish SiddiquiA customer deposits 1000 and 500 Indian rupee banknotes in a cash deposit machine at bank in Mumbai, India, November 8, 2016
A customer deposits 1000 and 500 Indian rupee banknotes in a cash deposit machine at bank in Mumbai, India, November 8, 2016 - Sputnik International
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As India queues up for a fistful of cash, many eyebrows were raised at the Rs 5 billion wedding of an Indian mining tycoon’s daughter. If this was perversity when Indians are starved of cash for emergency use, Indian PM Narendra Modi’s Demonetization drive is giving rise to bizarre and sour experiences alike.

An Indian Railways staff counts currency notes of 500 denomination at a ticket counter, one of the few places still accepting the high denomination notes, in Allahabad, India , Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2016 - Sputnik International
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New Delhi (Sputnik) For instance, a 'dead' doctor held a press conference over black money and the new high denomination currency note of Rs. 2,000 was auctioned many times higher than its face value over e-Bay, the US-based e-commerce company.

The harassed standing in long lines also gave vent to their poetic impulses. "To hunt crocodiles, the pond was dried. No crocodiles were found, for they can live on land too. But the small fish died," wrote one.

The new INR 2,000 notes were being sold on eBay India at a hefty premium, their auction rates even touching 70 times their face value. The reason for such large price was not a shortage of notes but religiously auspicious serial numbers of some bills.  For example, a series of five Rs 2,000 notes starting with the number 786 (considered lucky by Muslims), was being sold for INR 1,51,000.

Faced with a barrage of criticism, e-Bay called off the auction. "There have been no successful transaction for Rs 2,000 currency notes and the company was disabling access to the notified listings to avoid any sort of legal hassle," clarified a company spokesperson.

If the bizarre incidents brought a wry smile, the $ 75 million wedding of a mining baron’s daughter drew fire. The baron was a former state minister in a BJP Government  and had been arrested for illegal mining. But no politician spurned the wedding on grounds of excessive ostentation despite their party members urging them to abstain.

The top slot in weird cases vests with the ‘Dead’ Doctor who called a press conference. A 65-year-old doctor from the state of Bihar had reportedly suffered a heart attack following the demonetization drive. As rumours of his death spread, the doctor  convened a press conference to prove he was still in this world. ``My reputation was in tatters. Rumors of my death of a heart attack spread after incorrect reports of a tax raid on my home,” said Dr. Sinha.

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