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7 hours ago
- Business
- Scroll.in
How independent Bangladesh introduced made-in-India one taka notes to end use of Pakistani currency
Tajuddin Ahmed endured the worst-ever slur on his political career due to an outrageous and mischievous campaign orchestrated against him very subtly from behind the scenes by his inimical party colleagues. Following his government's return from Mujibnagar, they spread a malicious rumour that Tajuddin's decision to get one taka denomination currency notes printed by the government of India's Security Printing Press at Nashik had opened the floodgates for India to wreck Bangladesh's economy. Before leaving Calcutta, Tajuddin had placed an order for printing 80 crore notes of one taka denomination with the Nashik Security Press as he wanted to gradually replace the Pakistani currency notes of all denominations then in circulation in Bangladesh with his own country's currency notes. There was, after all, an urgency in replacing the Pakistani notes as that country's Central Bank was contemplating on demonetising Re 1 notes and also those of higher denominations. So, Tajuddin decided that before Pakistan went ahead with its demonetisation plan, his government would gradually release its own currency notes in the market so as to avoid a sudden financial crisis overtaking his newly liberated country. And he wanted to begin this exercise by releasing one taka notes. As a result, he decided that his government, in the next two months, would withdraw the lowest denomination Pakistani notes and replace them with new one taka foreign-printed ones. That the one taka notes had been printed in India was not known to many in the government-in-exile. So, in early March when the one taka notes were put into circulation, the government's move was widely acclaimed with an open mind by people at large and the country's business community in particular as a welcome step in the right direction. Some Dacca dailies even editorially complimented Tajuddin's provisional government for its administrative capability, profoundness and extraordinary far-sightedness in replacing Pakistani notes with Bangladesh's own so soon after liberation. The country's business chambers too welcomed the government's initiative in releasing the sleekly designed, printed and user-friendly notes in circulation. What was more welcoming was that the notes had Bengali texts printed in pleasing Bangla fonts, unlike the Pakistani ones, which made them look uniquely distinctive. But suddenly, thereafter, news reports began to emerge in Dacca dailies quoting no source but citing rumours circulating in the country's western bordering districts that huge consignments of duplicate one taka notes were being smuggled into Bangladesh in sacks to destabilise its economy. The reports did not mention Tajuddin by name but there were enough hints to suggest that he had deliberately got the one taka notes printed at the Indian Security Printing Press Nashik, so that India at a later date, could push in duplicate notes to ruin Bangladesh's economy. The other purpose was that India wanted to have a total stranglehold on the country's politics and economy and Tajuddin had willingly agreed to be part of this Indian conspiracy. Those reports, without directly naming anyone, made no bones about the fact that Tajuddin and Mrs Gandhi were the main targets of this insidious whispering campaign. The reports suggested that India, with the connivance of the provisional government's decision makers (obviously hinting at Tajuddin and Khondokar Asaduzzaman, finance secretary to the provisional government, whose Bangla signature was printed on the notes) had got the currency notes printed at its own security press so that duplicate notes could be printed and smuggled across to fulfil its nefarious designs in Bangladesh. The reports suggested that India's real purpose was to flood Bangladesh's markets with duplicate notes so that it could siphon off the original ones, thereby leaving the country with a currency which was bogus and had no value, the obvious result of which would result in an overnight collapse of the country's financial system. What lent credence to those published reports was deliberate news leaks resorted to by Tajuddin's enemies in the cabinet and in the party who secretly briefed their confidants among the local press that even Bangabandhu was 'extremely worried' by identical reports conveyed to him by some of his ministers and district party secretaries about crores of one taka duplicate notes being smuggled daily into Bangladesh from India. Bangabandhu was so distressed by those reports that he had summoned senior officials of the Finance Ministry to his office in order to verify their veracity. This had upset Tajuddin tremendously as instead of calling him, Bangabandhu had summoned his ministry's officials without informing him. Interestingly, the officials' dismissal of those reports as being 'totally baseless and fabricated stories' as told to Mujib was never conveyed to the press and, thus, not reported by the dailies. To lend credibility to those unproven reports, two Dacca Bengali dailies published a picture of two notes which bore the same number. Later it transpired that those who had been feeding the press with such unfounded details had taken pictures of a one taka note twice and juxtaposed them in such a way that readers were led to believe that they were two different notes bearing identical numbers! Ehtesham Haider Chowdhury, editor of Purbodesh, a Bengali Dacca daily which had published the picture, was asked by Bazlur Rahman (then a senior assistant editor of Sangbad), whether those who had provided him the photograph of fake Indian currency notes had deposited the same with Bangladesh Bank and reported the matter to the police as required by law. Astonishingly, Bazlur bhai (who was also my professional mentor during my posting in Dacca) was informed by Chowdhury that he had no interest in finding out whether the fake notes had been deposited with Bangladesh Bank or if the matter had been reported to the police. 'Having carried such highly sensitive and damaging stories and a picture which has caused so much confusion and uncertainty in the country, was it not incumbent upon you to find out what the people, who supplied you with the photograph of the so-called duplicate notes, did with them?' Bazlur bhai had queried Chowdhury. He had then gone on to remind him pointedly, Did it ever occur to you that they were feeding your paper with false stories and pictures with evil intent? We at Sangbad were well aware of the Awami League members who were resorting to these dirty tricks against whom and with what intent. So we ignored the story as none of our correspondents from the bordering districts had reported about large-scale smuggling of fake Bangladesh currency notes from India. Nor had the police of those districts and the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) deployed on the border, had reported any seizure of fake notes. The whole campaign was politically motivated to nail Tajuddin. But the press reports had created such panic and furore in the nation, that even Dacca's rickshawallahs were scared and refused to accept fares in those newly printed Bangladeshi taka notes and insisted on being paid in Pakistani notes and coins instead. Similarly, shopkeepers declined from accepting India printed currency notes as 'they were not legal tender in this country.' When I would personally counter their charges by saying that 'your government was yet to declare them so,' they would respond by saying, 'our people have no faith and confidence in that currency and that is why no one is accepting them.'
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
Move to cushion PSO: Exchange rate losses adjusted into petrol prices
ISLAMABAD: To cushion Pakistan State Oil (PSO) against exchange rate losses, the federal government has adjusted its fortnightly petroleum pricing, effective June 1, 2025, by reducing the Inland Freight Equalization Margin (IFEM) and slightly increasing average of Platts with incidentals and duty. The federal government adjusted Rs2.17 per litre exchange rate losses into petrol prices which led to increase in petrol prices by Re1 per litre with effect from June 1 to 15. With a major importer, state-owned PSO has 55 percent share in total petroleum products. The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) as a regulator takes PSO cost of supply to determine the fortnightly prices of petroleum products. As compared with previous fortnight (May 16-31), avg of platts with incidentals and duty reduced by 58 paisa from Rs150.46 to Rs151.04 per litre. The PSO exchange rate adjustment increased from Rs1.34 to Rs3.51 per litre. The IFEM has been brought down by Rs1.75 per litre from Rs6.30 to Rs4.55 per litre on petrol. The price of high-speed diesel (HSD) has kept unchanged by adjusting 0.05 paisa raise in ave of platts with incidentals and duty, 20 paisa increase in PSO exchange rate with 25 paisa reduction in IFEM. The petroleum levy (PL) on petrol and HSD has been kept unchanged at Rs78.02 per litre and Rs77.01 per litre. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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Business Standard
12-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Usha Martin Q4 results: Profit dips 5% to ₹100.91 cr on higher expenses
Wire ropes maker Usha Martin has posted a 5 per cent fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 100.91 crore in the March 2025 quarter, impacted by higher expenses. It had reported Rs 106.33 crore net profit in the January-March period of the preceding 2023-24 fiscal, the company said. The company's total income, however, rose to Rs 919.73 crore from Rs 838.52 crore in the fourth quarter of the preceding financial year. Expenses surged to Rs 790.81 crore from Rs 706.71 crore a year ago. For the entire FY25, the net profit also fell to Rs 406.32 crore from Rs 424.12 crore in FY24. The board has also recommended a dividend of Rs 3 per equity share of Re 1 for the financial year ended March 31, 2025. It further approved the appointment of Chirantan Chatterjee as Whole-Time Director of the company for a term of 5 years, effective from May 12, 2025.
Indian Express
03-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
How fraud and bogus claims forced Maharashtra to abandon its Re 1 crop insurance scheme
The Maharashtra government has rolled back the Re 1 crop insurance scheme that it launched in 2023, and returned to the original Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), in which premiums are calculated as a percentage of the sum assured. Instead of the token Re 1, farmers will now pay premiums of 2% of the sum assured for kharif, and 1.5% and 5% for rabi and cash (commercial/ horticultural) crops respectively. Why has the Devendra Fadnavis government scrapped the scheme launched by the previous Mahayuti government of Eknath Shinde? What was Maharashtra's Re 1 crop insurance scheme? In March 2023, the Shinde government began a version of the PMFBY in Maharashtra that further liberalised the already heavily-subsidised structure of premiums in the central scheme that was launched in 2016. Crop insurance was made virtually free, with the government bearing the cost of the farmer's entire premium barring a symbolic Re 1. The special concession was intended to provide relief to farmers and increase insurance penetration in rural areas. So what went wrong? There was a massive surge in crop insurance applications across the state, and most claims turned out to be bogus. In 2022, before the Re 1 scheme was introduced, there were 1.04 crore applications under PMFBY, a small number of which (11,731) were found to be bogus or ineligible. Following the Re 1 scheme, applications in 2023 more than doubled to 2.42 crore, of which some 3.80 lakh were later found to be fraudulent. The trend continued in 2024, and the agriculture department had, until January 2025, rejected more than 4 lakh claim applications after finding them bogus or manipulated. What kind of bogus claims were made? The fraudulent applications were found to have falsified land records, and made claims without any actual sowing, or about land that wasn't even used for agriculture. According to agriculture department officials and reporting by The Indian Express, some claimants attempted to insure 'crops' on government-owned land, including on plots belonging to government departments such as the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC). Others made claims on farmland owned by religious trusts, shrines, temples, mosques, and other non-agricultural entities. In some cases, insurance claims were made without the knowledge of the owners of the land by others who used their land records. In Chandwad tehsil of Nashik district, an application for crop insurance was received for land on which a petrol pump was found. In the same district, 'crops' on more than 100 acres of non-agricultural land were insured fraudulently. And how were these fake claims submitted? A large number of bogus applications were filed through Common Service Centres (CSCs), which are digital access points that help people submit government-related applications. The CSC operators allegedly used fake names and land details, often without landowners knowing. The identification of the bogus claims raised serious questions over the security of data and the process of verification under the scheme. What did the government do once the fake claims came to light? The scale of the misuse of the scheme had become apparent by the time of the 2024 kharif crop, and the agriculture department began physical inspections and cross-verification of claims at the application stage. To formulate a policy response, a 25-member expert committee was set up under Agriculture Commissioner Raosaheb Bhagade with the task of evaluating the extent of fraud and recommending corrective actions. In its report submitted to the agriculture department in January 2024, the committee recommended several tough measures. It said that the Re 1 insurance scheme should be scrapped and that the government should return to the original premium structure under PMFBY. Those who had been found guilty of submitting bogus claims should not receive any government subsidy for five years. CSCs that had facilitated the submission of the fraudulent claims should be blacklisted, their operator IDs should be blocked, and criminal proceedings should be initiated against them. Subsequently, 140 CSC IDs were blocked. The government has said that it was necessary to scrap the scheme in order to preserve the integrity of the insurance system, protect public funds, and ensure that only genuine and deserving farmers benefit. According to officials, enhanced verification and accountability measures introduced in 2024 have already helped curb misuse and saved several crores of rupees.
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Maharashtra govt scraps Re 1 crop insurance; switches back to old system
Facing allegations of irregularities, bogus claims and financial burden, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday scrapped the Re 1 crop insurance scheme launched two years ago. It will now be replaced by the old scheme: PM Crop Insurance Scheme. As per the new decision, farmers will now pay premiums worth 2 per cent for Kharif, 1.5 per cent for Rabi and 5 per cent for cash crops of the sum assured. The Re 1 crop insurance scheme was launched in 2023 by the Mahayuti government, under which farmers were to pay only Re 1 as premium on their part while the rest was borne by the government. This led to a massive increase in the number of applicants compared to previous years and over 5.82 lakh bogus claims in 2024-25. Last year, the government (both state and Centre share) paid Rs 7,539 crore (Rs 3,060 crore by the Centre and Rs 4,479 crore by the state) as premium for Kharif, and Rs 1,684 crore (Rs 643 crore by the Centre and Rs 1,040 crore by the state) for Rabi season. According to data, in 2021-22, around 96 lakh applications had come for crop insurance while in 2022-23 the number was 1.04 crore. However, after the launch of the Re 1 crop insurance scheme, the number of applicants rose to 2.42 crore in 2023-24 and 2.11 crore in year 2024-25. 'The double jump of applicants itself was an indication that something was wrong. Investigations found 3.80 lakh bogus claims in 2023-24 and 5.82 lakh bogus claims in 2024-25. The number could be bigger as a number of vacant lands too were registered for crop insurance. Therefore, it was decided to cancel the Re 1 scheme altogether,' said an official from the agriculture department. According to an estimate, the state may save up to Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 crore annually after scrapping the existing scheme. The Cabinet also cleared a proposal to allot Rs 5,000 crore annually for agriculture infrastructure development fund for the next five years, totalling Rs 25,000 crore. Under this, the state government will subsidise farmers' investments for agriculture mechanisation, modern technology, micro irrigation, farm pond, cold storage, agro processing, value chain, infrastructure development for animal husbandry and horticulture etc.
