The Critical Indian

Nanda Devi Peak - The Site for Phase-I of Operation Hat Quick Read This story dates back to the 60s era, when the cold war threat perceptions were at their peak. The Communist China had conducted its first nuclear test on 16th October 1964 creating a panic in the western bloc. India had yet to get over the drubbing of 1962 Sino-India war, and this further sent shockwaves in the establishment. The American CIA then partnered with the Indian Intelligence Agency (IB) to undertake a top secret espionage mission code name 'Operation Hat' . The mission saw its first leg kick off in the backdrop of the 1965 Indo-Pak War. The mission in all likelihood was carried out with the prior knowledge of the Indian Government. Its objective being—installing a plutonium powered spy device on the Nanda Devi hills to gather details of the Chinese missile and nuclear program. The best of the best mountaineers from US and India were hired for the task. The mission however ended up in CIA loosing t...

The much-hyped demonetization happened. Not that this was the first time as it had happened in the past when high-value currencies in 5000 and 10000 denominations were pulled off. Undoubtedly though this was a first of its kind exercise, as one it came without a warning and two it targeted the majority of currency in circulation (86%) in 500 and 1000 denominations. But the real question though. Did it really have an impact on areas like black money, fake currency, and even terrorism? These were the key pointers on which the country stood up and supported this exhaustive exercise at their own cost. Or was the goal primarily to target the 97% cash-based economy, the informal sector? I guess that's probably self-explanatory! Provided as time passes the results become more and more evident.   What did we really achieve out of this painstaking exercise that lined up the entire nation of 1.3 billion outside the banks for two months? The pro and cons and counter-argument...

Prime Minister of India's address to the nation on 8th Nov'16 at 20:00 hrs came as a rude shock to many when in his address he made a revelation to the entire nation that the existing highest currency denominations in India which is INR 500 and INR 1000 would no longer be a legal tender starting midnight. What that implied was that these notes could no longer be used for any financial transaction and would have to be exchanged from the banks or post offices with the new currency notes of equal value. In four hours these major currency bills would become valueless. This was huge and nobody had a clue. While he did clarify his action as another step in the fight against black money menace that had been impacting the country's economy adversely.              PM's address to the nation 8th June'16 Background If we step back a little. This huge announcement only came a month after the amnesty scheme called IDS 2016 (Income Declaration Scheme...