Meanwhile in Mumbai... On November 8th around 8:00 pm, the Prime Minister announced that as of midnight the 500 ($10) and 1,000 ($20) rupee notes would no longer be valid currency. These notes represented 85% of ALL Indian currency. This huge feat is to combat "black money" or money that was illegally obtained or not declared for tax purposes. Yes, he is going after the illegitimate crime lords as well as the legitimate, yet corrupt business lords. He did mention that there might be attempts on his life because of this, yikes!
This was the cash Len had in his wallet about $500 Canadian. However, only the bottom 3 rows worth about $15 was still valid. Luckily, we could deposit it in his Indian bank account, we just couldn't buy anything with it. Of course, all the banks and ATMs were closed the day following the announcement.
Once the banks re-opened, there were huge lines on every street at every bank branch. They would only be open for a couple of hours though, as they would run out of cash and have to close their doors. Luckily for us, we could use our Canadian credit card to purchase our necessities. Many Indians don't have bank accounts, I hope they were still able to purchase their basic necessities. The lines are smaller now, but they still exist and ATMs run out of cash every day.
Here are the rupee notes we have-
10, 20, 50, 100, the old 500 (no longer valid, new ones are coming soon), 1000 (no longer valid), and the new 2000 in pretty purple.
I placed the coins we have on the notes, we have-
50 paise, and rupee coins of 1, 2, 5, and 10.
Money makes the world go around, but the love of it is the root of ALL evil!
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