Left, Right & Centre

For nearly 24 hours the Congress's Twitter accounts and e-mails have been under a massive cyberattack, and it is still going on. It began with a string of abusive tweets that were let loose from the official Twitter account of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. Immediately, the party said his account had been hacked, but the tweets went on and then this morning it was the Congress party's handle that was attacked. In fact, the party has instructed all its leaders not to use their accounts for the next few days. While the police have filed an FIR, the Congress has questioned the Modi's government's digital India's plans. Is this really an eye opener for India's digital dream?

On the day Pakistan's new army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa took charge, terrorists attacked an Indian Army base in Jammu's Nagrota, 20 km from the border. Seven soldiers, including two officers, were killed in the attack. Since the surgical strikes on September 29, 26 Indian soldiers have been killed either by Pakistani army firing or by terrorists, who get cover fire when they are crossing over. In this situation, what are India's options? Is it the same old wine with a new General?

Called 'Jan Aakrosh Diwas', it was a mega protest planned by several opposition parties against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cash clean up move. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has now declared that her mission is to remove PM Modi from power but as she, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and others took to the streets separately, the divide in the opposition camp was visible. There was no Nitish Kumar's JD(U). The Left called for a bandh while the others said no. Can a divided opposition take on PM Modi and what do the results of local polls in Maharashtra tell us where the BJP has done very well, we discuss on the Left, Right and Centre.

It has been a particularly tense week at the Line of Control as India and Pakistan exchanged heavy fire that resulted in the deaths of soldiers and civilians including the beheading of the second Indian soldier in less than a month. Since September's surgical strikes, the ceasefire violations have risen and nearly 20 Indian soldiers from the Army and BSF have been killed. With India and Pakistan tensions dominating the headlines, there is perhaps no one better placed to put all of this into perspective for us than India's former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon whose new book 'Choices' talks about some of the crucial episodes in India's foreign policy.

As the political battle over the cash clean up heats up, the Prime Minister tweeted tonight that more than 90 per cent of those who voted on his app on demonetisation have backed the move. He read out the online survey to the cabinet this evening. But the opposition says the survey reflects an urban bias, with those really suffering not having access to smartphones and apps.

There has been a major flare up along the Line of Control. Three Indian soldiers were killed today by Pakistani troops who crossed the Line of Control into north Kashmir, beheading one soldier. This is the second beheading in less than a month. The Indian Army has said that, "retribution will be heavy for this cowardly act". Since the surgical strikes of September 29, 18 army and BSF soldiers and 9 civilians have died. Were the surgical strikes really a deterrent then? Was it enough to stop Pakistan from its cross-border terrorism?

Nearly two weeks after the PM's surprise announcement on the cash clean up, this is the picture that seems to be emerging: that while many people may have supported the move in principle and many still do, the distress is now beginning to show, especially on farmers and India's poor. Which is why the government today did another u turn, and announced that the old 500 rupee notes could be used by farmers to buy seeds. The party realises it's a huge political risk and perhaps that why BJP chief Amit Shah met the Finance Minister today. In Parliament, the opposition is going after the government and demanding that the PM speak in the House.

Former Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie has strongly criticised the government's decision to ban 500 and 1000 rupee notes, saying while the stated objective may be good, the idea was not well thought out.

In an exclusive interview to NDTV, Mr Shourie said the government had not anticipated the distress that would be caused by doing "away with 85% of Indian currency."

Its Day 8 of the cash clean up and as lines get shorter in some places, it is the same chaos in others. Rural India has been particularly badly hit. As the Rajya Sabha debated the big demonetisation plan today, we ask: will the centre's big plan really get to the root of the black money problem or will the fat cats get away? Has the disruption to the economy been worth it or is this the real jolt India needed to get its act together?

It has now been a week since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the end of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes. Seven days later, there is still chaos in many parts of the country as people line up for cash and ATMs run dry. Today, the government announced that banks will now pul indelible Ink on fingers of those who come to change their old notes - that is to avoid repeat trips to the bank for currency exchange. As the Centre tries to deal with the enormous task, the Opposition is all set to take them on in the Parliament tomorrow. Mamata Banerjee, who is going to march to the President's House tomorrow, has got BJP's ally, the Shiv Sena, on board. Even the Supreme Court has said that the common man shouldn't suffer. So is this cash clean-up going to work in the long run?