St James Church Delhi

Today (19 December 2016) I visited St James Church Delhi.  This is an Anglican Church built in 1836 by Colonel James Skinner, hence also called Skinner's Church.  The church is situated near Kashmiri Gate of old Delhi.

Demonetization of Indian Rupee Notes 500 and 1000

On 08 November 2016, Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India has announced about the demonetization of Rupees 500 and Rupees 1000 currency notes with immediate effect.   He assured the nation that this measure is to curb the black money.  The black money refers to the unaccounted, non-taxed money held by individuals.  As per his plan new notes were ready and within two days the old currency notes could be replaced.

500 and 1000 Rupee notes constitute around 84 % value of Indian currency.  Demonetization of such huge share of the currency has caused great difficulties for the ordinary citizens.  

After one month of the demonetization the scarcity of currency felt across the country.  Almost all the ATMs are dry.  Huge queues are visible outside the bank branches and ATMs for withdrawal of the cash.  The scarcity of the cash affected the life Indian poor.

Meanwhile huge amount of new currency recovered from individuals.  Employees of the private sector bank Axis Bank were arrested for unauthorized exchange of old currency with the new currency.  


         

Brahmanism and Indian Society

The concept of the Brahmanism originates from the oldest Hindu holy scripture Rigveda where in the Brahmans were assumed the highest position in the social strata.  The Manusmriti which is a detailed work about the social structure of the ancient India, clearly talk about the four class caste system. Brahmans who are the priest placed on the top of the pyramidal social structure.  Various other ancient Indian scripture also talks about the Brahman superiority; for example the Arthasastra which is a political treatise talks about the privileges of Brahmans over other casts.  Through out the history of India, Brahmans dominates the society.  They are the priests of Hindu temples.  The education and higher leanings were limited only to the Brahmans.

During the time of Hindu Kings Brahmans were the chief advisers of the King and virtually influenced all the political decisions taken by the Kings.

During the time of Muslim rulers they had lost some charm in the society.  However, Mughals were accommodating and appointed able Brahmans as advisers.  Even during the Muslim rule Brahmans retained the control the religious activities of Hindus.

During the British Raj the Brahmans constituted the highest number of the top jobs especially in Indian Civil Service (ICS).