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Currency notes and denominations have been a topic of key interest in the year since the government decided to do away with the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation.
Since the old notes were withdrawn on November 9 last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced four new currency notes — Rs 50, Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2,000.
Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the currency culling exercise on November 8, 2016, the new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes came into circulation. Even as the new notes arrived in banks and recalibrated ATMs, a number of rumours did the rounds.
One rumour that did the rounds was that the new notes had an electronic Nan0-GPS chip installed in them that would track the transactions and prevent counterfeiting. A news channel even devoted a segment to detailing the features of the so-called GPS chip. As it turned out, the rumours circulated faster than the currency, as the new notes were in short supply for weeks after demonetisation.
Later, the RBI issued a statement clarifying that the security features of the Rs 2,000 note included latent images, coloured strip security threads, watermarks and several other features — but no GPS tracker.
In August, the central bank introduced new Rs 50 and Rs 200 notes. While the Rs 50 denomination already existed, Rs 200 was a new addition.
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