Rs 5 to Rs 100 high security coupons as new currency at National Highway toll plazas

What next ? Chocolates as legal currency for highway users?
Customers are already getting something similar from the Nandini milk parlours in Bangalore!

Isn't this system of parallel currency illegal??

The government halted toll collection when its decision to accept the withdrawn Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes at toll plazas led to chaos in the absence of adequate change, causing massive traffic snarls.

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has introduced high security coupons of denominations ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 100 to serve as currency for toll on national highways and for return as change to motorists after toll deduction. The proposal comes in the wake of the government’s decision not to extend toll exemption on national highways beyond December 2, 2016.

The government halted toll collection when its decision to accept the withdrawn Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes at toll plazas led to chaos in the absence of adequate change, causing massive traffic snarls. On November 9, it announced toll exemption until midnight of November 11 but later extended it to November 14, 18 and 24 and finally to December 2, 2016.

Considering that returning change to toll payers would still be a daunting task due to shortage of lower denomination currencies, sources said the ministry has proposed that coupons of denominations Rs 5, 10, 50 and 100 be issued at main toll plazas which motorists could buy and hand over at nearly 400 toll plazas.

Toll collectors would have to accept these coupons and would have the right to hand coupons as change to highway users.

These could be bought against the scrapped Rs 500 notes that are valid for toll payment. However, the ministry is seeking exemption for use of the old Rs 500 note and hence, the proposed coupons for paying toll until December 31. The present deadline for accepting old Rs 500 for toll was until midnight of December 15, 2016.

As a safety measure, these coupons would have security features of bar codes, hologram with the NHAI logo and serial numbers akin to those on new currencies to avoid duplication or printing of fakes.

To prevent black money holders from buying it in bulk for redemption of these coupons against the new currency at a later date, the ministry proposes to distribute them only through officials of the NHAI.

Since these would be distributed through NHAI, the coupons shall be redeemed by the authority both to toll operators as well as motorists. Nearly 90 officials of the NHAI are being deployed for this programme.

The ministry has also lined up sufficient swipe machines at toll booths with help from State Bank of India and others to facilitate payments and flow of traffic.

(Source: IndianExpress.com)

Govt of India announces four new roads as National Highways in Tripura in mid March 2016

The Union government declared four new roads as National Highways in Tripura in mid March 2016.

These roads are:
Jolaibari to Belonia (NH-108),
Khowai to Agartala (NH-108B),
Kumarghat to Subroom via Kailasahar, Khowai, Teliamura and Amarpur (NH-208) and
Kailasahar to Kukital (Kurti Bridge) (NH-208A).

The length of NH 208 will be 157.7 kms and the length of the NH 108 will be 22.9 kms.
Triura had a total of nearly 20,000 kms of road length.

The road from Churaibari to Subroom via Agartala was already enjoying the status of national highway.

Prior to the announcement, Tripura had two national highways, viz. NH 44 and NH 44A adding up to a total of 465.4 kms of national highway.

After the completion of construction of the four new national highways, the length of National Highways would be 750 kms in Tripura.

'Only Coffee' chain serves filter coffee on National & State highways in Tamilnadu

Thanks to the efforts of G. Samyraj, you can now drink hot filter coffee when you are driving on the National and State Highways in Tamil Nadu.
G. Samyraj and his fellow-villagers identified spots on the National and State highways in Tamil Nadu, sat there from six in the morning to eight at night to count how many cars passed that way per hour. If the math worked, they opened a coffee outlet there. Not just any coffee, but Kumbakonam Degree Coffee!
G. Samyraj who came up with this initiative belongs to Zameen Devarkulam, a village 10 kilometres away from Kovilpatti. He worked for nearly a decade in the Middle East before returning to his village, where, he was pained to see fellow farmers struggling and in debt. He decided to do something about it. Eight months ago he set up his first Only Coffee outlet at Mangalamedu. Today, he has eleven of them up and running, and manned by people from his village.
The outlets are called ‘Naidu Coffee Inn' and as 'Only Coffee’. A dark blue board announces their presence. “We picked quiet spots where people in cars could stop and enjoy a refreshing cup. I am a coffee priyan and I love the idea of others like me enjoying a satisfying coffee, in the middle or end of a long drive. Kumbakonam Degree Coffee is a trade mark of Tamil Nadu and we serve that. It is like coffee made at home.” Frothy, piping hot, filter-coffee is served in gleaming pithalai davara tumblers. There is sugar-free substitutes for diabetics. “Sabari Malai pilgrims, and so on, are served in disposable cups,” explains Samyraj. The beans are procured from Chikamagalur and roasted at Virudhunagar from where they are delivered to the outlets where they are ground. Now Samyraj plans to go a step further to standardise flavours. He is working on setting up a unit where the decoction is centrally made. “So that the coffee will taste the same in all our outlets.” The R& D is underway and Samyraj hopes to get this plan off its feet soon.
What’s coffee without an accompanying snack? “Vegetarian bajji bonda will also be available. And we plan to centralise the grocery supplies as well. Only the vegetables will be sourced locally,” says Samyraj. The outlet proudly declares that it uses sunflower oil for frying and that the oil is not recycled. There is also a telephone number on teh board in case anyone has complaints. “We want feedback. That way we are alert about the service we provide. And we have communication with our customers.”
Samyraj insists Only Coffee stands for transparency and quality. Along with his business partners R. Anandhan and A. Kalpana, he is now on the lookout for franchisees. “We will set up the outlet for them and even have two of our trained staff to be with them for a month to show them how the café is run. We will supply the coffee powder and the grocery items too. Investors need approximately two lakh rupees that includes a deposit.”
Samyraj hopes that not too long in the future there will be at least a hundred Only Coffee outlets in Tamil Nadu. Till that time, he says, he and his team members will ensure that hot filter coffee priced at Rs 15 is served to the customers with a smile.

For details email akvfarms@gmail.com or call 9940627322/ 9443911011

Content source: The Hindu.