DDNEWS — Infinite Indiadd News
20260920 153000 UTC
403 transcript segments
Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking
Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (https://www.gdeltproject.org/), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive.
Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record.

[00:00:00] participated in the concluding session of the conference. The theme of the conference was The
[00:00:03] Future of Environment and Climate Dynamics. In his address,
[00:00:07] the President praised the role of the NGT in the field of environmental protection
[00:00:11] and justice. He said that the tribunal has quickly resolved a large number of disputes
[00:00:15] and has developed an effective compliance architecture in matters related to
[00:00:18] rivers, air quality and waste management.
[00:00:22] है
[00:00:27] Your hard work is recognized nationally.
[00:01:00] What are you waiting for? Apply today at
[00:01:01] www.awards.gov.in
[00:01:04] or contact your nearest CSC center. Your
[00:01:07] contribution, the pride of the nation, National Gopal Ratna Award
[00:01:11] 2026. A
[00:01:14] our ancient circumstances in little laugh, a little love,
[00:01:17] Amul, the Taste of
[00:01:19] India. A little scene,
[00:01:23] so sweet.
[00:01:26] The Taste of India.
[00:01:30] This is Amul, the whole
[00:01:33] world's Amul.
[00:01:37] Taste of India, Taste of
[00:01:40] India. Children know that as long as Dad is there,
[00:01:44] everything is fine, but they don't know what will happen if Dad isn't there tomorrow,
[00:01:48] because you haven't taken term insurance. Be a little
[00:01:52] sensible, get term insurance from Policy Bazaar.
[00:01:55] Family first. A crore term insurance
[00:01:58] एक करोड़ का टर्म इंश्योरेंस
[00:02:16] a standard form for long-distance
[00:02:30] is not even available. If there is anything, it is my mother's blessings! Wow!
[00:02:33] What a scene! You must have heard this dialogue
[00:02:37] from Amitabh Bachchan in the movie Trishul.
[00:02:40] If you are from my generation, you must have
[00:02:43] heard it. It was a hit movie. And Gen Z must have
[00:02:47] (jata jhoot). It is heard it on Instagram, because recently it went
[00:02:50] viral. When I heard it for the first time,
[00:02:53] I wondered, what is this "phooti kaudi"?
[00:02:57] Is it just an idiom? Or was it
[00:03:00] really a currency? Today we will take you
[00:03:04] on a journey where India's
[00:03:07] money was not paper notes or digital numbers,
[00:03:10] but small cowries
[00:03:14] from the sea. Cowrie shells. On this
[00:03:18] journey of ancient currency, we will see India's changing
[00:03:22] trade journey, our understanding and our
[00:03:25] civilizational progression. So let's go from barter
[00:03:29] system to digital payments on this exciting
[00:03:32] journey.
[00:03:37] को
[00:03:51] a sophisticated understanding of Welcome to Infinite India, The Bharatiya Way. A series that breaks myths,
[00:03:55] puts speculation aside and reminds us
[00:03:59] who we were, who we are. Today we all
[00:04:02] know one thing: 1 rupee equals
[00:04:06] 100 paise. And then 2 rupees,
[00:04:09] 5, 10, 100, 500. This
[00:04:13] is today's currency note system that we have known since childhood.
[00:04:16] Now tell me one thing, can you buy anything
[00:04:20] for less than 1 rupee today? Very few things, perhaps nothing.
[00:04:24] Inflation has made 1 rupee almost
[00:04:27] useless. When people say that
[00:04:30] inflation has increased, it means
[00:04:34] that the power of 1 rupee has decreased.
[00:04:37] But imagine, there was a time
[00:04:41] when having just 1 rupee was a big
[00:04:44] deal. When people had so little money
[00:04:48] that even 1 rupee was considered a substantial
[00:04:51] amount, then people needed
[00:04:55] smaller units than 1 rupee.
[00:04:59] Today we say 1 paisa
[00:05:02] is the smallest, but in ancient India,
[00:05:05] 1 paisa was also a considerable
[00:05:09] amount. So what would be smaller than that?
[00:05:12] That's where our story begins, the "phooti
[00:05:16] kaudi". There was a time when everywhere
[00:05:19] there was only one way of transaction,
[00:05:23] the barter system. But
[00:05:26] as we started evolving, this system
[00:05:29] became difficult to operate. Human needs
[00:05:32] increased, and the barter system, which works on the double
[00:05:36] coincidence principle, (double
[00:05:39] coincidence principle means two people
[00:05:42] who are exchanging goods both
[00:05:45] need each other's goods and
[00:05:49] their value is also the same) and this double
[00:05:52] coincidence system does not work in complex economies.
[00:05:56] It's obvious, isn't it? Then currency came into existence.
[00:06:00] But in the beginning, trade was not done with coins or
[00:06:03] notes, but with small shells
[00:06:07] that came from the womb of the sea,
[00:06:10] i.e., cowries.
[00:06:12] so couri uh shells worked as early currency for few practical reasons,
[00:06:16] first they were durable, they were hard to counterfeed and they were also
[00:06:20] naturally uniform in size and appearance, which is again
[00:06:23] important when you look at
[00:06:26] ancient bat, and they were also portable, which means you could move them from one place
[00:06:30] to another, they were not too heavy or they were not, they were
[00:06:33] not, they were very much portable, so in that sense and
[00:06:37] they were also available right, terms of quantity, they were quite available across
[00:06:40] and the supply was not an issue. so these are some reasons cory
[00:06:44] shells were used and of course given the fact that bharat
[00:06:48] is is sort of we have the the eastern uh the western
[00:06:52] and the southern parts of bharat exposed to an ocean you know the
[00:06:55] supply of the shells were also quite quite a
[00:06:58] plenty so that way you do not have a supply issue ye
[00:07:02] What you are seeing is a cowrie.
[00:07:05] In ancient times, people of India
[00:07:09] used to buy things with these cowries. And
[00:07:12] a unit smaller than a cowrie was a "phooti kaudi" (broken cowrie).
[00:07:16] Three broken cowrie shells
[00:07:19] made one full cowrie.
[00:07:23] That means when Amitabh Bachchan says
[00:07:26] "not even five broken cowries", he is saying
[00:07:30] "I have so little money
[00:07:33] that not even the smallest unit is left."
[00:07:37] But what did he have? His mother's blessings. The biggest
[00:07:41] unit. Cowrie was not just a currency,
[00:07:44] it also had a religious connection.
[00:07:48] In Sanskrit, cowrie is called
[00:07:51] "kaparda". This word is also
[00:07:54] used for Lord Shiva's matted hair
[00:07:59] believed that these cowrie shells
[00:08:02] are a symbol of Lord Mahadev's
[00:08:06] matted hair, because Lord
[00:08:09] Shiva's hair was primarily
[00:08:18] Due to this belief, you can still see people wearing
[00:08:22] cowrie necklaces in some temples today.
[00:08:26] If seen from an emotional angle, this is not just
[00:08:30] economics, this is the confluence
[00:08:33] of religion and economics. Money
[00:08:36] can also be sacred when it is associated with faith and
[00:08:40] dignity. We all know that these
[00:08:44] cowries are found in the sea, especially from the
[00:08:48] Indian Ocean, and from the region
[00:08:51] we know today as the Maldives, millions of cowries
[00:08:55] used to go to South India, Bengal,
[00:08:58] Odisha, and travelers of that era
[00:09:01] like Al-Biruni and Ibn Battuta mention this
[00:09:05] cowrie trade in their travelogues.
[00:09:08] Cowries were so popular
[00:09:13] that in some places like Odisha,
[00:09:16] cowries continued to be used until the 18th
[00:09:19] and 19th centuries, and then the
[00:09:22] British stopped it. Then came a time
[00:09:26] when trade increased. Trade and markets moved
[00:09:29] from villages to large kingdoms. Large transactions
[00:09:33] became difficult with small currency.
[00:09:36] Imagine if you want to buy
[00:09:39] an ox, and the price is a
[00:09:43] thousand cowries, you won't carry money in your pocket, but in a sack, right?
[00:09:47] When trade increases, the
[00:09:50] form of money also has to change. This is where
[00:09:53] "damri" was added. This is "damri",
[00:09:57] India's first big step
[00:10:00] towards metallic money. For the first
[00:10:03] time, we introduced currency made of metal.
[00:10:06] Damri was usually made of
[00:10:10] copper. And
[00:10:13] the calculation was 10 cowries equals
[00:10:15] 1 damri. When a merchant had to carry a small
[00:10:19] coin instead of 10 cowries,
[00:10:23] it was simple, efficient. And the interesting thing is
[00:10:27] that the effect of this damri was not just in the market,
[00:10:31] it also came into our language. You must have heard,
[00:10:34] "damri damri ka hisab" (every penny counts). You may not have heard
[00:10:38] it from Amitabh Bachchan, but perhaps from some other actor. Such was the value
[00:10:41] of damri, metallic
[00:10:44] currency is the stamp of a nation and an
[00:10:48] important step in the development of a nation's economic
[00:10:51] journey, because in trade exchange now
[00:11:06] some research by scholar such as professor kalyan raman
[00:11:09] argues that some of these coins were there even during those times
[00:11:13] that there were some references of similar coinage within
[00:11:16] bharat which were there in circulation as some form of b so i think you know if you know lot of research credits
[00:11:20] some of these coins to modern turkey around the seventh century
[00:11:23] bce with with some references to China as well and I think you should
[00:11:27] give credit of course in the other parts of the world where it was evident,
[00:11:31] but I think Bharat was not far behind, I think we also had
[00:11:34] various representations of mata and and coinage was was an
[00:11:37] important reference point and you can see that in a lot of our ancient
[00:11:41] text and also lot of the inscriptions, so definitely I
[00:11:44] think if not for the the earliest definitely we were one of the
[00:11:48] earliest in the world to use coinage
[00:11:51] as an important form of water and and and it reflects
[00:12:25] Listen carefully, it's a little complicated. Two damris equal
[00:12:28] to one dhela. An interesting character comes
[00:12:32] in between dhelas: pie. 1.5
[00:12:35] pie equals one dhela. It's a little complicated.
[00:12:39] That means if the merchant says, "It will cost two dhelas,"
[00:12:43] and the customer says, "No, reduce it by half a dhela,"
[00:12:46] then the middle ground is found with pie. This was fractional
[00:12:50] currency, neither yours nor mine. We should not
[00:12:54] underestimate pie. It tells us
[00:12:57] how advanced and subtle India's
[00:13:00] economy was. When society became
[00:13:04] city-based, cities like Pataliputra,
[00:13:08] Taxila flourished, then the need for
[00:13:11] fractional currency was felt. This is the
[00:13:15] real sophistication, when
[00:13:18] the market becomes so aware that every incomplete
[00:13:21] calculation can also be completed. You know for instance in the
[00:13:25] arthshastra, there is also a person who measures the price
[00:13:29] points, whose in charge of measuring the price points of
[00:13:33] various districts, what we call inflation today was
[00:13:36] measured in some form of the other by statistical agency, such was
[00:13:40] the nuances or the sophistication that they had or at least an
[00:13:44] understanding of the monetary system as we see it today,
[00:13:47] As great empires like Mauryas and Guptas
[00:13:51] emerged, trade spread even further.
[00:13:55] Then "paisa" entered this story,
[00:13:58] which is still used today.
[00:14:02] Math became even stronger.
[00:14:05] Three pies equal to one paisa.
[00:14:09] I think Indians' math is so strong because our
[00:14:13] currency system is so complicated. This paisa
[00:14:16] was often made of bronze or copper
[00:14:19] alloy. Strong,
[00:14:23] standardized, and portable.
[00:14:26] The seed of globalization was sown then.
[00:14:29] By the time a merchant set off from Kashi
[00:14:33] and bought silk from a Chinese
[00:14:36] merchant in the far east, or sold spices or cotton
[00:14:40] in the far west, trade was done with
[00:14:44] those very coins. This paisa was not just
[00:14:47] the value of the metal, but it was a promise,
[00:14:51] a pledge that behind this coin, there was a
[00:14:59] we were definitely one of the first in the world to min coins and also
[00:15:03] have as as coins is a form of butter so in a
[00:15:06] sense what is the coin right? a coin represents
[00:15:10] if if we are transacting between two individuals
[00:15:13] a particular product the coin
[00:15:16] represents basically a barter so that i can give
[00:15:20] this much set of coins for me producing a
[00:15:23] particular product and and then selling it to another person, so I gain that currency
[00:15:27] and that is again circated everyone. Ye This coin is genuine and
[00:15:31] the journey of this currency continues.
[00:15:34] The economy grew stronger, transactions started happening
[00:15:38] on a larger scale, so currency also started evolving.
[00:15:42] This is where "ana" was introduced.
[00:15:45] Four paisa made one
[00:15:48] ana, and ana was usually made of
[00:15:51] silver. It was used for large-scale
[00:15:55] transactions, like buying a small
[00:15:58] piece of land, buying jewelry, or
[00:16:02] bearing the expense of trade in faraway
[00:16:05] countries. That's why you must have heard
[00:16:09] some people in old movies and stories
[00:16:13] mentioning "ana". It was on the lips of both
[00:16:16] the common man's dreams and the rich's
[00:16:20] transactions. Now we come to the
[00:16:23] peak of our story: the rupee. Look at this
[00:16:27] calculation carefully: 16
[00:16:31] annas make one rupee. So the
[00:16:34] idiom you hear, "16 annas true,"
[00:16:37] originated from here. When something needs to be said
[00:16:41] as absolutely 100% true,
[00:16:44] people say, "This is 16
[00:16:47] annas true," because 16 annas
[00:16:51] only then made one full rupee.
[00:16:54] The rupee at that time was a silver coin,
[00:16:57] slightly larger than an anna, in the form of a silver
[00:17:00] coin. Its root word is
[00:17:03] the Sanskrit "ropya", which means
[00:17:07] silver, or wrought silver. The rupee was a symbol
[00:17:11] of India's strong trade and skill.
[00:17:14] In the 16th century, Sher Shah Suri issued
[00:17:17] standardized and precisely weighted coins,
[00:17:20] and later an organized,
[00:17:24] strong coinage system was established
[00:17:28] which lasted for a long time. But when European companies'
[00:17:31] invasions began, they introduced a
[00:17:35] different system. Their motive was
[00:17:38] only one: to establish their rule
[00:17:41] over the whole country, and for that,
[00:17:45] controlling trade and the economy was necessary. So
[00:17:48] in 1835, the Coinage Act came,
[00:17:52] where new silver rupees were issued, and on
[00:17:56] them were pictures of British emperors like William
[00:17:59] the Fourth and Queen Victoria,
[00:18:02] and this coin became standardized
[00:18:05] in most parts of the country.
[00:18:09] Time moved on, and the rupee remained
[00:18:13] a companion of India's journey even after the British,
[00:18:16] because its origin was our own. Today we call it
[00:18:20] "rupee". Gandhi's picture on the notes,
[00:18:23] national symbols, lines of
[00:18:27] languages. But one thing has not
[00:18:30] changed: the name. The rupee
[00:18:33] is its descendant. Rupee.
[00:18:36] And today, the story has moved even further.
[00:18:39] Now the rupee is not just paper, not just
[00:18:43] a coin. Now it has become a QR code,
[00:18:46] a mobile app in UPI ID has become a means of
[00:18:49] currency transfer. Today India is
[00:18:53] at the forefront of online payments in the world and
[00:18:56] is moving towards an almost cashles society.
[00:18:59] है,
[00:19:03] indeed I think this reflects
[00:19:06] not just economic thinking, I think it reflects
[00:19:10] society which is which is which is
[00:19:13] far ahead of its times, imagine going back 2000
[00:19:16] years, you know most of our ancient
[00:19:20] masters had had understood not just the concept
[00:19:23] of of commerce and trade, but also
[00:19:28] the systems that underpin it and the importance of artha in
[00:19:32] in in kaliyuga itself
[00:19:35] right, there is no text. to my
[00:19:38] knowledge from any of the other kingdoms and any of the other
[00:19:42] civilizations that focuses primarily on on on
[00:19:45] arth right? the artha shastra for instance is
[00:19:49] primarily written for economic sort of a template for
[00:19:52] economic prosperity or textbook. so to that effect, i
[00:19:56] think the the ability of our past thinkers to
[00:20:00] give due credit to to the importance of artha in the
[00:20:03] purusharthas and also
[00:20:06] emphasize the system. behind it and also have an
[00:20:10] adaptable system, so we spoke about you
[00:20:13] shells which were there during that time, and
[00:20:17] and it evolved, so you
[00:20:19] had coinage coming up at various points
[00:20:23] of time, and then in the modern world we we,
[00:20:26] post independent bharat we moved to
[00:20:29] cash as a mode of transaction, and we adapted to that as well, and then we
[00:20:33] also adapted to the idea of
[00:20:36] credit card and... payments and then subsequently to digital
[00:20:40] technology and UPI, each of these faces what you notice is
[00:20:44] that we have being able to adapt and
[00:20:48] and also provide unique solutions. to the idea of commerce and
[00:20:51] trade and and it's it's very inbuilt in us, so for
[00:20:55] instance, just to give you an example of how
[00:20:58] inbuilt our commerce was, lot of communities in
[00:21:01] bharat have
[00:21:04] historically been trading with the rest of the world,
[00:21:08] for instance nartikots a small community
[00:21:11] based in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, they were
[00:21:15] international traders, they were even during the great depression they were trading
[00:21:19] in various parts of the... and and and and given their
[00:21:22] experience they were able to be pioneers in in in bar
[00:21:26] trade and in in financing and and and
[00:21:28] were started banks as well including the Indian Indian bank
[00:21:32] in Bharat so what I'm what I'm trying to say here is
[00:21:35] that not only did we have a system of
[00:21:39] monetary system which is adapting which is agile we also
[00:21:42] had culture of artha a culture of business a
[00:21:46] culture of business across time.
[00:21:50] right through the girls, the shrines and also
[00:21:53] ancient businesss and and brought unique skill
[00:21:57] sets in various parts of bharat, in various
[00:22:00] districts in various communities, they had their own
[00:22:03] unique skill set which was exported to the rest of the world, sochiye
[00:22:07] Where we used to trade with shells from the sea,
[00:22:10] and now with a few buttons on a mobile phone,
[00:22:13] payments are done. This is not just a journey
[00:22:17] of currency, but a reflection of strong and successful
[00:22:20] economic progress. So
[00:22:23] let's recap this entire journey of currency.
[00:22:27] The smallest is the "phooti kaudi".
[00:22:30] Three "phooti kaudis" make one
[00:22:33] "kaudi". Above that, the "kaudi",
[00:22:37] the cowrie shell that came from the sea,
[00:22:40] the first currency of the market. 10 cowries equal
[00:22:44] to one damri, a copper coin, the beginning of metallic
[00:22:47] money. Two damris
[00:22:50] make one dhela, and in between comes pie.
[00:22:53] 1.5 pie = 1
[00:22:56] dhela, the biggest weapon of bargaining.
[00:22:59] Three pies = one paisa,
[00:23:03] made of bronze or copper,
[00:23:06] trade. Four paisa equal
[00:23:09] to one anna, a small silver coin, dear
[00:23:13] to big transactions and the rich. 16 annas
[00:23:17] equal to 1 rupee, a strong
[00:23:20] and large silver coin, from which
[00:23:23] our rupee or rupiya is born.
[00:23:26] And today, the story of this rupee has entered
[00:23:30] a new era through UPI and digital payments.
[00:23:33] When we make payments with cash, coins,
[00:23:37] UPI, or even cards, we cannot even imagine
[00:23:41] where it started, and with the rupee
[00:23:44] symbol that we see,
[00:23:48] a story of trade, state, religion,
[00:23:52] and society is also connected.
[00:23:54] This journey from "phooti kaudi" to rupee
[00:23:58] and today to UPI is not just the evolution
[00:24:01] of currency, it is also the evolution
[00:24:05] of our civilization. This was our journey
[00:24:09] today, from "phooti kaudi" to rupee,
[00:24:12] a unique journey from India's ancient economy
[00:24:16] to today's digital age. So next
[00:24:19] time you hear this dialogue, "I don't have
[00:24:22] even one "phooti kaudi", smile
[00:24:26] because now you know that behind that "phooti kaudi"
[00:24:29] lies the entire story of a civilization,
[00:24:33] and this is 16 annas true.
[00:24:36] Namaste, Jai Hind.
[00:28:30] की है.
[00:30:03] Namaste, you are watching DD News, with me is Gaurav Srivastava. So let's start the bulletin
[00:30:07] and first let's look at the headlines
[00:30:10] of the moment.
[00:30:13] Rahul Gandhi again embroiled in controversy. During the Students' Echo program,
[00:30:17] he was accused of insulting women power. BJP called
[00:30:20] the Congress leader's attitude
[00:30:22] deplorable.
[00:30:26] BJP's campaign against drugs in Punjab continues. Under
[00:30:30] the Drug-Free Punjab Yatra, Union Minister