The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kicked off the new year on a good note — pun intended. On January 1, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, launched Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI), a mobile application to help the visually impaired (colour blind, partially sighted and blind) identify the denomination of Indian banknotes. The app, available free of charge on both Android and iOS platforms, is able to carry out the identification process in two modes: an audio notification in Hindi or English or via vibration which can come to the aid of those with hearing impairment, too. After installation, it doesn't require an active Internet connection to function, either. But the only disclaimer RBI gives is that MANI doesn't differentiate between genuine and counterfeit notes.

As soon as he heard the central bank's announcement, Prathamesh Bendre, 25, a visually challenged city-based poet who has also recently completed his LLB from Government Law College, headed to Play Store to download MANI. As per the app's instructions, all one has to do is point the phone camera to the banknote. It then identifies the denomination of the Mahatma Gandhi series and the Mahatma Gandhi (new series) announced in 2017.