blisters bow and world business report. here is sally —— world of business now. free cash if you get a job or not — the finnish government tries paying the unemployed a basic income in a bid to get them back to work. and with india still reeling from the decision to scrap the country's most widely used notes, modi announces plans to help those struggling with the move. welcome to world business report. i'm sally bundock. starting this year, finland becomes the first country in the world to pilot a basic income scheme. 2,000 unemployed people in the country will begin receiving 560 euro — that's $585 dollars — every month from the state, with no strings attached. the government believes manyjob seekers are put off getting a job because they will lose benefits and therefore be worse off financially. andrew walker has the details. a new yearand a new year and perhaps a new approach to welfare policy in finland. it is just approach to welfare policy in finland. it isjust an approach to welfare policy in finland. it is just an experiment at this stage but one attracting interest around the world. the new approach involves providing a standard basic income to every citizen whether you work or not. that way, those without a job have an incentive to take even poorly paid or part—time work as they would get to keep the benefit any salary. the traditional weather system means getting a job usually means losing benefits. will be new system actually encourage more people to work? nobody knows the shore. that is why the finnish government has decided to test it. two dozen unemployed people will get about $580 a month whether they look for a job or not —— 2000. translation: we will get information on how this kind of economic incentive affects people's behaviour. it is valuable information and more than the current discussion is based on. we will get some facts. the current discussion is mostly based on opinions and very strong opinions for or against eu welfare policy. this way, we are trying to show something more than an opinion. the finnish experiment focuses on the unemployed and whether it encourages people into work. but rolling out a basic income in full would mean paying it to everyone. critics say it would be both expensive and would waste money on people who don't need financial help. we will certainly keep an eye how that pans out in finland. in a new year's address to the nation, india's prime minister, narendra modi has announced several initiatives to help those hardest hit by the country's decision to scrap some banknotes. measures include additional incentives for digital transactions as well as financial support forfarmers who have been hit hard by the change. there has been widespread disruption since the prime minister announced in november that current 500 and 1000 rupee notes would no longer be legal. the government scrapped the notes without warning to crack down on undeclared cash known as ‘black money‘ and fake cash. in fact, this black money shadow economy is said to be worth as much as 20% of india's entire gdp. together, the two notes represented 86% of the currency in circulation, and the indian parliament is preparing laws that will make it a criminal offence to hold the old notes from april onwards. our business correspondent shilpa kannanjoins me now from delhi with the latest on this story. it was a disaster in november when this was first announced with very little notice. tell us what narendra modi had to say in his speech. absolutely. it was shocking and there was utter chaos everywhere. the prime minister did acknowledge that and said he is painful to the citizens who showed patients by standing in the line. but what eve ryo ne standing in the line. but what everyone was looking for was did all of that hardship really lead to anything? was there a big number achieved do this exercise? the prime minister failed achieved do this exercise? the prime ministerfailed to achieved do this exercise? the prime minister failed to provide any details about those kind of numbers. he did not tell us how much black money was seized on what kind of, to this exercise, what did they achieve? those numbers were not in the speech. but he did give out a lot of handouts, especially to farmers who were really hard hit by this whole exercise. the farmers sector was very badly. there is a crucial agricultural season coming up crucial agricultural season coming up and farmers could not afford new seeds of fertiliser, said there were handouts for them and for small and medium enterprises. pregnant women got some money. there were various little handouts. many said this sounded more like a budget speech then a new year's if speech. but no details on where this money would come from. and also the impact on the indian economy. some have downgraded growth forecasts for india now because of this move. absolutely. that was one thing that many people were pointing out. with the of this whole currency swap exercise, people were worried about what kind of impact india's growth will have, and rural economy will be the first one to take a hit. people in rural areas simply don't have access to so in rural areas simply don't have access to so many in rural areas simply don't have access to so many banks as much as in urban india. with these kind of handouts, it looks like the prime minister is trying to kickstart the ruling consumption again and maybe the investment cycle and get a boost from that. is i clearly seems to be on rural india. there is also crucial key state elections coming up. this is just crucial key state elections coming up. this isjust ahead of the election date announcement. very populist move by the indian prime minister. thank you. nice to see you. we will see you again soon. let's talk about one of the things many are discussing as we enter a new year. that is the big question of what will be ye have in store for the world's currencies? —— the year. 2016 was a roller—coaster year as brexit and us presidential elections gripped investor sentiment. 0ur asia business correspondent karishma verswani takes a look at the past year and what to expect in 2017. at the start of 2016 it was all about the japanese yen, and the ha rd est about the japanese yen, and the hardest working central banker did everything in his power to weaken again. nothing, not even negative interest rates worked. 2016 everyone said would be a tough year for the yen. as all of this was going on, the chinese yuan was falling. as its economy became more uncertain, chinese companies and individuals began selling more of their cash overseas. then came the first big shot, the vote for brexit. the sterling slumped against the us dollar after the uk and expectedly voted to beat the european union in june. it lost about 15% of its value. all of that uncertainty led to more money flowing into the safe haven japanese yen, to more money flowing into the safe havenjapanese yen, which kept rising, and all he could do was wring his hands. all of this while, the chinese yuan kept falling. then trump inflation hit. he won the white house and the us dollar soared. good news that the dollar but bad news for emerging market currencies like the malaysians currency which at explores bubbles since the 1998 financial crisis. and through it all, the chinese yuan kept falling, even as the government kept falling, even as the government kept pumping in cash to prop it up —— fell to its lowest level. at the beginning of 2017, the us dollar is at its strong is level in years. it looks set to stay that way. the british pound has lost a fifth of its value since the brexit vote. a new normal, perhaps? and the japanese yen, whatever donald trump could do, he did, and now it is weakening against a strong dollar. what about the chinese yuan? it looks set to continue its buy much downwards against the us dollar. for now, at least —— it's much downwards. she has had a busy 12 months as we all have at the bbc. let's talk more about the chinese government as far as currency control is concerned. announcing tighter controls on those wishing to buy foreign currency. individuals will now have to provide more information to their bank with regards to why they are making the purchase. the tighter controls are part of an array of measures being taken by the government to curb huge capital outflows driven by the yuan sinking to an eight—year low against the dollar. let's look at the financial markets. pretty much no action as far as the share market are concerned around the world because nearly everybody is closed for the brain new year holiday as it were. a bank holiday in most parts of the world —— brings new. most markets will reopen on tuesday this week. but they do go, you can have a look at how the currencies are faring as we enter a new year. i will see you send. —— soon. we will look at the international papers shortly. let's bring you some uk news. five men have been arrested after an apparent hit—and—run in 0ldham. it happened a new year's eve. another girl is in a critical condition in hospital. richard lister reports. the flowers laid here for 12—year—old helina kotlarova, killed in an apparent hit—and—run crash last night, a crash that also left her 11—year—old cousin critically ill. when we ran there, she was on the floor. she had blood all over herface, and i was touching her, i was trying to see if she's going to breathe or something, but she couldn't breathe or nothing. and i've seen herface, this face was all, you know, bleeding and... there was nothing...to do. her sister said the two girls were crossing ashton road and holding hands when they were hit by a black vw golf which sped away. police went to speak to anyone who saw that cart ora to speak to anyone who saw that cart or a dark—coloured peugeot 807 singing area. they have also appealed for the driver of a white then on the same stretch of road to come forward —— seeing in the area. specially trained officers were supporting the girls' families. richard lister, bbc news. m.ed. m. ed. investigation is m.ed. investigation is taking place after a person was killed after a house fire. police said the fire was targeted and wilful —— a murder investigation. garden villages have been announced in order to create new homes. the new villagers must include green spaces and good transport links. the government says the plans will help provide vital homes in rural campaigners have warned there is still strong opposition to some of the projects. much more on this story is coming up at six o'clock on bbc breakfast. dan walker will also have the rest of the day's news and sport, including the launch of hull's year as the uk city of culture. a look at the newspapers shortly, but first the top stories from the bbc. a huge manhunt continues in turkey for a gunman who opened fire on revellers celebrating the new year at an istanbul nightclub, killing at least 39 people. more than 50 moroccan and spanish security officers have been injured trying to prevent over 1000 migrants storming a barrier protecting the spanish territory of ceuta in north africa. there's been another arrest in the unfolding corruption scandal in south korea. the daughter of the president's best friend has been held by danish police and will return to seoul to face questioning. and a fire on board an indonesian tourist ferry has left 23 people dead, with many others still missing. now it is time for our newspaper review. what's making headlines around the world ? dominating several headlines is the nightclub attack in istanbul. this article from the daily telegraph looks at the manhunt for the gunman, who killed at least 39 partygoers. no group has yet claimed responsibility. the financial times focuses on marine le pen and say‘s she'll borrow 6 million euros from a company owned by her father to fund her campaign for the french presidency this year, after the leader of the far—right national front failed to secure financing from traditional banks. in the philippine star, this article which says the european chamber of commerce in the philippines has two wishes for outspoken president rodrigo dutere. that he address concerns on alleged extrajudicial killings and end his verbal assaults on the country's international allies. the new york times takes a details looked at what it's calling venezuela's savage year. it looks at the violence gripping the nation and more than 28,000 people killed, according to the article. it says the current cash crisis is only "deepening peoples misery". and, finally, the wall street journal looks at what the economic forecasters got right and wrong in 2016. don't worry, sally, you're not mentioned. the consensus generally from a year ago proving to be quite accurate.