India pulls 500, 1,000 rupee notes from circulation

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced Tuesday that 500 and 1,000 rupee notes would be withdrawn from circulation from midnight in a bid to tackle corruption.

"To break the grip of corruption and black money, we have decided that the 500 and 1,000 rupee currency notes presently in use will no longer be legal tender from midnight ie 8 November, 2016," Modi said in a shock announcement on television.

Modi said that although the existing notes would be "worthless", members of the public would be able to exchange them for new bills at banks until the end of the year.