"The answers I
remember longest are the ones that answer questions that I didn't think of
asking."
—Jonathan Kozol (American, 1936)
Word
for the day
Paean (n)
Any song of praise, joy, or triumph.
Malice
towards none
Is Big B guilty of breaching
the privacy of two young girls by publically releasing a letter written to them
by their grandfather?
If the intent was
"public good", then the grandfather could have very well addressed
the subject letter to all the daughters of this country.
First random thought this morning
I do not understand the paranoia of so called liberals in our
country. Why cannot they accept that people have personal likings about things
like - how people should dress; what people should eat; what students should
study; etc. It is common behavior to consider and propagate one's parochial
view as the worldview. Forcing such view (legally, emotionally or socially)
might be criminal, but mere suggestion is innocent.
There are enough evidence of so called developed societies
enforcing attire (Burkha, Turban etc.) and food restriction through legal
means. At least, we have not seen any legal restriction so far, to my
knowledge.
Bank on banking
Many of these changes are
operational in nature and would go many miles in improving the operational
efficiency of Indian banks.
Some of these changes are structural
in nature and have the potential of transforming face of the Indian banking
industry to make it competitive in the global market.
The following three structural
changes, in particular, are note worthy, in my view:
(a) Technological upgradation: Traditionally the Indian
banking industry has suffered from capacity constraints in terms of man and
material. Introduction of technology based tools like Unified Payment Interface
(UPI) and UIDAI based KYC have made it possible to scale up the business both
in terms of geographical reach and number of customers.
Increased
use of technology makes the implementation of financial inclusion objectives
thus facilitating the exponential growth of banking industry (secure
remittances, improved social security, higher small savings, lesser need for
holding cash, etc.)
Use
of technology in banking makes delivery of government subsidies and grants
efficient through direct benefit transfer scheme (DBT) thus materially
improving the systemic efficiencies both on fiscal and monetary sides.
(b) Encouraging competition: Removal of entry
restrictions and making banking licensing a simple over the counter (OTC)
affair has been a tremendous effort by both the government and the regulator.
We have seen how the face of services like civil aviation, telecom, power
generation and distribution, highways etc. has changed over past two and half
decade. Expecting a similar change in the banking sector over next decade would
not be an exaggeration.
There
could be an argument that with higher and deeper use of technology, we may not
need more banks. To some these two may even appear incongruent to each other.
In my view, these two changes are perfectly complimentary to each other and
much needed.
As
we have seen in civil aviation and telecom, each new player brings a new set of
ideas, innovation and rise in competitive intensity. Some become large in
generic services and some choose to become niche players in selected areas. In
due course the best survives and the inefficient fades into oblivion.
(c) Bankruptcy law: Implementation of a practical and
modern bankruptcy law is also a major structural change in the operation of the
Indian banking industry. On one side it would act as a deterrent to the
unscrupulous businessmen who have been routinely misusing the banking system
and legal system; on the other hand it would encourage the bankers to take the
required risk without fear.....to continue
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