tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43587071012934013472025-10-14T23:45:22.816+05:30Monday MochaA log-book of random thoughts that seeks to amuse, provoke, annoy, irritate, inspire and inform.monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.comBlogger203125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-81253379180253621582018-03-19T17:23:00.004+05:302018-03-19T17:24:37.195+05:30The Risk of Trade Wars Becomes A Reality
Trump’s trade actions and its contagion effects could theoretically lead to a slow erosion of the global rules-based trading system
Names can reveal a lot. The recurring cold waves buffeting Europe are called “beast from the east” because of their origin in Siberia. It is unlikely that the trade chill arising in the US and threatening to freeze global commerce will be given a similar monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-37152803607701691102018-03-09T17:13:00.000+05:302018-03-19T17:17:18.916+05:30Why Banking Frauds Are So Frequent At PSU Banks
The terrain that is Indian banking turns tricky when government’s shareholder action in PSU banks starts impinging on RBI’s regulatory regime
It’s difficult not to detect a sense of déjà vu in the Nirav Modi scam, especially in all the hand-wringing and ex post facto zeal in setting up committees and investigations. Scams are a recurring motif in Indian banking, and the Punjab National monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-68194875252191766722018-03-05T17:05:00.000+05:302018-03-19T17:09:03.367+05:30One Local and Three Global Risks Facing India
As India lurches towards the 2019 general elections, it might be appropriate to list some of the risks that confront the country
The beginning of a new year usually sees think tanks and insurance companies list their version of perceived global risks over the next 12 months. As India lurches towards the 2019 general elections, it might be appropriate to list some of the risks that confront themonday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-9948265478554479742018-02-28T17:01:00.000+05:302018-03-19T17:02:38.913+05:30Fault Lines in the Indian Banking Industry
Both the PNB fraud and the Rotomac case underline how fund diversions were overlooked, but what’s distressing is how no alarm bells were sounded, no red flags were raised
Two things occur with metronomic regularity in the Indian banking sector: scams and committee reports. One, perhaps, follows from the other.
The Indian banking story, whether pre- or post-nationalization, has been an monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-78828499929788433922018-02-19T09:30:00.000+05:302018-02-19T12:50:36.781+05:30Hierarchy Of Rights: Citizens vs Institutions
The state, its myriad institutions and the corporate sector—both in private and state-owned spaces—have been provided a hierarchical status greater than citizens
The large hole discovered recently in Punjab National Bank (PNB) has got people asking: How did a diamantaire take out so much money from the banking system, so easily, when ordinary customers are made to jump through several hoops ormonday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-43274369221167550062018-02-17T09:30:00.000+05:302018-02-17T16:34:53.866+05:30Feels Like Scam Season Once Again
The belated discovery of a moon-size crater inside Punjab National Bank (PNB) opens up many fronts and leaves multiple questions unanswered. What’s more, the extent of damages is still evolving and could multiply as individual strands of the multi-layered transactions are extricated.
The overall outlook is also not that encouraging: the spaghetti bowl of interconnected transactions could monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-30310445396929483092018-02-06T14:00:00.000+05:302018-02-15T12:29:41.583+05:30Poll Khol: Farmers, Women, And The Elderly: Jaitley Readies Modi’s Votebank For 2019
Pre-election budgets are all about understanding the political economy and delivering a sharp message. Finance minister Arun Jaitley seems to have dipped into his party’s successful electoral playbook to design his budget for 2018-19. And his manual of choice seems to be the Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections, compelled by the erosion of margins during the recent Gujarat state polls.
A new monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-51477827609188283642018-02-05T10:00:00.000+05:302018-02-15T12:16:53.357+05:30Budget 2018: What Equities And Bond Markets Tell Us
While the equity markets seem to have comprehensively disapproved of Jaitley’s last full budget, the response of bond prices indicate the likelihood of hardening interest rates in the future
Two needles moved decisively after Union finance minister Arun Jaitley announced his budget for 2018-19. Both movements provide some clues on how to read the budget.
The first needle—indicating stock monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-3559581908478437112018-02-02T12:03:00.000+05:302018-02-15T12:06:44.715+05:30Are Promises Meant To Be Kept?
What you expect is not what you always get. But Budget ’18 seems to have lived up to its promise: effusive praise for its own policies, some grandstanding and lots of signalling. In short, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s Union Budget for 2018-19 is custom built to prepare his party for hectic political action over the next 12-18 months. Jaitley’s avowed focus is on improving ease of living in monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-55441644865678842582018-01-31T15:00:00.000+05:302018-02-15T12:00:20.244+05:30Read Between The Lines: Arun Jaitley Can’t Just Spend His Way Out Of Trouble
The Union budget, to be presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley on Feb. 01, has engaged everybody’s attention for multiple reasons. Primarily, though, it’s because this is his last full budget before the 2019 general elections and everybody anticipates a political-economy imprint. But, mainly, it will be judged for its ability to create conditions leading to asset and job creation. So far, monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-58036542201042866482018-01-25T17:00:00.000+05:302018-02-15T11:36:46.135+05:30Will Jaitley Sow The Right Seeds?
As Finance Minister Arun Jaitley prepares to present the Budget on February 1, one issue will dominate his mindspace: agriculture. With large sections of India’s population depending on the farm sector, continuing distress has reached crisis proportions.
And this predicament manifested itself in the recent Gujarat elections where the BJP retained its majority but lost 16 seats from its 2012monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-38043880258464752232018-01-22T17:22:00.000+05:302018-01-25T17:25:37.025+05:30Budget 2018: A Trinity of Challenges Confronts Arun Jaitley
Budget 2018 is Arun Jaitley’s last full budget before next year’s general election and he may choose to do nothing but wait it out
There is something magical about the number three. In Shakespeare’s tragic play, it is three witches who provide Macbeth with a prophecy. The Chinese consider three as the perfect number, three represents the holy trinity, and so on. Finance minister Arun Jaitley’smonday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-54613560203435943182018-01-10T17:30:00.000+05:302018-01-11T16:40:38.655+05:30Fintech Moves In The New Year
Government and regulatory agencies expected to provide some policy actions and regulatory direction to fintech
The lingering after-effects of demonetisation were felt through calendar 2017. These were further buffeted by the introduction of the goods and services tax. Both events hastened the adoption of fintech, particularly digital payments. The trend is likely to be consolidated during 2018monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-39257939641748016092017-12-27T17:00:00.000+05:302018-01-13T11:28:54.162+05:30Time To Go To FRDI Bill’s Roots
Controversy around the bail-in clause aside, FRDI Bill’s clauses 58 and 62(1) regarding governance of a firm declared critical are inherently conflicting
Much has been said and written about the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017. The FRDI Bill was scheduled for discussion in Parliament this winter session but will now have to yield to more immediate concerns such as the monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-27376966974500812632017-12-13T17:00:00.000+05:302018-01-13T11:30:07.045+05:30Sports And The Ease of Doing Business
There is no arguing that sports and sporting events should be made more inclusive
A recent statement by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Union minister of state for youth affairs and sports, has rattled many private television broadcasters operating in India. Delivering the keynote address at the Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII’s) Big Picture Summit, he said that media has an important monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-40876935201809891132017-11-29T17:00:00.000+05:302018-01-13T11:31:19.792+05:30PPP: Private Profits Promoted
In a PPP framework, the private sector partner needs to maximize profit, which is not always compatible with the stated objective of providing universal access to quality services
The news of how much a private hospital recently charged a patient’s family for dengue treatment, despite not being able to save the patient’s life, has was met with outrage and revulsion. The private healthcare monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-12789851731817736102017-11-15T17:00:00.000+05:302018-01-13T11:35:57.303+05:30The Rich Know How to Sidestep Responsibilities
The Paradise Papers show how the wealthy and powerful use tax havens—some do it legitimately, others for re-routing illegal wealth—to avoid or evade tax liabilities
Three developments over the past few weeks provide pointers to how the rich, whether individuals or nations, behave when it comes to meeting obligations.
The Paradise Papers have revealed how wealthy and powerful individuals usemonday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-12145328271859023272017-11-01T17:00:00.000+05:302018-01-13T11:36:59.839+05:30Bank Recapitalisation: Slow-Mo Replay
Scepticism over bank recapitalisation plan is fuelled by the government’s predilection for grandiose policy announcements without adequate preparation or execution
Like all things Indian, there are multiple ways of viewing Union finance minister Arun Jaitley’s comprehensive presentation on the Indian economy and the package of measures formulated to provide some momentum to a decelerating monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-5123158018541336942017-10-18T17:00:00.000+05:302018-01-13T11:33:58.730+05:30Globalization: Much Needed, Yet So Treacherous
The unravelling of the quarter-century-old global economic order will have many effects, some unpredictable but mostly unavoidable
Developments in Germany have surprised those rejoicing defeats of Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders. Alternative for Germany (AfD) has won 13% of votes and is Bundestag’s third largest party; significantly, it’s the first time since World War II that a far-right, monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-35200167827843919442017-10-04T17:30:00.000+05:302017-10-05T12:01:38.248+05:30India’s New Gene Is Called Plutocracy
India has been called a plutocracy for its manifest disposition towards the rich and the powerful
The stampede at Mumbai’s Elphinstone Road train station last week, which claimed 27 lives, holds up a mirror to India’s policy bias towards the rich and powerful. Many people (including this columnist) impulsively tweeted about the government’s penchant for bullet trains versus apathy towards monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-57483484996315240112017-09-20T17:00:00.000+05:302017-09-26T15:56:48.201+05:30India’s Creative Economy Needs Creative Solutions
It is time to either upgrade Trai’s capacity or to even start thinking again of an independent and separate broadcasting regulator
Sometimes you don’t need to look under rocks to find the objectionable.
The auction for T20 cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL) broadcast rights, across geographies and media, has amplified the asymmetry in regulatory frameworks operating in the creative monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-85037975896465804142017-09-06T17:30:00.000+05:302017-09-11T17:21:05.025+05:30Pointers To A Future-Ready Payments Policy
Regulation, almost always, lags technology development. But an opportunity to create a future-ready policy framework now seems close at hand
Events over the past few weeks have thrown up numerous pointers to what should be included in a future payments-system policy framework.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) 2017-18 annual report provided the first clue, proving a well-known policy monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-65549213714567507112017-08-27T11:00:00.000+05:302017-09-26T16:07:29.400+05:30READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Interpreting Trump’s Not-So-Subtle Threat To India To Do More In Afghanistan
The India-US relationship has conventionally been undergirded by commonly shared democratic traditions, despite periodic upheavals. Thanks to president Donald Trump, this is likely to change soon and acquire a transactional shade based on quid pro quo, where acknowledgement is contingent on favours extended.
This was evident when Trump unveiled his long overdue strategy for Afghanistan, a monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-2520968589309809622017-08-23T17:30:00.000+05:302017-08-27T13:28:33.004+05:30The Republic of Statistical Scramble
Straightening out data inconsistencies should be a government priority
Many a caustic word has been exchanged in the acrimonious debate over the Indian economy’s employment data. One set of numbers claims the current phase of economic growth as jobless. Alternative data sets have accompanied vigorous assertions of rising employment. And then there are many in the middle, trying to make sense monday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4358707101293401347.post-32946378282865807562017-08-09T17:00:00.000+05:302017-08-27T13:22:27.748+05:30RBI’s Studied Silence Over External Vulnerabilities
Critics are questioning the wisdom of the RBI after a 25 basis point reduction in benchmark interest rates fell short of capital market expectations
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) 25 basis point reduction in benchmark interest rates fell short of capital market expectations. They were expecting a deeper cut but the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) played safe, given uncertainty surroundingmonday-mochahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02534984067972560833noreply@blogger.com1