PNB fraud

Punjab National Bank's Brady House branch in Mumbai fraudulently issued Letters of Undertaking to overseas branches in favor of Nirav Modi.

Lapses at various levels:

• At the most basic level, it happened due to delinquent behavior of a few employees of PNB .
• Delinking of SWIFT and Core Banking Solution.
• Failure of bank management as the staffs were not rotated every 3 years as a norm for risk management.
• Failure of Audit committees.
• Partly a failure of the regulatory body the RBI as all LOUs have to be reported to the RBI on a quarterly basis. There is also a conflict of interest in having a central banker sitting on the board of a bank that RBI regulates.
• To an extent, Govt is responsible too as a majority stakeholder in PNB a PSB.

Impact:

• This fraud has been unearthed at a time when the PSBs are reeling under a pile of stressed assets of about Rs. 10 lakh crore. In an election year, it would now be politically difficult to press forward with the recapitalization plan of PSBs using taxpayer's money.
• The market sentiments have been hit. The shares of PNB have fallen. The credit off take from PSBs may suffer too. 
• In the long run, these frauds erode the confidence of the public in the banking sector.

Solutions:

• Bring wilful defaulters to book as soon as possible to create a deterrence.
• Improve corporate governance in private companies.
• Privatization of a few PSBs and consolidation of the rest can be considered to bring in professional management and to curb political interference in the functioning of banks.

India-Iran Relations

Recently, the President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani was on a three-day visit to India. Connectivity is the main pillar of India-Iran relations. The visit saw the Chahbahar Port getting operationalised. The port would give India access to landlocked Afghanistan and the energy rich Central Asia region. Located close to Gwadar port, it would enable India to offset Chinese presence in the Arabian Sea.

India meets 80 percent of her oil requirements through imports. Good relations with Iran is important for our energy security and for safeguarding the interests of Indian diaspora in the form of construction workers working in West Asia.
During the visit there was an agreement over rupee-rial arrangement using which Indian businessmen can invest in Iran in Rupees. This is an attempt to circumvent the possibility of international sanctions being reinstated if the Iran nuclear deal is renegotiated.
Another area of cooperation is the joint fight against radicalization and terror.
India has a significant Parsi population thus, people to people contacts is another dimension of India-Iran relations.

Challenges:
Balancing relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran at the same time.
Similarly with Israel.

The Padmavati Controversy

It is not uncommon these days to witness the Freedom of Speech and Expression being sacrificed at the altar of hurt sentiments. Take for instance the Padmavati row. The Karni Sena would make us believe that the honor of Rajput women has been belittled by some of the scenes of the movie. But the fact of the matter is such acts of intimidation, for instance bounty on the head of Deepika Padukone and Sanjay Leela Bhansali has belittled the Article 19 of the Constitution. One after the other, state governments have called for a stay on the release of the film in their respective states. It is a clear abdication of their constitutional duty to uphold the right to freedom of speech and expression of individuals.


Arguments against Censorship:

• It stifles creativity and innovation, making way for a single narrative about a particular issue.
• It legitimizes acts of vandalism done by fringe elements and thus undermines Rule of Law.
• ‘Not being offended’ is not a right. Constitution and laws protect rights and freedoms, but not sentiments. Sentiments are personal and subjective. In a diverse country like India, it is difficult to choose a subject which wont hurt the sentiments of a community.
• In the digital age, Censorship is irrelevant.

Arguments favoring Censorship:

• Historical narrative being reshaped without accountability can cause deep repercussions and violence in the society.

Way Forward:

The issue at stake is the credibility of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as an organisation. In this regard, the recommendations of  Shyam Benegal Committee that CBFC should only certify films and not censor them, needs to be implemented. The state should encourage free speech and censorship should be avoided. Mindless hooliganism by non state actors should not be tolerated. Filmmakers should also understand their moral responsibility and respect the religious and cultural sentiments of the people. Those found unwilling should be held accountable. A crucial balance between individual and community rights should be attained.

Women In Politics

Political Empowerment of women is the key to unlock the true potential of women. Participation in politics not only enhances their self esteem but also increases their say in decision-making in their own families.

Only 10 out of 190 countries in the world have women Prime Ministers, Chancellors or alike. In India, Indira Gandhi, Pratibha Patil, Sushma Swaraj, Sonia Gandhi among others have made their presence strongly felt in politics. However, the representation of women in the Parliament languishes at around 10 percent. The Women Reservation Bill has been pending in the Parliament for nearly a decade now. No wonder then that the issues concerning women takes a back seat in the Parliament. The situation in State Legislatures is not too different either.

In the third tier, the constitution of India has indeed reserved seats for women in the local bodies. But the participation of women in Gram Sabha has been marred by what is called as the Panchayat Pati Syndrome wherein their husbands participate on their behalf.

The women reservation bill should be passed at the earliest. It should be made mandatory for political parties to field at least, lets say 25% of their candidates from the women community. In order to fill the legislative vacuum in the policies concerning women, it is important to increase their presence in the corridors of politics.

Deglobalisation

Are we moving away from Globalisation?

Globalisation is based on the premise of free flow of people, goods and services across international borders.

The rise of right wing parties across Europe, the pullout of the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership, the Brexit vote and the America First policy of the Trump administration point to the rising inward looking policies of governments across the world. The call for erecting a Mexican wall at the US-Mexico border as well as the closure of European borders for refugees from the Middle East serve as another threat to the existing liberal global order. The hike in Visa fees, stringent requirement norms for H1B Visa by the US as well as the 457 Visa Programme of Australia demonstrate how free flow of services is being impeded.The multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank are slowly ceding space to regional initiatives like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the New Development Bank (NDB).

Though it is too early to write the eulogy of globalisation, the rising trend of protectionism is however, clearly evident.

Cow vigilantism

Cow vigilantism: Are words enough?

The other day our honorable Prime Minister ended his silence on the matter and came out strong against those who spread violence in the name of cow protection.

It has been reported that such instances have increased of late because those involved in cow vigilantism often have affiliations with the party in power. Added to that is the ideological battle. No doubt cow is revered in our scriptures and death of any living organism be it a cow or a human is deplorable. But there is a deeper malaise involved here. Fringe elements by taking law into their own hands erode the legitimacy of the state. It has been alleged that police is often complicit in the acts of violence. Thus the morale and the independence of the police is also in question here.

There have been instances when young adults belonging to minority groups have been deliberately targeted to settle personal scores. A ban on cattle trade for slaughter across states have not helped the cause either.

Indeed law and order is a state subject. However it cannot be denied that much more is expected of a government who has a considerable majority in the Parliament. The way forward is to implement the directives laid down by the SC in the Prakash Singh vs Union of India case for bringing in police reforms. Shielding the investigation from the politics of the day will certainly help the cause. It is not the degree but the certainty of punishment which deters such hate crimes and mob violence.

The job dilemma

Why job creation remains a pipe dream?

India is the youngest country and is expected to remain so over a few decades. With such an expanding workforce, it is true that India is sitting on a huge demographic dividend. To reap this dividend, programmes like Make in India have been launched which are, however yet to show up the desired results. So what is it that is pulling India back when it comes to job creation?

The strict labour laws apply to firms having more than 10 employees. Hence, companies try to remain small so as to escape regulations pertaining to routine inspections, worker's safety, working hours, PF contributions etc. Therefore they hire less and outsource other jobs in the form of contracts.

Next factor is of course the rising automation which eats away jobs like anything.

A NASSCOM report finds that only 25% of the graduates are employable. Therefore the quality of higher education sector in India leaves a lot to worry about. Mere expansion of IITs and other institutes of higher learning have proven to be counterproductive since we don't have enough of well paid and well-equipped faculty.

Looking forward we need to target sectors that have immense job creating potential like the startups, tourism sector, apparels, footwear industry etc. We need to give tax-breaks to Micro, small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that are Kamdhenus of job creation.