Warrier's blog

Full text of Budget 2015-16 speech - The Hindu

Budget 2015 Highlights - Moneylife

Budget 2015: Gold monetisation scheme announced - Moneylife My VIEW: This is a most welcome initiative. Please read my Moneylife.in article "How about revisiting the idea of Gold Bank?" currently available at moneylife.in and The Hindu Business Line article "Gold management needs a makeover" published on April 12, 2012. M G Warrier

The AAP as part of a global phenomenon - The Hindu

Economic Survey - Moneylife

Newsmaker: Yaga Venugopal Reddy | Business Standard News My VIEW: The short article crisply excellently covers a period in Reserve bank of India’s history which will be looked back for guidance by economists and financial analysts trying to understand the inter-dependence of fiscal and monetary actions in future years. The contours for the present harmonious relationship between North Block(Finance Ministry) and Mint Road(RBI) –  the higher level of frictions during Chidambaram-Subbarao era was an aberration- were laid down during Dr Y V Reddy’s tenure in RBI,  which was in fact a continuation of the relationship between R N Malhotra and Dr Reddy when the former was in RBI and the latter was still in the Finance Ministry. Besides initiating measures to build up India’s foreign exchange reserves almost from naught, Dr Reddy also argued for a strong RBI Balance Sheet. He supported raising the total reserves of the central bank to 12 per cent of the size of the balance sheet

In search of quality fiscal adjustment - The Hindu My VIEW: The article read with Hariharan's comment makes sense. Since days of LPG(Liberalisation-Privatisation-Globalisation) initiative, circa 1991, our policy makers have been trying to cut and paste 'business models' tried in developed countries which had no relevance in the present Indian context. Hopefully, the new regime has understood the folly and is trying to adapt, decentralise and plan taking into account the need for matching available resources with nation's priorities. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram

Budget: Modi govt likely to stick to fiscal discipline - Moneylife My VIEW: Let us rely on the technical competence of Namura and believe that its expectations are based on serious analysis. Common man’s expectation is that this budget (2015-16) will, in addition to addressing concerns of business houses, entrepreneurs, investors and beneficiaries of various government schemes, go a step further and express the new government’s vision as to how it will be moving forward in regard to (a) speeding up poverty elimination (b) management of public resources (c) handling issues relating to corruption and black money and (d) improving the morale of  the workforce in both public and private sectors. There are encouraging signals to indicate that this budget will be different from the earlier ones. M G Warrier 

Vizhinjam: State to woo 3 companies - The Hindu My VIEW: What is intriguing is why this move to clarify issues for the benefit of prospective participants in a project of this size(involving an investment of over Rs 4000 crore), did not get initiated during the earlier extended period. Now, the time for submission of tenders has been extended by three more weeks. The other options reportedly considered by the Project Board were, (a) negotiate with all the five companies which had qualified in the preliminary round and make changes in the conditions and (b) go for re-tendering after making material changes in the conditions. In the present scenario, it is to be seen whether hurrying with lobbying to somehow manage one company, or a couple of companies, to submit tender/s in the right spirit even by CM’s well-wishers within his own party. A Rs 4089 crore project should have received better professional treatment in its conception, project formulation and procedures followed for

‘Modi government has shifted gears on climate change’ - The Hindu

Bank strike deferred: Employees get 15% wage hike; Offs on second, fourth Saturdays - Moneylife

TCA Srinivasa-Raghavan: Presidents A quote from the article: "I stand astonished at my own moderation" -Robert Clive

The problem with that doctor inside everyone - The Hindu

Bimal Jalan endorses higher deficit to bolster Indian growth - The Hindu My VIEW: India was late in introducing even the concept of purchase power parity while making projections and comparisons and has been very conservative in assessing the country’s net worth. All these allowed developed countries to show India in poor light. Dr Jalan’s observation that ‘nothing should be cast in stone’(referring to deficit projections) should be viewed in this context. While infrastructure and social security needs besides sectors like defence cannot continue to be neglected, and the focus being shifted to social security projects like employment guarantee scheme, universal education, expansion of rural health and financial inclusion and rightly so after the correct realisation that trust in ‘trickling effect of growth’ has to give way to ensuring distributive justice, it will be a herculean  task for the present and future governments to make up for the harm caused by several measure

Vizhinjam Seaport project fails to draw bids again | Business Standard News My VIEW: On a day such an important news which can cause serious set back to Kerala’s efforts to improve the state’s infrastructure to attract more investment for economic development, the print and electronic media in the state are busy debating a personality clash between two leaders in a political party (CPM) which leads the opposition Left Democratic Front, by giving a running commentary of happenings in Allappuzha where CPM is holding its state meeting. One wishes, media spent some time on development issues too. Even without any professional expertise, one can venture to observe that a Rs 4089 crore project should have received better professional treatment in its conception, project formulation and procedures followed for implementation of the project. This observation is also with reference to the report that this is the fourth time the tender process has failed and a further four weeks ti

Letters: Suit up | Business Standard Letters My VIEW: Finally, a Gujarat-based diamond firm took the coat for Rs4.31 crore for two reasons. One, the firm was happy in being part of the Ganga cleaning mission in some way. Two, the firm thought the coat should not go out of Gujarat. A builder reportedly missed the chance to own the coat, as his bid(Rs5 crore) was made two minutes after the closure. The owner of the diamond firm Dharmanandan Diamonds Lalji Patel has pioneered a river-linking project in his native village in Bhavnagar(media reports). Let us now leave the coat and move on. M G Warrier

Rajan warns against ‘Appellate Raj’ - The Hindu My VIEW: Dr Rajan’s Goa speech,February 20, 2015 Dr Rajan said: “If the government or regulator is less effective in preparing its case than private parties, we ensure that the appellate process largely biases justice towards those who have the resources to use it, rather than rectifying a miscarriage of justice. So in thinking through reforms, we may want to move from the theoretical ideal of how a system might work in a country with enormous administrative capacity, to how it would work in the actual Indian situation. Let me emphasize, we need “checks and balance”, but we should ensure a balance of checks. We cannot have escaped from the License Permit Raj only to end up in the Appellate Raj!” The context in which RBI Governor cautioned against Appellate Raj has not been brought out in this report. This refers to the article on Dr Raghuram Rajan’s February 20, 2015 Goa speech. A careful reading of the text of Dr Rajan’s speech will t

Comedy without malice - The Hindu

Books on life - The Hindu

Fiscal and social balance can go together | Business Line My VIEW: We have been following a system of targeting salaried class for collecting income tax from individuals. Some structural changes, like making salaries ‘tax free’ by transferring the responsibility to pay tax to the employer and making up for the outgo by adjusting remuneration package could be thought of. The ‘deductions’ for savings have lost their original relevance as any right-thinking wage-earner has to save adequately for his/her post-job life. This is so because there is no reliable pension system after introduction of NPS. M G Warrier

Fad of Financial Literacy - Moneylife My VIEW: Very pertinent points raised in this article. We have to start worrying about the responsibility of those accept the savings as deposits(called by whatever name) from public. Such deposits could be bank deposits, PF contribution or insurance premium or chit fund deposits. It should be the primary responsibility of those who ‘take’ deposits to account it and appropriate for the purpose for which the deposit is taken. Now that everyone is going to have a bank account, the last rupee payable to the individual should go to that account minimising the possibility of ‘unclaimed deposits’ in any account. Sometime back, Moneylife had published an article by me on the need for a ‘regulator for unclaimed deposits’ M G Warrier February 20, 2015

Opposites as competing possibilities - The Hindu My VIEW: Interesting analysis. The days when politics and governance were the sole responsibility of 'leaders' have gone. AAM AADMI cannot afford to just blame the leadership when things go wrong. Responsibility is shifting to WE THE PEOPLE. My perception is that this is a message from Elections 2014 and the AAP-rise in Delhi. People have a role beyond watching the steps of Modi and Kejriwal. M G Warrier,  Thiruvananthapuram

‘Even our teardrops are imported’ | Business Line My VIEW: Online comments posted on February 19, 2015: Whatever be the amount of external pressure now being exerted through various means by the rich and powerful nations to follow a policy tilted in favour of buying the leftovers from developed nations, if India decides to realign the nation’s priorities so as to deploy internal resources to the country’s advantage and increase internal production, gradually there will be a morale boost for the Indian workforce which is second to none, followed by quality improvement in the products made in India. Let us not degrade ourselves by trying to fix the reasons for our over-dependence on ‘foreign’ goods for quality(we went to the extent of inventing ‘Indian made foreign liquor!) or our refusal to use internal skills and capacities(we got small denomination nickel coins to gold coins/bars minted/processed outside the country). The public sector organisations and industrial houses should tak

Food security, a slippery slope | Business Line

Suit auction: NRI bids Rs1.11 crore for Narendra Modi’s bandhgala - Moneylife Fashion Savvy Modi .  .  .  .  . http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/01/26/prime-minister-modi-wore-a-suit-that-takes-personalization-to-a-ridiculous-extreme/?tid=sm_tw M G Warrier Warrier 8:42 PM GMT+0530 Happy to know that Washington Post is taking note of the transformation India is undergoing in 21st Century. About the cost worries in regard to the frequent changing of quality attire by our PM Narendra Modi, one is tempted to recall that M K Gandhi and Motilal Nehru were dress conscious while Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru had also signature brands when it came to the dress they were wearing when making public appearance. Our own Rahul Gandhi raised objection about the heavy expenditure on Modi's suit. Perhaps enough had been saved by the generation of Mahatma Gandhi so that present generation can afford luxurious attire! M G Warrier(Author of Banking, R

Sensitivity in times of high tension - The Hindu My VIEW: I agree with the Reader's Editor. Though it may confuse some, the concluding quote is worth pondering over! M G Warrier

An epic journey - The Hindu Apoorva Sripathy talks to Bibek Debroy who has recently joined NITI Aayog as a member. Not about his new job. But about the translation of the original Sanskrit version of Mahaabhaarata...Use the link and read the interview... M G Warrier

Letters: Business model for Cong | Business Standard Letters My VIEW: The nation needs the Congress heritage. Kejriwal once said about politics that people are fed up with bad political leadership and not with politics per se. It is the BPL(Businessmen-Politician-Lawyer) combine which hijacked Congress, kept some dummy leadership or ‘employees’ in position which danced to its tunes that has brought disrepute and apparent irrelevance to the  party. As rightly pointed out in the edit, the ideology comprising secularism, welfare of the underprivileged, commitment to constitutional democracy and desire to promote equitable economic growth are all still relevant. These tenets cannot be partitioned among other political parties and India cannot afford to abandon that heritage. It is also true that the party’s leadership failed in their responsibility or refused to see the writings on the wall for a considerably long period. After milking the party machinery dry, some of its lea

A social role for NITI Aayog - The Hindu My VIEW: Before the first meeting of NITI Aayog, media analysis, in general, with the exception of Hindu group(yes, I have the Frontline articles also in mind) had not cared to go deep into the rationale of the revamp of Planning Commission, which in reality has come about as part of the reform process which India is undergoing. This article, which is a continuation of the Hindu initiative gives more insight into the need for a cautious approach in moulding the new institution to perform its evolving role. M G Warrier 

Cartoonscape, February 16, 2015 - The Hindu This one, depicts not only the predicament of various constituency interests in understanding and interpreting the message from the movement that converged into AAP voicing the people’s urge for change in approach to governance, but vividly picturises the arrogance of many to still use coloured glasses while reading the writing on the wall. Those who may not remember the ‘five blind men’ who inspected the elephant, may need a brief introduction to the story. They interpreted elephant to be something which was familiar to them, depending on the body parts of the animal which each one caught hold of! Hats off to Keshav for the timely reminder to those who still pretend blind to the people’s impatience with the failure of political leadership to uphold the cherished values. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram

Gold’s lustre lures Turkish savers - The Hindu

Gold bank - Moneylife

Inadequate capital support - The Hindu

Touching the soul of the forest - The Hindu

Aadhaar: Supreme Court makes RBI a party in the case - Moneylife My VIEW: May be, as is being done in the case of about 100 Central Schemes under implementation, there is a case for reviewing or revisiting many schemes like AADHAAR, NPS and Jan Dhan Yojana which were introduced without adequate homework. Huge amount of public resources is being deployed in such schemes without corresponding benefit and sometimes adding to the agony of the target group. Moneylife has earlier covered NPS and AADHAAR focusing their in-built inadequacies in several articles/comments(some of them by me also). M G Warrier 

‘We want to be a principled force in national politics’ - The Hindu

Of cure and care: the challenges in oncology practice - The Hindu

Kejriwal appointed Delhi Chief Minister - The Hindu

A budget to transform - The Hindu My VIEW: A very pragmatic approach. Coming from one who ought to know the ‘pulse’ of Modi government, hopefully, these ideas will get reflected in Budget 2015-16. With the replacement of the Planning Commission with NITI Aayog, the annual budget speech will have to double up as a vision document stating the Centre’s view about the overall economic development of the nation, besides its assigned role of explaining the rationale for the taxation policy for the year and the allocations for various purposes. If the new government fails to bring back the focus to agriculture and rural development, employment generation, social security including taking adequate care of its own employees who have been deprived of an existing pension scheme, mapping of national resources for productive use and drawing from buffers created in the past few years in various private and public pockets under various pressures this year, present indications are that

Mid-level IT engineers face re-skilling challenge | Business Line

The Retirement Savings Crisis - Moneylife My VIEW: Let us rephrase it as post-job problems, as our understanding of retirement is age-related and ‘retirement’ presumes job security. Even the present RBI Governor once mentioned that these days people do not think of remaining in the same job for more than 10 years. It would be an interesting study, if one factors in the social security issues that worry Americans into the thought process of Indian workers. India has during the last decade destroyed a pension system which was admittedly available only to a small percentage of the Indian work force. The substitute, namely National Pension System is yet to put its act together. The previous central government had talked about an annual matching contribution of Rs1000(Rupees one thousand only) to those who join NPS, as an incentive. It is beyond comprehension as to what benefit a family will get by a fund created out of annual deposit ofRs2000/- Post-job worries are about sh

Reset of a policy of equidistance - The Hindu My VIEW: In today’s interdependent world, there is no way to keep away even the worst enemies. Perhaps, the saner leaders of the world, who feel that they should not be presiding over total annihilation, are trying to re-invent Nehru’s Panch-sheel, by promoting issue-based cooperation on international issues. M G Warrier 

Shankar Acharya: Priorities for Budget 2015-16 | Business Standard Column My VIEW: Definitely, coming from the former CEA to GOI, the article “Priorities for Budget 2015-16”(BS, February 12) will have to be taken cognizance of by those who are, as of now, putting together ideas and figures for Budget, FY-16. The four priority ‘dimensions’ identified and the six ‘best ways of enhancing tax revenues’ included in the article by the author who was and is part of the country’s think tank could proactively support the healthy debate on the public expectations from the February 28 budget started off by PM Modi by his interaction with elite economists and other stakeholders in the India growth story, on the eve of the first meeting of NITI Aayog. With the replacement of the Planning Commission with NITI Aayog, the annual budget speech will have to double up as a vision document stating the Centre’s view about the overall economic development of the nation, besides its assigned ro

The AAP win - The Hindu My VIEW: Submitted version of my letter published in The Hindu, February 12, 2015: The Hindu Letters February 11, 2015 Lessons from Delhi This refers to the article “Paisa, power and politics”(February 11). The issues relating to money power in electoral politics raised in the article and the now proved possibility of the ‘ aam aadmi voting to power a candidate or a party without wealth to flaunt’ need to be further pursued through media debates to create public awareness across the country. Delhi Elections-2015, is an affirmation of the people’s intolerance of the wide gap between preaching and practice by political leadership which was first demonstrated in Elections-2014. Though we need not underplay the roles played by Modi and Kejriwal in the two elections, one is tempted to believe that ‘WE THE PEOPLE’ have woken up from a long slumber and have decided to play the role  expected of them by the writers of Indian Constitution. Till 2013, el

Paisa, power and politics - The Hindu My VIEW: The issues relating to money power in electoral politics raised in the article and the now proved possibility of the ‘ aam aadmi voting to power a candidate or a party without wealth to flaunt’ need to be further pursued through media debates to create public awareness across the country. Delhi Elections-2015, is an affirmation of the people’s intolerance of the wide gap between preaching and practice by political leadership which was first demonstrated in Elections-2014. Though we need not underplay the roles played by Modi and Kejriwal in the two elections, one is tempted to believe that ‘WE THE PEOPLE’ have woken up from a long slumber and have decided to play the role  expected of them by the writers of Indian Constitution. Till 2013, elections in India were won or lost on the basis of money power and/or slogans which had mass-burial post-elections. In this context 2014 general election and 2015 Delhi election stand out

Letters: Agriculture This letter says, my view is right :) M G Warrier

Delhi elections - Moneylife Please read my online comments : ) M G Warrier

Power packed monetary policy | Business Line My VIEW: In Reserve Bank of India, there was no change in approach to monetary policy, which was conceived as an instrument for performing the mandated role of “securing monetary stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage”(see Preamble of RBI Act 1934), since the inception of the central bank. But discussions in the media in recent years had reduced monetary policy as something closely related to lending rates alone and RBI Governors were at the receiving end whenever cost of credit went up. The change of guard in New Delhi and the international acceptance of the credibility of the present RBI Governor have helped in changing the public perception of fiscal and monetary policies and understanding them as two engines which have to work in tandem to take the India growth story forward. M G Warrier

The officers and gentlemen - The Hindu

Letters: Focusing on agriculture | Business Standard Letters This response was published by The Hindu Business Line (February 7) also; Submitted version: February 6, 2015 Focus on primary sector This refers to the report “AP targets 25% agri growth”(February 6). Though not explicitly stated, this points to a much awaited shift of focus from tertiary to primary  sector, if economic development is to be sustainable in the Indian context. Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu is known for his correct understanding of development perspective and when he says improving agricultural productivity can bring down the percentage of farmers facing debt crisis (which is estimated at an alarming 91 in AP against the national average of 51per cent), one can trust that further follow up to ensure necessary linkages for which state government is responsible, if the credit which is being provided by NABARD has to produce results other than increasing farmers’ indebtedness, will be forthcoming. The

Column: New data series- Past uncertain, future tense! | The Financial Express

Chandrababu Naidu govt sets a target of 25% growth in agriculture | Business Standard News My VIEW: Though not explicitly stated, this points to a much awaited shift of focus from tertiary to primary  sector, if economic development is to be sustainable in the Indian context. Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu is known for his correct understanding of development perspective and when he says improving agricultural productivity can bring down the percentage of farmers facing debt crisis (which is estimated at an alarming 91 in AP against the national average of 51per cent), one can trust that further follow up to ensure necessary linkages for which state government is responsible, if the credit which is being provided by NABARD has to produce results other than increasing farmers’ indebtedness, will be forthcoming. The AP initiative is one the nation should take note of and perhaps Centre will have to consider tapping agricultural income as a source for taxation and using the pro

30 crore people still live in extreme poverty in India: UN report | The Financial Express

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan pitches for higher I-T exemption limit | The Financial Express

Dispossession, development and democracy - The Hindu

The twist in the growth story - The Hindu My VIEW: Change in base year may not change realities at the ground level. Still, it is comforting to find that slowly we are moving to a scenario when more authentic and current figures will guide our own planning and assessment of our country’s position vis a vis other developing nations by other countries and rating agencies. India was late in introducing even the concept of purchase power parity while making projections and comparisons and has been very conservative in assessing the country’s net worth. All these allowed developed countries to show India in poor light. While it is true, as argued in the article, that social security projects like employment guarantee scheme, universal education, expansion of rural health and financial inclusion has shifted focus from ‘trickling effect of growth’ to distributive justice, it will be a herculean  task for governments to make up for the harm caused by measures like dismantling of

AAP on the Hot Seat just days before elections: Faces allegations of Funding Scam - Moneylife My VIEW: 12 A M comes during the day or night? 00.00.01 A M to 11.59.59 AM 12 Noon 12.00.01 P M to 12 P M WHERE DO WE PLACE 12 A M ? M G Warrier

Crucial bank wage talks fail; all-India strike from Feb 25 | Business Line My VIEW: If the bank unions go ahead with the 4-day strike from Feb 25, FM Arun Jaitley will be presenting Budget 2015-16 on the 4 th day of the bank strike. We do not need an astrologer to tell us that the strike from February 25 is quite unlikely to materialise. Then, why IBA did not take the ‘final’ round of negotiations seriously and the unions’ stand toughened, suddenly? The answer is, this is the game political leadership, bureaucracy and trade unions are playing successfully to fool the public. The political leadership will take credit for either solving the issue using carrot and stick during the coming fortnight or for breaking the backbone of a combination of trade unions by making the proposed strike a failure. The crucial HR issues will remain unresolved and get carried forward to the next settlement. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram

Four-day bank strike from February 25 - The Hindu My VIEW: My response to the report on the subject in The Hindu Business Line, February 4, 2015 February 4, 2015 Bank wage talks This refers to the report “Crucial bank wage talks fail; all-India strike from Feb 25”. Ok, let us read the further threat that ‘the 4-day shutdown will be followed by indefinite strike from March 16’ also together. This means, if the bank unions implement the first part of the threat, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will be presenting Budget 2015-16 on the 4 th day of the bank strike. Common sense  view is that this is sufficient reason to assume that the bank strike scheduled from February 25 is quite unlikely to materialise. Then, why IBA did not take the ‘final’ round of negotiations seriously and the unions’ stand toughened, suddenly? The answer is, this is the game political leadership, bureaucracy(represented here by IBA) and trade unions are playing successfully to fool the public. The pol

PSU banks should be allowed to tap best talent: SBI | Business Line My VIEW: This is a very valid multi-dimensional issue which should be debated among all stakeholders, including government, managements of banks, employees and their unions in banking industry and taxpayers. It is not just court interventions that stand in the way of infusion of talent to PSBs. Career progression and remuneration are related issues. From cost angle, PSBs are paying through the nose for ‘outsourcing’ IT and expertise in other fields. Let us have an open discussion. M G Warrier, Thiruvananthapuram

The Economic Times, February 3, 2015 Chat Room New Numbers a Good Measure Apropos ‘New Base Turns Springboard for 7% Leap in FY15’(ET,Jan 31), a change in base year may not change ground level realities. Although IMF and rating agencies may have to find other reasons to keep India down. But it is comforting to find that slowly we are moving to a scenario where more authentic and current figures will guide our own planning and assessment of our country’s position vis-a-vis other developing nations by other countries and rating agencies. The previous RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao had often expressed anguish over the obsoleteness of figures that formed the basis for crucial policy decisions. India was late in introducing even the concept of purchase power parity while making projections and comparisons, and has been conservative in assessing the country’s net worth, letting other countries show India in poor light. We should not delay creating a reliable record of our country’s resource

Putting monetary policy in context - The Hindu My VIEW: This refers to C R L Narasimhan’s article “Putting monetary policy in context”(Financial Scene, February 2). In the February 3 review and when Dr Raghuram Rajan will be presenting his monetary policy statement for the year 2015-16 sometime after Budget 2015-16, one expects that the new equation between Mint Road and North Block which allows space for alignment between fiscal and monetary policies will find expression. Perhaps, RBI’s monetary policy statement and the Central Budget may have to make a one time announcement that these two documents go much beyond ‘base rates’ and ‘tax concessions’. This observation is also in the context of expectations about growth and reduction in base rates building up in the context of ‘revised growth projections’ with the change in base year for computation of national incomes from 2004-5 to 2011-12. Change in base year does not change realities at the ground level, though it is

KYC for Subbarao | Business Standard Chinese

Letters: The asset card | Business Standard Letters Submitted version of the letter: Change in base year may not change realities at the ground level. But, it is comforting to find that slowly we are moving to a scenario when more authentic and current figures will guide our own planning and assessment of our country’s position vis a vis other developing nations by other countries and rating agencies. The previous RBI Governor Dr Subbarao had often expressed anguish over the obsoleteness of figures which formed the basis for crucial policy decisions. India was late in introducing even the concept of purchase power parity while making projections and comparisons and has been very conservative in assessing the country’s net worth. All these allowed other countries to show India in poor light. We should not further delay creating a reliable record of our country’s resources irrespective of ownership and classifying the gross assets into categories like: (i)                 A