Warrier's Collage 10102020

Welcome to Warrier's Daily COLLAGE October 10 2020 Saturday Your daily dose of inspiration, writings - by you, for you : Curated by MG Warrier Prayer🎻 https://youtu.be/ggU1cRn-1Y0 Shanti Mantra for Peace Good Morning Friends Today's date is 10102020 and for once US and UK will agree on date! First 3 digits find a place @D (Report received from V R Chittanandam) In this Issue: A Interaction B Poetry C Central Bank: Growth Challenges D V M Madhavan Nair turns 101 E Blogs and Links F Leisure : I and U Nice Day M G Warrier A Interaction Pradip Warrier, Bangalore Ref: Salad for the soul (October 9, 2020) "Remembering Ammamma*. She is an extraordinary lady. During my childhood, I didn't fully comprehend her ability. Now I tell my wife that she was an inspiration for my progress in life. She was focused and knew how to give education to her kids with her limited knowledge about the outside world. Sometimes her language or attitude might have sounded harsh and so unacceptable to some. In retrospect I know she was fighting alone for her kids' interests in mind. Recently I visited Olavilam where she spent decades and nostalgic memories of Aala (Goatshed ) and Attinkuttikalude lokam (the world of goats and lambs) came to my mind. (My grandnephew remembering my eldest sister-Warrier) B Poetry I don't want to.. https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/1665687/Patty+Loveless/I+Don%27t+Want+to+Feel+Like+That C Current Affairs Central Bank: Growth Challenges* M G Warrier Reserve Bank of India performs multiple functions affecting the Indian Economy, including the mandated core central banking functions assigned to it. The heritage functions relating to social development, management of public debt and forex reserves sometimes conflict with RBI’s stance on monetary policy, in the sense it is understood in banking parlours. As we always repeat, in India fiscal and monetary policies are married with no option for a divorce. RBI having an institutional mind and a floating research team capable of handling policy formulation and implementation is an admitted fact since 1990’s. Still, conflicts between GOI and RBI keep surfacing, off and on, when politics and economics got mixed up in Delhi or when top level executives (Governor and Deputy Governors) unfamiliar with the traditional relationship between the central government and the central bank in India, voiced opinions in public which were not politically acceptable. This unusual introduction is in the context that expectations from RBI are increasing as the economic growth has been adversely affected by the COVID Pandemic impact. This time around, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has opted to remain transparent on, what can be done, what can be done with possible stress and what is outside the central bank’s mandates and where GOI will have to take legislative and policy related approaches and supportive measures. There is clarity of perception in the two speeches delivered by him at the two meetings, held on August 27, 2020 and on September 16, 2020 both arranged under the aegis of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and subsequent media interactions. The Reserve Bank's concern about slow economic recovery found clear mention in the Governor's speech on August 27, 2020. Governor said that the economic recovery would be slow, but the central bank stood “fully prepared and is battle-ready” for whatever measures were needed to prop up growth. His perception was that ‘while there had been some recovery’, it was ‘not yet fully entrenched and moreover, in some sectors, upticks in June and July 2020 appeared to be levelling of’. “By all indications, the recovery is likely to be gradual as efforts towards reopening the economy are confronted with rising infections.” he said. RBI’s immediate policy response to Covid-19 had been to prioritize the stabilisation of the economy and support a quick recovery, but policies for the medium term after the crisis would be equally important. The five focus areas identified by RBI included prioritizing human capital, increasing productivity, and trying to get into the global supply chain. While responding to requests from industry captains on whether norms regarding the resolution of stressed accounts could be liberalised further to include more companies, the governor was forthcoming. He said for the central bank, protecting depositors' interest and preserving financial stability would be a prime concern. The primary concern in the banking system is the protection of depositors’ money. Ultimately, it is the depositors’ money that is being lent out. There was clarity and transparency on the central bank’s role perception, when he clarified: “Depositors run into crores in numbers, whereas borrowers are in lakhs. There are small depositors, middle-class depositors, there are retired people who depend on bank deposits. So, the interests of depositors have to be protected. Also, the aspect of financial stability of the banking sector needs to be kept in mind.” The governor said banks had an important role in spurring economic development in an emerging-market economy like India as they were in the forefront of providing credit. He was quick to add that a repeat of the situation which India experienced four-five years ago where the non-performing assets (NPA) levels of banks had gone up very steeply has to be avoided. Balancing act for the banking system post-Covid-19 is going to be tough as Covid-19 has adversely affected a large number of businesses, particularly those that took loans from banks which are naturally expecting some relief. Businesses that are otherwise viable but have genuine cash-flow problems because of temporary disruptions in activity have to be supported. Governor mentioned that the focus is to assess and enable such businesses that are otherwise viable but their cash flows are drying up. According to him, both the sides have to be matched and the revival of such businesses will also ensure NPA levels are kept low and help in swift economic recovery. On support to NBFCs, the governor clarified that the RBI could not give the same leeway to the non-banking financial sector as it gave to banks because that category of institutions had enjoyed a light-touch regulation so far. He was forthright when he clarified : “Fragility and vulnerability of the NBFC sector is still a concern. We don’t want a repeat of another crisis of a large NBFC. It is our endeavor that no large NBFC should fail. We have been very rigorously monitoring the top 100 NBFCs because we cannot afford to have another crisis in the NBFC sector.” RBI was comfortable with the progress of the government's borrowing programme of Rs 12 trillion, which was being done at a decade-low level of rates (around 6 percent). This more than validates the liquidity measures undertaken by the central bank. Governor emphasized the need to focus on a right mix of local and global rules adding that provision related to investment, competition, intellectual property rights protection has a larger positive impact on global value chain trades and need to be assiduously cultivated and integrated in the Indian ecosystem. His observation “Covid-19 has changed our lives and it is increasingly getting clear that life will never be the same again” but “we should look upon these fundamental changes as opportunities rather than threat” need to be taken by policy makers seriously. In his speech on September 16, 2020, Governor expressed confidence in managing the crisis, making a brief recall of the developments so far. I quote: “ Financial market conditions in India have eased significantly across segments in response to the frontloaded cuts in the policy repo rate and large system-wide as well as targeted infusion of liquidity by the RBI. Despite substantial increase in the borrowing programme of the Government, persistently large surplus liquidity conditions have ensured non-disruptive mobilisation of resources at the lowest borrowing costs in a decade. In August 2020, the yield on 10-year G-sec benchmark surged by 35 basis points amidst concerns over inflation and further increase in supply of government papers. Following the RBI’s announcement of special open market operations (OMOs) and other measures to restore orderly functioning of the G-sec market, bond yields have softened and traded in a narrow range in September. Although bank credit growth remains muted, scheduled commercial banks’ investments in commercial paper, bonds, debentures and shares of corporate bodies in this year so far (up to August 28) increased by ₹5,615 crore as against a decline of ₹32,245 crore during the same period of last year. Moreover, the benign financing conditions and the substantial narrowing of spreads have spurred a record issuance of corporate bonds of close to ₹3.2 lakh crore during 2020-21 up to August. He also mentioned that “while dealing with the immediate crisis management challenges, we need to strategically prepare for our combined overriding goal – the pursuit of strong and sustainable growth. The enabling policy environment would evolve around the initiatives taken by India’s businesses to seize these opportunities and actualise the potential of the Indian economy as a rising economic power of the 21st century. We should look upon these fundamental changes as opportunities rather than threats, converting them into game changing new vistas of progress.” Immediate future So far so good. We can’t dampen the RBI Governor’s optimism or ask for more from a central government literally fighting on multiple battle fronts. But the general public perception, fueled by technical and pessimistic analyses by divergent interests, continues to be that the tunnel in which the world economy has been trapped is much longer and so far signs of light continue to be elusive. India has constraints in dipping further into institutional reserves or expanding the tax net. There are issues in allowing inflation to grow or growth rates remain negative any longer. In such a situation, there is a need for joint unconventional policy initiatives from both RBI and GOI. It is difficult to make fresh policy suggestions. But, we will be failing in our duty, if we do not keep reminding about the available internal unaccounted resources and the need to exploit them, mainstream and account them following the sane advice about “National Balance Sheet” given by Dr Y V Reddy long ago and referred to in a passing reference in a recent article in The Economic Times by Dr Viral Acharya. When going gets tough, the tough gets going, it is said. Let us wait and watch whether RBI and GOI are willing to rise to the occasion. ************ *Submitted version of my article published in The Global ANALYST, October 2020. D Readers Write Forward received from V R Chittanandam V M Madhavan Nair turns 101 image.png Vallilath Madhathil Madhavan Nair By S.Kumar, pninews A sole surviving officer of Indian Civil Service (ICS) of 1942 batch, Vallilath Madhathil Madhavan Nair is celebrating his ‘101’ birthday on October 8. Nair, who was born in Mangalore on October 8, 1919, gives a blow-by- blow account of what had happened during his lifetime and service period on his website. He wrote a history of India and the world, how they underwent an amazing metamorphosis. The retired officer rendered his services in the colonial period and post-independent India. He also enjoyed Indian Foreign Service and retired in 1977 after serving Indian Ambassador to various countries. Nair closely witnessed political and administrative changes at national level and international level. His experiences are of inestimable value for the researchers. His parents were Chettur Karunakaran Nair (1889-1979) and Padmavathy Amma (1902-2002). He married Krishnakumari Nair, daughter of a well-known scholar Vidwan Krishna Pillai of Thiruvanandapuram. He was born when Lord Willingdon was Governor of Madras. His father, Chettur Karunakaran Nair was stationed in Mangalore as a police officer. He studied at Christian College School and then at Presidency College in Madras. Nair went to England and obtained an MA degree from University of Oxford at Brasenose College besides an MA degree from University of Cambridge at Gonville. He joined Indian Civil Service in 1942 whilst still in Britain and completed his probation and early career as a Sub-Divisional Officer, in Sitamarhi, in Bihar. This was the last ICS batch recruited in Britain, and the British-recruited element consisted of just two Indian individuals and no European individuals. In 1946, Nair was hand-picked by then Viceroy Field Marshall Wavell for the Indian Political Service (IPS), commencing his political career as Under Secretary dealing with North-Eastern affairs, in the External Affairs wing of the Foreign and Political Department, a department directly handled by the Viceroy. During Partition, he was based in Delhi, just as the city began to receive large numbers of refugees. In 1949, he returned to England to obtain his Barrister’s qualifications (Bar-at-Law) from the Inner Temple in London. Upon his return, he continued his career as a diplomat as a member of India’s newly formed Foreign Service (IFS). His first posting between 1949 and 1952 was to Cairo, Egypt as First Secretary, then as Counsellor and then as Chargé d’Affaires. During this time, King Farouk of Egypt was deposed and went into exile, with the army staging a coup d’état and General Naguib and Major Nasser assuming power. Subsequently, he spent two years at the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi as Deputy Secretary in charge of North-Eastern affairs. He then served between 1954 and 1956 as Deputy High Commissioner in Sri Lanka (then still called Ceylon); in 1957he moved as Commissioner of India in Singapore, moving within months to assume his next post as the High Commissioner of India in Malaya when he was only 38 years of age. Between 1958 and 1960, he served as the Ambassador of India to Cambodia, then under the rule of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, and from 1961 to 1964, he served as the Ambassador of India to Norway, atOslo. He returned as a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi between 1964 and 1967, once again to deal with North-Eastern affairs. In 1967, he commenced his posting until 1970 as the Ambassador of India to Poland, a country which, at the time, was in the Soviet bloc under a strict Communist regime. Between 1970 and 1974, he served as the Ambassador of India to Morocco, with concurrent accreditation as the Ambassador of India to Tunisia, and between 1974 and 1977, he served as the Ambassador of India to Spain. E Blogs and Links 1) Monetary Policy https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/economy/rbi-monetary-policy-live-updates-repo-rate-rbi-news-october-monetary-policy-credit-policy-rbi-governor-shaktikanta-das-mpc-5941191.html 2) MSMEs and their challenges https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/voice-out/indian-msmes-and-their-challenges-26959/ 3) Tree man of India https://youtu.be/u6VBgmVVs5s 4) Restart* your Smart Phone https://www.rd.com/article/restarting-your-phone/?_cmp=weeklyusreadup&_ebid=weeklyusreadup1092020&_mid=373661&ehid=37e393eb31134ebe4ec4f9d2f3dc6979e8e93191 *Link received from Balasubramanian, Coimbatore F Leisure* FANTASTIC MSG..! How Can You "SM_LE" Without "I" ? How Can You Be "F_NE" Without "I" ? How Can You "W_SH" Without "I" ? How Can You Be "N_CE" Without "I" ? How Can You Be "FR_END" Without "I"? "I" Am Very Important! But This "I" Can Never Achieve "S_CCESS" nor Can "LA_GH" Without all of "U" ...... And That Makes "U" More Important Than "I".. Dedicated to all my beautiful friends,🙏 *Forward received from R Jayakumar