Warrier's Collage on Sunday August 11, 2024

Welcome To Warrier's COLLAGE On Sunday August 11, 2024 Good Morning 🙏 M G Warrier Independence Day 2024 https://images.app.goo.gl/v7jCHAcNs1Xd15yc8 Happy Independence Day A Collage Editorial Is Monetary Policy Announcement a routine ritual? M G Warrier RBI watchers will agree that the central bank has come a long way from the days of "walking alone" laments from the Finance Minister and occasional spars between spokespersons of Finance Ministry and RBI about who's right and who's wrong. This doesn't mean that the fiscal and monetary policies are now in total harmony. So long as multiple pulls and pressures continue to haunt policy makers, dilemmas and 'trilemmas' will be often used to describe thought processes of policy makers. Still, overall perception about the Monetary Policy Committee(MPC) since inception has been that the policy making body, because of the professionalism weaved into its fabric, is a mature body and each of its members is able to contribute to the three day deliberations preceding the Monetary Policy Announcement in such a way that the end product on the third day is a near consensus view. Thus, so far, any speculations of a division leading to a need for exercise of casting vote by RBI Governor have remained as speculations only. Tradition has not been broken this Wednesday also. The August 6-8, 2024 meeting was the 50th meeting of the MPC since its inception in September 2016. While making the policy announcement on August 8, 2024, Governor Shaktikanta Das inter alia mentioned : "The flexible inflation targeting (FIT) framework will soon complete eight years of its functioning. The framework has worked well in maintaining macroeconomic stability even during times of extreme stress." The MPC after its 3 day deliberations, decided by a 4 to 2 majority to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent. Other corresponding rates namely, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate also have been retained unchanged at 6.25 and 6.75 respectively. The MPC also decided to continue to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation progressively aligns to the target, while supporting growth. It is natural that the critics may raise eyebrows asking whether Monetary Policy Announcement is becoming a routine ritual? The answer can be found perhaps in the policy document and the minutes of the MPC meeting regularly published after a gap of a fortnight after every meeting. The deliberations of the MPC go much beyond the fixing of policy rates and covers impact of various other fiscal and monetary policy measures on the economy and of course inflation. RBI gets an opportunity to defend its policy initiatives before a professional body and three experts in their own fields outside RBI get an opportunity to explain their perceptions to the top brass in the central bank about the impact of each policy initiative on economic growth. So, in eight years, MPC has proved its real worth as a support architecture to help RBI in policy formulation strengthening the RBI Governor's hands. The functional professionalism which is transparent in MPC activities should also remove the public perception about GOI giving an inflation target to RBI and the later periodically coming out with score cards or explanations for non-achievement of "target" (M G Warrier is a former central banker and author of books on banking and finance including "Restoring Trust in Governance") B Collage Time Out C Current Affairs PM Modi's Wayanad Visit https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/pm-narendra-modi-wayanad-visit-live-updates-kannaur-landslides-kerala-pinarayi-vijayan-chooralmala-mundakai/liveblog/112417589.cms D Blogs & Links A Birthday https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/warriersviews/born-with-a-horoscope-22215/ On August 9, 2024, I crossed 80. Blessings 🙏 and Best Wishes received from near and dear were inspiring 🙏 I responded : "Thanks 🙏 and Prayers on Birthday. Everyone. All of you inspire me to live longer 🙏" On Birthdays in general : Speaking Tree https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/on-birthdays E Greener Pastures : Vathsala Jayaraman We come to the USA with monetary and career goals. This process takes a minimum of 4-5 years, including completing a degree, OPT, securing a stable job, etc.​ Then we fight to protect the life we have built. This involves dealing with the H1B visa process, the green card backlog, and other related challenges. During this time, we often get married and have children. The next decade is about stabilization and achieving a semblance of a normal life: fighting for a green card, buying a home, and building a network of friends. Meanwhile, our parents in India keep getting older. Cousins get married at inconvenient times. "Hey, your marriage is in March? My kids will be in school, I can't make it." Grandparents pass away when we have H1B stamping issues and can't travel. Fathers have heart attacks while our companies are laying off employees at a fervent pace. We miss some or all of these events. India doesn’t care. Life goes on for them. Nephews and nieces grow up not knowing us well. They probably know us as the "uncle and aunt who bring phones" every couple of years. Our children lack the meaningful extended family we had. No grandparents, uncles, aunts, or cousins. We become their entire world. Your spouse often becomes your only friend in a foreign land. She, too, is as confused as you are. When you argue with her for two days, who can she talk to about it? There's no one to share with. The friends network you built will soon be beset with jealousy and complaints. Soon, you realize people are not as innocent as they seem. Class and divisions start to appear based on who got a green card first, who bought a big house, who has a Tesla, who became a manager, who has a furnished basement, and so on. You will be caught in existential questions. Will my son/daughter bring a girl/boyfriend home at age 16? You will turn to culture and home. You will involve yourself in Regional(Telugu/Kannada/Tamil) Community, Indian associations, temples, volunteering, etc. You will change your political beliefs based on your situation. You either become a liberal, thinking all is fine, or you become a conservative, thinking I should resist all this. You go to India and find that you don't belong there. All your relatives have changed. You have changed. Uncles and aunts have died. Nephews and nieces are unrecognizable. The streets and city that you grew up in are unrecognizable. You come back and slip into your known world, keeping on working, never knowing the answer to the question: "Am I better off here or should I have stayed back home?" The answer to this question remains unknown. Vathsala jayaraman Response from V Sundaresan The initial euphoria, comfort level, culture and fast life, etc in a foreign land have been well brought out. The question is whether to sympathize or leave it to fate, their decision to leave the motherland. I do not think there is anything wrong in the decision of those who left Indian shores in search of greener pastures. If all of them had remained in India, their life would not have been a bed of roses but miserable with their career opportunities foremost, remaining a mirage. With salary at pittance not commensurate with their qualifications and exposure; chances of looking up being very remote, they would have found it difficult to meet both ends. Credit card, personal loan, educational loan, car loan, spending money in attending all and sundry functions and other rituals, etc would have taken away a sizable chunk of their earnings. Some would have become desperate leading to high level depression. The end result would have been one of different sorts. To my knowledge, only a few have come back to settle in India; some more came but could not cope up with the present environment and have gone back. It would be better to stick to their guns without any remorse for their decisions. Sundaresan V F Winning and Losing : An inspiring example* "Remember this Kenyan runner Abel Mutai who was just a few feet from the finish line, but became confused with the signage and stopped, thinking he had completed the race. A Spanish runner, Ivan Fernandez, was right behind him and, realizing what was happening, started shouting at the Kenyan to continue running. Mutai didn't know Spanish and didn't understand. Realizing what was taking place, Fernandez pushed Mutai to victory. A journalist asked Ivan, "Why did you do that?" Ivan replied, "My dream is that someday we can have a kind of community life where we push and help each other to win." The journalist insisted, "But why did you let the Kenyan win?" Ivan replied, "I didn't let him win, he was going to win. The race was his." The journalist insisted again, "But you could have won!" Ivan looked at him and replied, "But what would be the merit of my victory? What would be the honor in that medal? What would my mother think of that?" Values are passed on from generation to generation. What values are we teaching our children? Let us not teach our kids the wrong ways and means to win. Instead, let us pass on the beauty and humanity of a helping hand. Because honesty and ethics are winning!" *Shared in a family group by Sudha Warrier G About Myself https://www.amazon.com/author/mgwarrier This link is shared only for information. If you want to know more about the books, please check the local Amazon website. For example : Amazon.in if you are in India.