Excerpts from the note “An Economic Strategy for India”*, authored, among others, by Raghuram Rajan, former Governor, Reserve Bank of India: Careful but quick policy reforms are needed for the sectors/areas that are stressed. These include agriculture, infrastructure (including power), exports and banking.  There are common themes in any revival. Typically, we need to redeploy … More There is need to guard against temptation to focus on specifics of World Bank measures

Excerpts from the Preface to the book “The Black Economy in India: Transition to the Grey Political Economy”, by Prof Kamal Nayan Kabra, published by Aakar Books* The updated version of “The Black Economy in India: Problems and Policies”, Delhi, (1982), under the title “The Black Economy in India: Transition to the Grey Political Economy”, … More Black money menace closely associated with growth story in the form of mal-development

By Jagannath Adhikari* China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has ambitions to reshape the global economy by connecting more than 60 countries across Asia, Europe and Africa through trade and infrastructure projects. All told, it’s envisioned that nearly two-thirds of the world’s population will in some way be connected through BRI projects in the future. … More Will an ambitious Chinese-built rail line through the Himalayas lead to a debt trap for Nepal?

By Ashish Kajla* Banks act as financial intermediaries between depositors and borrowers. It is the public money, deposited in the form of term deposit (fixed deposits) and time deposit (saving & current accounts) which banks use for lending to borrowers. Since public money is important for the banking sector as a whole, banks also have a … More Bank charges imposed on saving accounts hurt the poor most who have hesitantly adopted them

By Moin Qazi It is true that banks can play an important role in the financial transformation of   low-income communities, but sustainability should never be overlooked .in their excitement to oblige their constituencies, politicians run financially amok and literally plunder banks for their vote blocks. This was precisely the reason why India’s post nationalization mass … More Social banking: Make-believe revolution that was to lead to serious financial crisis in years to come


By 
Prabhakar Kulkarni* Since the disclosure of the Punjab National Bank fraud, banks and their transactions are in 
focus of both the investigating agencies as also the media
 organizations. This is in public interest. But action and
 investigation in a few banks and in few cases and neglecting or 
sidetracking other similar cases and the … More Why exclusivity of investigation? Action against banks needs to be based on principle of equity

By Moin Qazi* Rural banking has come a long way from the days when bankers had their first brush with rural culture. Bankers are now financial anthropologists, and many of them are playing a missionary role in transforming rural societies. However, challenges continue to persist. When rural banking took its baby steps, villagers were shy … More Present urban-centric bank model has shown that it is a recipe for disaster when used in villages