By appearing to privilege ideological affinity over strategic balance, India risks eroding the trust painstakingly built across West Asia. Once the perception takes hold that India's friendship is conditional and transactional, rebuilding credibility will be difficult, warns Amberish K Diwanji.
'Nehru was an idealist, he was certainly a visionary in one way, but Mao Zedong was not. Mao Zedong was a very down-to-earth strategist. He wanted to take Tibet, to take the plateau, to take the rivers, to take the minerals.'
Cleaner balance sheets, regulatory support and strong growth prospects helped Indian private banks attract over $6 billion in foreign capital, with more deals expected in 2026.
The return on investment (RoI) from technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) will take time to materialise, and the immediate priority should be to increase spending on building governance frameworks around AI, top bank executives said.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Why are financial-technology (fintech) players moving back to India, or doing the reverse-flipping?
'To push for the notion of a Hindu rashtra, the VHP rides on specific Hindu fears that are different in different parts. They are only exploiting the existing divide prevalent in India, and they are doing it well,' says Amberish K Diwanji.
After a sequential fall in November, due to high base and waning of the festival season effect, credit card spends have picked up again in December, recording over Rs 1 trillion for the 10th consecutive month. Latest figures released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) show that credit card spends in December 2022 touched Rs 1.26 trillion, up 10.21 per cent compared to November. And, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, spends were up 34.31 per cent during this period.
The interest offered is mostly 0.5 to 1 per cent more than what other banks offer. Moreover, customer service and long-term association spanning generations are also other reasons for the popularity.
Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank will handle the salary account of the Indian army personnel, the bank said on Thursday. The bank has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Army for salary account. The MoU enables Kotak to offer its salary account proposition, combined with exclusive benefits for the Indian Army, to all army personnel - both active and retired, Kotak said in a release.
Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani has joined the Congress party and will contest Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore South.
'In this country of 1.2 billion, there may be a few Indians who might dislike Muslims and wish them ill. But the vast majority of Indians remain secular, no matter how grave Hindu-Muslim tensions,' says Amberish Kathewad Diwanji.
Will Nandan Nilekani actually fight the elections? While the I-T czar says the question is speculative, here's our list of 10 eminent business leaders who should get on the stump.
Nina Davuluri's choice as Miss America shows how hollow Indians' concept of beauty is and how our beauty pageants don't reflect the country's diversity, says Amberish K Diwanji
The fear is that we in India are really not ready for a society where the social order is disrupted, says Amberish K Diwanji.
Let not our current anger against gang rapes undermine centuries of wisdom. Because, in doing so, we may just be putting our women at greater risk, says Amberish K Diwanji
It is time to reform the RBI and the ministry of finance, says Dr Ajay Shah of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi.
Amberish Kathewad Diwanji tweaks Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech.
Consider taxation and currency risks before choosing between NRI, NRO and FCNR accounts.
After a long wait, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group has closed the sale process of its consumer durables business under the Eureka Forbes label by picking the American private equity fund Advent International's Rs 4,400-crore offer for a 72 per cent stake. The sale process, which began in November 2019, will help the over 156-year-old SP Group pair the debt pile and sharpen the focus on the flagship construction and engineering business under Afcons. The valuation of Rs 4,400 crore for a 72.56 per cent stake is is at an enterprise level and subject to closing adjustments and also includes an open offer for the remaining stake after the demerger and listing of Eureka Forbes, the SP group said in a statement on Sunday.
The Reserve Bank on Tuesday allowed banks to open ATMs outside their branches without permission from the central bank.
Apart from easing the NPA pressure on domestic banks, the RBI's move can allow companies to raise cheap, long-term loans easily now.
A group of Muslim councillors left the Meerut Municipal Corporation House as soon as other members started singing Vande Mataram, following which a proposal to terminate their membership was passed.
With at least three IPOs in the offing this year, stock market investors have a lot to look forward to.
'The problem is even after we know that India is an active quake region, we have done so little to prepare for earthquakes,' says Dr V Ramani.
Malvinder Singh, President (Pharmaceuticals) and Executive Director, Ranbaxy, says the company aims to touch $5 billion in revenues by 2012, with growth coming from American and European markets.
'It had to be a surgical operation, one that caused the minimum damage but it had to be as quick as possible because once word got around...' General K S Brar looks back at Operation Bluestar.
'What Nehru valued most of all was the attempted construction of a plural, open, and democratic polity working for change in the lives of all citizens,' says biographer Judith Brown.
'It had to be a surgical operation, one that caused the minimum damage but it had to be as quick as possible because once word got around...' General K S Brar looks back at Operation Bluestar.
The company has a production facility in Sri City in Andhra Pradesh.
'Even if organised retail takes 10 percent of the market, it is around Rs 50,000 crores!' says RPG Retail CEO Raghu Pillai.
Like everything else, the structure of banks may change, and banks may depend more on digital technologies and artificial intelligence for dealing with both their customers and employees.
Soon, one will be able to pay utility bills at the local supermarket, while buying groceries, with the RBI allowing the setting up of payment banks.
Such cold-shoulder by banks also indicates a credit freeze that is hard to overcome, unless the government comes out with credit guarantee schemes for loans given by banks. Since that is not happening, and there is no indication of that too, banks are not willing to listen to RBI prodding.
The PNB fiasco falls into a family line that involves non-fund limits - read contingent liabilities which are off-books. Harshad Mehta did it with bankers' receipts in 1992. Ketan Parekh exploited the ignorance of bankers who did not know the difference between a cheque and a pay-order. And the RBI blinked when it failed to insist the SWIFT platform be linked to the core banking solution. Raghu Mohan & Abhijit Lele trace the banking mess that was just waiting to happen.
Will the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill endanger our bank deposits?
Modi orders coal, insurance sector reforms.
'Banning conversion would harm Hinduism by taking away the need for reform.'
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