Festival of coins

A lesson in Indian history, a tour around the world, tips on how to spot fake currency — all this and more are on offer at Mudra Utsav being held at Haldiram Banquet Hall in Ballygunge Park. The event is on till December 26. The Numismatic Society of Calcutta is holding the exhibition as part of its silver jubilee celebrations.  “Individual dealers usually interact directly with collectors and charge them whatever they fancy. Here there are many dealers under one roof, so one has the option of comparing prices,” says Sandip Jain, the president of the society.  Individual collections are also on display. Basant Kumar Rathi’s British India coins date from 1835 when uniform coinage was introduced. “The double mohur was equivalent to 30 pieces of silver rupee. Few people know that till 1969 our mint used to strike these William IV mohurs as personal souvenirs,” he said.  Also on display were Saibal Basu’s collection on Mughal India, especially the Nisar coins, which were issued since Jehangir’s rule for the express purpose of showering them on subjects on occasions like the emperor’s birthday.  Kunal Chatterjee’s collection of Republic of India coins shows how the mint, from where a coin is issued, leaves its mark. “If you find a dot under the year of issue, it is from Noida, a diamond indicates Bombay, a star Hyderabad. If there is no mark, it is from Calcutta,” says Ravi Shankar Sharma, the society’s secretary.  The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up a stall, from where leaflets are being distributed on how to detect fake notes.  Many had lined up before a grading agency where international coins and bank notes were being graded for a charge.

Disclose meetings agenda, RBI told

An order passed by Chief Information Commissioner Satyananda Mishra makes it mandatory for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to disclose pre-board meeting agenda notes and minutes. RBI has been told to draft a “disclosure policy” by February 2011 to bring about greater transparency in the bank’s functioning. The Commission said such a move “will also set the trend for other banks to follow”. The decision came on an application filed by one Kishan Lal Mittal, a resident of Mumbai, who had asked from RBI the copies of the minutes of the meetings of governing board, board of directors, committee of directors of the central bank from April 2007 and information regarding the complaint handling procedures followed by it against banking/non-banking companies.  RBI’s Public Information Officer said the information was “voluminous” and would take a long time to furnish, which would result in wasting public money. What is more, RBI argued that providing the information “would amount to disclosure of information that could prejudicially affect the economic interests of India since RBI and its committees often deliberated on economically and financially strategic matters”. “We direct the CPIO to bring it to the notice of the competent authority in RBI to prepare its disclosure policy in respect of not only the minutes of the board and other meetings, but also in respect of all other information held by it in tune with the provisions of the Right to Information (RTI) Act and post this policy on its website,” Mishra said, while asking RBI to comply with the order by February 2011. “Once RBI makes it clear which information it would not disclose under the exemption provisions of the RTI Act, it would be clear to everyone what all information can be expected to be disclosed,” he said. “Such clear enunciation of the negative list of items/classes of information in conformity with the exemption provisions of the RTI Act would remove all doubts in the minds of the officers of the bank about what they must disclose and which they must not. This would minimise the use of the appellate mechanism and bring in much greater transparency in the functioning of the apex bank. It will also set a trend for other banks to follow,” Mishra added. RBI had argued initially that it be placed on the list of authorities exempt from the RTI Act. The government turned down the request.

Banking Laws – Need to change

There are several legislations that cover India’s financial sector. The Banking Regulation Act 1949, The Bank Nationalisation Act, 1970, The State Bank of India Act, 1955, The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, all regulate different segments of the sector, making regulation unwieldy. A comprehensive overhaul is long overdue. Nine months ago, the government announced its intent to form a Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission but nothing concrete has happened yet. The urgency to overhaul these laws cannot be overstated as India integrates with the global economy and complex products are introduced.