Obituary

Former Executive Director I.T.Vaz passed away this afternoon (24th January 2013) in Jaslok Hospital at Mumbai.  She had developed blood clots in brain.  Funeral will be on Saturday morning at Stephen Church, Warden Road.  This was informed by her neighbour Mr. Erick Lobo (9224524003).

May her soul rest in eternal peace. 

Rough, tough and impossible........... 'Her'story is now history.....

Crusty,kind. Tough, soft. Fiery, nurturing. Bitter, sweet. Gumption and guts in equal measure - ITV

I.T.Vaz - When she was there, no one got space. And now that she is no more, the space she left cannot be filled.

She was my first Deputy Chief Officer in the erstwhile Agriculture Credit Department. Many many years ago. I remember our first meeting. " So you are the new wonder boy in the Bank. Just you remember this is ACD. This is the best Department. More we are a family. We take care of our own. Do you follow? Ofcourse, I did'nt. But I nodded. Don't shake your head young man, speak up. That was ITV. Straight. Both barrels at a time at a time in an institution where words were carefully measured and counted.

She was my Principal Inspecting Officer, and I have seen her trudge uphill and down dale visiting Primary Societies, branches in far flung, remote areas - unafraid, giving all the men a run for their money and putting errant Board of Directors to flight. She was my Chief officer. My Executive Director. I have seen her face the Governor and all the Deputy Governors together on an issue where she thought giving in would detract from the stature of the Bank. When it looked as if she was going to lose, she gathered herself and said " Sir in that case I would like to record my dissent. I do not want those who come later to say that no one protested" I was there. I have also had the dubious privilege of being thrown out of her room. I was protesting on a decision which had been taken at a much higher level and telling her to go and articulate her real feelings. She explained things to me twice or thrice and then said " What is your problem.? Go. " I stood my ground. " In that case will you get out of my cabin". I did. So did she. But we headed in different directions. I down. She to the 18th floor.

And now it is too late for me to say Ma'am, i was so proud of you. I could go on and on. She was rough, tough, absolutely impossible at times but she was a great boss, a great. Lady, a great friend.
God, wherever you are, look after her.

- Dr.Y.S.P.Thorat, Former ED, RBI & Former Chairman, NABARD

Chidambaram says no rift with RBI on rate cut

........Terming it as a "healthy debate", the finance minister said that the final call will be made by the central bank which in line with its independent existence. The statement comes days before RBI's quarterly policy review on Tuesday. Over the four months or so, the finance ministry has gone public with its suggestion to shift to a monetary easing stance given the severe moderation in industrial growth and a decline in exports. ...........

Read - TOI

RBI Governor likely to meet Chidambaram tomorrow

NEW DELHI, JAN 23: Ahead of the monetary policy review next week, RBI Governor D. Subbarao is likely to discuss the prevailing domestic macro-economic as well as global situation with Finance Minister P. Chidambaram tomorrow.........

Read - HBL

Fake currency: AP police to have strict checks at airports

..............Andhra Pradesh Police today decided to have more stringent checks at airports by the Customs and Airport Security to curb the flow of fake currency in the state. Last year fake currency of more than Rs 75 lakh were seized from different parts of the state. A decision in this regard was taken today at a meeting of state level committee for detection/ seizures of counterfeit notes/ Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), attended by senior officials of RBI, NIA and IB..............

Read - BS

NAFCUB is on the lookout for a suitable person to assume charge as Chief Executive

......The work requires understanding of issues and problems of the urban cooperative banking sector and interacting with RBI and Govt. on regulatory policy, appraising the Board of NAFCUB comprising of members elected from the member institutions, implications of such policy measures, putting up analytical  note for suggesting changes in policy, reviewing the performance of urban cooperative banks and sector as a whole,..........

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Why RBI needs to RAISE interest rates

On 16^th January 2013, speaking at an outreach programme of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) at Lalpur Karauta village in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, Governor Dr. D. Subbarao said this: "If you see the currency note, it is printed on it that 'I promise to pay the bearer the sum of Rs 100' and it has my signature as the RBI Governor. What does the promise and signature mean? It means that the RBI will control inflation and maintain its purchasing power". It is another matter that the stream of journalists present did not report this very important statement (see here, for example) when they filed their reports on the event. Either they did not really understand what the Governor said, or did not like what they heard..............

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Stage set for lowering policy rates

......The market’s difficulty in gauging RBI’s mind and actions has increased of late, with the central bank vacillating between wholesale and retail inflation as its policy anchor. While it makes sense to anchor inflation at the consumer level from the common man’s perspective, the monetary authority has only limited influence on consumer price outcomes...................

Read - HBL

My View on "RBI needs to stimulate growth as containing inflation: FM"

The FM does not manage RBI, but he ensures that his intentions and desires are scrupulously followed. Holding the power even to fix the salaries and pension of RBI staff and making the institution to gradually lose its international image as a well run Central bank, the Finance Minister dictates terms to RBI. Except for the last few months where the Governor has been stubborn, (only in its monetary policy stand) the FM has made RBI to function as the ministry wants. These pronouncements mean nothing but to confuse the public. 

- Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

Banking licences: Corporate honchos rule out conflict of interest

....... “More than the ownership, RBI needs to put greater emphasis on corporate governance, transparency, the business model and long-term commitment. This will ensure organisations, corporate or otherwise, obtaining banking licences engage in fair business practices and operate within the regulatory framework, as prescribed by RBI,”.............

Read - BS

New secretaries named in finance ministry

The government on Wednesday appointed 1979-batch IAS officer Rajiv Takru as secretary in the department of financial services in the finance ministry. In another key appointment...........

Read - TOI

Retirement planning: Why you should avoid the New Pension System

..................More than three years ago, we were excited by the NPS. But continuous tinkering and no PFRDA Act have changed the scenario. Unless the government addresses all the issues we have detailed, stay away from NPS.

Read - Moneylife

RBI bars foreign investors from buying more Pantaloon shares

...."No further purchases of shares of this company would be allowed through stock exchanges in India on behalf of foreign institutional investors," the RBI said in a notification on Wednesday............

Read.......

SHG and Obama – What a great combination!

All those associated with the micro-finance movement, both in India and world wide,  know pretty well the expansion of the term ‘SHG’. It stands for ‘Self-Help Group’.  On 23 Jan 2013, while reading a news item in the ‘Firstpost’ on the first ever presidential inaugural ball organised by Indian Americans to welcome Barack Obama’s second coming and loudly register the community’s presence, I stumbled on the term ‘SHG Foundation’ in it. 

Dr S Santhanam PhD (Eco), CAIIB

General Manager (Retd), NABARD &

Consultant - Development Finance

Pune, Maharashtra

M: +91 9850839776

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Banks may miss RBI's deposit, credit growth estimates

............."I think credit growth is going to be much slower this year than what the RBI has projected because of cumulative slowdown in industrial and economic growth and, unless credit picks up, deposit growth is unlikely to grow,"........

Read - ET

Gold seen ruling firm as inflation hedge

....In the global market, gold was holding at one-month high. In India, any rise in the rupee that will make imports of commodities such as gold, crude oil and vegetable oils cheaper and the steep rise in prices after the Government raised the import duty to six per cent from four per cent will come into play..........

Read - HBL

Will the RBI Dy Governor contradict this article which has come out clealy that investments in gold is to hedge against inflation. The economy today is in a precarious condition due to persisting inflation and without controllintg it nothing can be achieved. It has taken away the ethics ,values morale and social harmony in the society and given rise to aggressive pricing of goods and services by all including the govt thereby letting loose a semblance of anarchy in the management of the economy.Pre liberalisation conditions were much better and things were under control.Now the economy seems to have lost its focus and there is neither growth nor equitable distribution of wealth.The system of Governance has been missing every where and the economy is in a mess where the Gold is the only safe way of investment to protect what ever is left.Time the authorities both the RBI and the Govt sit togother and analyse the mistakes and come around to find a lasting solution to contain inflation.

-  Dr.T.V.Gopalakrishnan

Charge prepayment penalty only on fixed rate loan dues: RBI

Home loan borrowers who have opted for fixed rates may have easier terms on their mortgages as the Reserve Bank of India has advised banks to revise the penalty structure on prepayments and charge it only on the outstanding amount. It has also recommended that banks should focus on raising long-term deposits to fund more long-term loans to help reduce the EMI burden on home loan borrowers.........

Read - ET

Is it still too much to expect bonus shares from public sector banks?

The finance ministry and RBI should quickly lay down guidelines for banks to issue bonus shares, and also raise the FII limit to 30% for investment in PSBs, which will not only be another dose of reforms, but greatly assist the PSBs in raising fresh capital from the market............

Read - Moneylife

Indian banks must finance the poor to prevent another subprime loan crisis

....The Reserve Bank of India has published guidelines for micro-financiers and set up a licensing system. Interest rates have been capped at 10-12 percentage points above lenders’ borrowing costs, after the rates they charged customers soared to 28-30% in 2010. And companies are barred from lending to anyone with more than one outstanding loan. The revival looks dangerous, however, as the new rules may not prevent old problems re-occurring......

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Stabilising Indian Banks through coercive rights

....Importantly, selling the rights at a discount to the market value or the book value of the bank does not make the existing shareholders worse off because after they exercise the rights, they retain the same proportional ownership of the banks' assets. This is particularly meaningful in public sector banks, where the government is expected to exercise the rights and, thus, retain its share of control of these banks..........

Read - ET

Reforms to help economy gather pace, shows poll

.......But the poll also showed inflation will remain persistently high, preventing the Reserve Bank of India from cutting rates too aggressively, and that economic growth will not soon return to levels as strong as just few years ago...........

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Welcome signs of greater autonomy for public sector banks

...............Elected governments must work towards fulfilling the mandate for which they are elected. But that must be done using budgetary resources, not by using the banking system to achieve objectives that fall squarely within the government's domain. Hopefully, the holding company and NIF, by distancing PSBs from their ultimate owners (government), will transform PSBs and make them more like banks and less like government arms.

Read - ET

HSBC sees only 25 bps rate cut by RBI on Jan 29

.......A cut in the cash reserve ratio (CRR), the amount of deposits banks park with RBI, "is not a given", HSBC said, adding given the liquidity deficit, RBI may "signal continued efforts to bring this (liquidity deficit) down"............

Read - IE

LVB gets RBI approval for 71 more branches

Lakshmi Vilas Bank has received RBI permission to open 71 more branches. The new permission allows the bank to open branches in Metro, urban, semi-urban and rural centres.......

Read - HBL