Book review oddly timed

The Hindu has published today a flattering review of the book authored by Tamal Bandyopadhyay on HDFC Bank. The book is titled "Bank for the Buck". The review is written by N.S.Vageesh who heads the Mumbai bureau of Business Line.

The book is in total praise of Deepak Parekh and Aditya Puri. The hagiographic book creates a false impression in the minds of readers that these two leaders can do no wrong. This was taken as an acceptable exaggeration till the Cobrapost revelations about HDFC Bank (and two others of lesser repute) became public. Not any longer!

The Hindu could not have chosen a more inappropriate time for publishing this "you scratch my back, I will scratch yours" review. The writer seems to be in total awe of the author of the book.

Bankers have started renaming the book as "Bank for the false Buck". Unbounded flattery usually backfires.

Has RBI started blinking?

It appears that many banks are having a free run in facilitating money-laundering. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank are the recent ones whose feet of clay have been exposed.

Is RBI really unaware of this pernicious practice or is it turning a Nelson's eye? It is either inefficient or lacking in ethical standards. This is a far cry from the reputation garnered by this regulator in the tumultuous days following the American sub-prime crisis. It may also mean that we gave too much credit for the capacity of RBI whereas events were working out serendipitously in favour of the sheltered Indian economy.

The RBI Governor has recently shifted his stand on interest rate reduction. It seems that the Finance Minister has forced the Governor to discover the salubrious impact of interest rate reduction. Drop in interest rates will no more aggravate inflation! Demand side pressures will be adequately taken care of by supply side enhancement!

It is a revelation to know that economic consequences are thought to be guided by Finance Minister's optimism and RBI Governor's meek submission! We are in for more economic shocks.

Italian politics

Instability is commonplace in Italian politics. Predictably the recent election did not throw up any party with working majority.

Beppe Grillo, a comedian, however caused a surprise emerging as a popular leader who garnered 26% of total votes for the party that he leads, namely Five Star Movement referred to as M5S. What is even more surprising is that he himself could not contest in the elections as his own party does not allow candidates with criminal record.

Grillo is fond of walking barefoot. Occasionally he wears a T-shirt that proclaims Mahatma Gandhi's words "Be the change you wish to see in the world". Signs of hope?

Rahul Gandhi's giveaway on CBI

According to media reports, Congress vice-president met the wife of recently slain DSP in UP and assured her that she would get justice. He also assured that the CBI would conduct an impartial probe into the cruel murder of the DSP.

Rahul Gandhi has the practice of visiting families in distress and no one can take exception to this. Critics may say it is only a political gesture, but so be it. Every politician does this. But what is perplexing is Rahul Gandhi's ability to guarantee an impartial probe by CBI. The investigative agency is not supposed to be in his / his family's/ his party's control.

It is obvious that the factual position is different from what is supposed to be. If the ruling party (at the centre) or the ruling family is not involved in a matter under investigation, the CBI is 'permitted' to conduct an impartial probe.

Political charlatan

Headlines Today featured Arvind Kejriwal and Mani Shankar Aiyar in a programme yesternight. The former referred to massive unlawful acquisition of land in Rajasthan by Robert Vadra and subsequent amendment of state laws to legitimise the acquisition retrospectively. Details of lands and transactions were provided.

Mani Shankar Aiyer's response was shocking. He claimed that being more intelligent he became an IFS officer rather than an IRS official which Kejriwal was. Aiyer's arrogance is atrocious. One may remember that the super-intelligent Aiyer predicted victory for Congress + DMK combine in the last state elections in Tamil Nadu. On the specific complaint of land acquisition spree by Robert Vadra aided and abetted by the state, Aiyer observed that proof was absent (this is exactly what Pakistan says about Indian allegations of Pak involvement in terrorism) and it is Arvind Kejriwal's duty to investigate fully (as if Kejriwal has the wherewithal and will be allowed to do what even the CBI is prevented from doing) and then come back. Such insolence is typical of M S Aiyer's boorish behaviour.

That is not all. When Kejriwal opined that Caesar's wife must be above board, Aiyer's brilliant response was he does not know who is Caesar and who is Caesar's wife. This only betrays the tragic frustration of Aiyer who has been denied ministership and even party spokesmanship inspite of his shameless defence of the Gandhi family whatever the allegations be. M S Aiyer is articulate but articulation is not the same as intelligence. Standing Defence Counsel for the first family pretends to be unable to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong; this is what a political charlatan does.

Rahul Gandhi's shibboleth

Rahul Gandhi who will be our next prime minister, if we are 'lucky', has expounded a new theory. "If I get married and if I get children, I will only be a status-quoist. I will only try to make my children take my position. Therefore, I will not get married." He is clairvoyant enough to foresee that his children will be the next generation of congress netas.

With just a few sentences, Rahulji has demolished the institution of marriage. He says he does not want to give up the task of reforming the party and hence no marriage for him. Have you ever come across a married person who is also a reformer? Atleast our leader has not.

Sadly, he does not want to be prime minister also. He has started talking about 'nishkama karma' and Bagavad Gita also. The essence of the Gita is that one need not renounce family in order to be of service to society. A leader should set up a good example because a lot of people will follow what he does. There should be consistency among what one thinks, says and does. Vagabondism and hypocritical altruism are not desirable qualities.

Faulty assumption in the Budget

In the Budget presented on 28th February, Mr.P.Chidambaram claimed that he believed that there is a bit of Azim Premji in every one of us. It would have been more truthful to say that there is a bit of A.Raja and P.Chidambaram in each of us. We are more acquisitive than sacrificing, more possessive than philanthropic.

The Budget abounds in tokenism. An exclusive Bank for women! What an idea! This precedent will have to be religiously followed. Forthcoming Budgets will announce opening of exclusive Banks for minorities, linguistic and religious. It is easy to open the floodgates.

10% Surcharge on the income tax paid by the super-rich, all 42800 of them! There is no estimate of how much it will yield.

Investment Allowance of 15% will be allowed if machinery worth Rs.100 crore and above are bought by a company in the next two years. Why insist on minimum of Rs.100 crore? This is our kind of socialism favouring bigger companies as against the smaller ones.

The government continues to follow the cash system of accounting instead of accrual system. It is therefore easier to window-dress deficit ratios simply by postponing cash outflows into the next financial year.

One of the most meaningful couplets in Thirukkural says that even if income is minimal, it does not matter so long as the expenditure is not in excess. This is a couplet that Mr.Chidambaram would prefer not to quote.