Government vows to Tighten Up on Banks.Why Jaitley is 'Disturbed' with Public Sector Banks

Congrats! Good days seems to be unbound and We the people have to bear the burns of the rosy economy and its growth story projected as day to life in India is going to be hell losing all the way.

Cabinet approves Digital India aimed at transforming country into knowledge economy

Palash Biswas

My fellow countrymen! Congrats for good days unlimited. Undermining agrarian majority people of India is not enough.Not enough is the infrastructure PPP Gujrat model.Even the escalating Gujarat all over subordinating every identity whatsoever is enough.Indo US nuclear agreement is full bloom and it is not enough.Ejecting out black money ended in dismissing every scam it is not enough.Hidnutva and Mahabharat and Geeta seem to be not enough.

For Hindu Nation,the intelligentsia is all set to welcome Nazi Fascist Military regime which supports AFSPA and brands Irom Sharmila and Soni Sori with sedition.Any body speaking different may be leveled as traitor.

Business friendly shafron corporate government of India is no more based in the capital,New Delhi.The capital is Nagpur in every sense and overhauling of Indian economy is the topmost agenda.

We the people have to bear the burns of the rosy economy and its growth story projected as day to life in India is going to be hell losing all the way.

Cheers!The Indian economy will expand close to 5.8% in the current fiscal year, Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram said Thursday, underscoring hopes that the south Asian country's growth would recover strongly this year.

Meanwhile,the Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here today, gave its approval to Digital India, a programme aimed at transforming the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

This is a follow up to the decisions taken on the design of the programme during the meeting of the Prime Minister on Digital India Programme on August 7, 2014, and to sensitize all ministries about the programme that would touch every part of the government.

The programme has been envisaged by Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), an official press release said.

According to it, the programme will be implemented in phases from the current year till 2018. It would ensure that Government services are available to citizens electronically. It would also bring in public accountability through mandated delivery of government's services electronically, a Unique ID and e-Pramaan based on authentic and standard-based interoperable and integrated government applications and data basis.

The source of funding for most of the e-Governance projects at present is through budgetary provisions of respective Ministries/Departments in the Central or State governments. Requirements of funds forindividual project(s) for Digital India will be worked out by the respective Nodal Ministries/ Departments, the release said.

We never did understand digital biometric citizenship killing privacy and sovereignty of the citizens and we are seized within the valley of death turning into a nazi gas chamber.We could not get the idea of disinvestment,strategic sell off,optimum use of resources with infinite displacement and killing the people as well the environment all round.We support privatization,automation and labour reforms.We are injected with FDI and the retail market has been overtaken by US drones.

Every law is amended by pet expert committees directly by the cabinet by passing the the parilament and killing the constitution.

Primeminister`s council of disinvestment report finalised way back in 1996 by first NDA government is being implemented since then.

Now it is death time for Public sector banks.

Banking amendment act passed.
RBI act has to be amended soon or later to denationalise the PSBs.

Employees caught sleeping in every sector and the paid very dearly.

Bank trade unions are also sleeping and bank employees.

Ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government suspects irregularities in top-level public sector bank executives and propels to appoint chairmen of public sector banks days before the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was about to step down. Recently, theCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the Syndicate Bank chief Sudhir Kumar Jain on corruption charges. It is this arrest which prompted the Finance Ministry to take a re-look at all the recent appointments that took place at senior levels in the public sector banks.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has written letters to the Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan and Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth stating that there are indications that some of the appointments that took place in the closing days of the UPA government lacked transparency and saw political interference. Raghuram is the Head of the Appointment Board that selects chiefs of government banks while Ajit is responsible for processing all papers that reaches the Cabinet Appointments Committee.

Earlier, CBI Chief Ranjit Sinha had written a letter to the finance Ministry that the CBI probe into the Syndicate Bank case suggests irregularities in appointments and role of middlemen in 'managing' job interviews and Appraisal of the Confidential Reports (ACRs). Pointing out that several appointments were made despite 'poor' ACRs, Sinha also suggested 'legal scrutiny' of the matter.

In the past few years, appointments of bank chiefs, executive directors and independent directors are done by an Appointments Board which comprises the RBI governor, an RBI deputy governor, Financial Services Secretary, and external experts. Candidates are selected on the basis of an appraisal of the confidential reports (ACRs), which carries 70% weightage and interviews for 'Executive Director' or 'Chief Manager Director (CMD)' positions which carries 30% weightage.

There have been allegations that candidate who scored barely in interviews were recommended for appointments based on their ACRs. In 2012, Department of Financial Services was charged with changing the grade of a candidate from 'very good' to 'outstanding' later making him eligible for a second-rung executive position. When challenged, Cabinet Appointments Committee put the appointment on hold for some time but cleared it later.

Other charges include:

Department of Financial Services tweaked stipulations in favor of a candidate on several occasions. For example, a public sector CMD aspirant is required to work as Executive Director for at least two years – with two years to go for retirement. But the government allowed General Managers of public sector banks to appear for the interview even if they had less than the said three years to go for superannuation. Relaxation in retirement norms allowed 19 candidates to appear for the interview – instead of just eight which would have been eligible otherwise.
The cut-off date for eligibility for the position was fixed as August 6 – instead of the usual choice of first day or last day of the month.
Five candidates were allowed to appear for the interview at a notice of just a few hours.
Just before the former RBI deputy governor Anand Sinha was about to demit office and elections were to be announced, appointment process of 13 Executive Directors was completed hurriedly.
The UPA government conducted interviews for bank chiefs last year, even though the first vacancy for the position was to arise in August this year. Around the same time, the Appointments Board called only one candidate for appointment of 'Managing Director' in the State Bank of India (SBI) – largest bank of India.

It is also alleged that decisions made on allotment of banks do not have transparency and clarity too.

"There is an uptick in core [industrial] sector," and recent indicators such as sales of passenger vehicles and the Purchasing managers index are also pointing to a recovery, he said.

Hopes of a pickup in investments on the back of faster changes in policies by the country's recently elected pro-business government have raised expectations that growth could accelerate to as much as 6.0% this year after going through the worst slowdown in years.

Asia's third-largest economy grew 4.7% in the fiscal year ended March 31, the first time in 2½ decades that it clocked sub-5% expansion for two years in a row.

Mr. Mayaram also said that the government would contain its fiscal deficit at the budgeted 4.1% of gross domestic product this fiscal year.

The government's deficit has been a major reason for worry as it has reduced credit availability for private companies, fueled inflation and weighed against a central bank cut in interest rates.

The government plans to narrow the deficit to 3% of GDP by March 2017, which is considered a tolerable level.

The projection is close to the higher end of the 5.4% to 5.9% growth forecast that the government gave in a review of the economy last month.

Finance secretary Arvind Mayaram today said that the government will be able to wipe out diesel subsidy completely. Speaking at an event organized by industry-body ASSOCHAM, Mayaram said that oil marketing companies will soon not incur any losses in the sale of diesel and diesel prices will be market driven. He added that easing crude prices will help wipe out diesel under-recovery very soon. CNBC-TV18 had reported two days back that the Centre is expecting diesel prices to be in sync with market prices by the end of October. Mayaram also expressed confidence that the government's subsiidy burden is expected to fall drastically. On the tax front, Mayaram is also upbeat of achievement growth rate of near 6 percent this fiscal, he also expects the government to achieve its tax collection targets.Money control reports.

Government officials painted an upbeat picture for the economy on Thursday, as it struggles to emerge from the longest spell of sub-par growth in decades, and promised to tighten up risk management at the country's dominant state banks.Reuter reports.

Mind you,bank employees! Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the recent developments in the public sector banking space are disturbing and expressed the hope that they would not be repeated. His comments come on the back of some discrepancies in public sector banks that have come to light recently. "Some recent incidents have been disturbing," Mr Jaitley said while addressing a gathering at Indian Bank foundation day.NDTV reports.

The government is investigating the alleged misappropriation of more than Rs. 400 crore from branches of the state-run Dena Bank Ltd and Oriental Bank of Commerce Ltd in Mumbai. This comes weeks after the detention of the chairman of another state-run bank, Syndicate Bank Ltd over allegations that he had sought bribes approve a loan to Bhushan Steel.

"I would only hope that they are a drop in the ocean and we have all learnt the lessons from such incidents, and there will be no repetition of them," Mr Jaitley said.

The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) has arrested the chairman of Syndicate Bank and is questioning the head of Bhushan Steel.

The government is working to tightening up risk management in the banking space, Mr Jaitley said.

Credibility is of extreme importance, he stressed while adding that that the government is acting upon professionalising banks. Banks must endeavour to raise their standards, he added.

Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram said growth was on course to recover to about 5.8 per cent in the year to March 2015, up from 4.7 per cent last year - the second year of growth below 5 per cent, too slow a rate to provide jobs for the large numbers entering India's labour force

Recent economic data does point to a nascent recovery: industrial production is having its best run since last September, infrastructure output growth is at a nine-month high and manufacturing activity is growing at its fastest for 17 months. Car sales, a proxy for consumer demand, are also up.

"If you look at the trend growth, then you see green shoots of recovery in the economy," Mr Mayaram told an industry chamber.

Persistent concerns about the health of the country's banking system were also addressed on Thursday when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told delegates at a banking event in New Delhi that the government was working to tighten up risk management in the sector, giving a vital boost to confidence.

he prolonged slowdown has hit the banks' balance sheets as bad loans rose to 4.1 per cent of gross advances in March from 2.4 per cent in March three years ago, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its annual report on Thursday.

Restructured loans rose to 5.9 per cent of gross advances in March from 2.5 per cent in June 2011, the central bank said.

"Some recent instances have been disturbing," Mr Jaitley said.

"I would only hope that they are a drop in the ocean and we have all learnt the lessons from such incidents, and there will be no repetition of them," he said.

While a sluggish economy is the main reason for a rise in distressed assets, the RBI's report also blames the banks for lending to certain "excessively leveraged" groups.

The launch of a corruption investigation at state-controlled Syndicate Bank has raised broader concerns about weak oversight, graft and politically directed lending at state banks.

Interest rates, oil

Weak industrial activity and capital investments lie at the heart of growth struggle, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election triumph has stoked hopes that he will replicate his success as head of Gujarat state in boosting investment.

Added to those hopes, the global economy shows signs of strengthening and is expected to lift overseas demand for Indian merchandise and underpin the recovery.

Mr Mayaram said he expected a further pick-up in economic momentum from RBI monetary policy.

"The RBI will not hold interest rates high any longer than necessary," he said. "I hope we will reach that threshold soon."

He also said falling oil prices would not only help subside inflationary pressures, but would also wipe out the cost of diesel subsidies, helping New Delhi trim the fiscal gap to a seven-year low of 4.1 per cent of gross domestic product.

The apex bank kept rates unchanged this month, citing risks to inflation from a weak start to the monsoon rains and lingering uncertainty over the global crude oil prices.

Rains improved last month, and there are forecasts for a stronger second half to the four-month monsoon running from June through September. Oil prices have also hit a 14-month low on plentiful supplies and weak demand.

Cabinet approves Digital India aimed at transforming country into knowledge economy

According to the release, the following are the vision areas of Digital India:

I Infrastructure as Utility to Every Citizen:

(i) High speed internet as a core utility shall be made available in all Gram Panchayats.

(ii) Cradle to grave digital identity - unique, lifelong, online and authenticable.

(iii) Mobile phone and bank account would enable participation in digital and financial space at individuallevel.

(iv) Easy access to a Common Service Centre within their locality.

(v) Shareable private space on a public cloud.

(vi) Safe and secure cyber-space in the country.

II Governance and Services on Demand:

(i) Seamlessly integrated across departments or jurisdictions to provide easy and a single window access to all persons.

(ii) Government services available in real time from online and mobile platforms.

(iii) All citizen entitlements to be available on the cloud to ensure easy access.

(iv) Government services digitally transformed for improving ease of doing business.

(v) Making financial transactions above a threshold, electronic and cashless.

(vi) Leveraging GIS for decision support systems and development.

III Digital Empowerment of Citizens:

(i) Universal digital literacy.

(ii) All digital resources universally accessible.

(iii) All Government documents/ certificates to be available on the cloud.

(iv) Availability of digital resources / services in Indian languages.

(v) Collaborative digital platforms for participative governance.

(vi) Portability of all entitlements for individualsthrough the cloud.

Scope of Digital India:

The overall scope of this programme is:

(i) to prepare India for a knowledge future.

(ii) on being transformative that is to realize IT (Indian Talent) + IT (Information Technology) = IT (India Tomorrow)

(iii) making technology central to enabling change.

(iv) on being an Umbrella Programme – covering many departments.

· The programme weaves together a large number of ideas and thoughts into a single, comprehensive vision, so that each of them is seen as part of a larger goal. Each individual element stands on its own, but is also part of the larger picture.

· The weaving together makes the Mission transformative in totality.

(v) The Digital India Programme will pull together many existing schemes which would be restructured and re-focused and implemented in a synchronized manner. The common branding of the programmes as Digital India, highlights their transformative impact.

Digital India aims to provide the much needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth areas, namely

1. Broadband Highways,

2. Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity,

3. Public Internet Access Programme,

4. e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology,

5. e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of Services,

6. Information for All,

7. Electronics Manufacturing,

8. IT for Jobs

9. Early Harvest Programmes.

Approach and Methodology:

i Ministries / Departments / States would fully leverage the Common and Support ICT Infrastructure established by the Government of India.

ii The existing/ ongoing e-Governance initiatives would be revamped to align them with the principles of Digital India. Scope enhancement, Process Reengineering, use of integrated & interoperable systems and deployment of emerging technologies like Cloud & mobile would be undertaken to enhance delivery of Government services to citizens.

iii States would be given flexibility to identify for inclusion additional state-specific projects, which are relevant to their socio-economic needs.

iv e-Governance would be promoted through a centralised initiative to the extent necessary, to ensure citizen centric service orientation.

v Successes would be identified and their replication promoted proactively.

vi Public Private Partnerships would be preferred wherever feasible.

vii Adoption of Unique ID would be promoted to facilitate identification, authentication and delivery of benefits.

viii Restructuring of NIC would be undertaken to strengthen the IT support to all government departments at the Centre and State levels.

ix The positions of Chief Information Officers (CIO) would be created in at least 10 key ministries so that various e-Governance projects could be designed, developed and implemented faster.

x DeitY would create necessary senior positions within the department for managing the programme.

xi Central Ministries / Departments and State Governments would have the overall responsibility for implementation of various Mission Mode and other projects under this Programme. Considering the need for overall aggregation and integration at the national level, it is considered appropriate to implement Digital India as a programme with well defined roles and responsibilities of each agency involved.

Program Management Structure :

A programme management structure would be established for monitoring implementation. Key components of the management structure would consist of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for according approval to projects, a Monitoring Committee headed by the Prime Minister, a Digital India Advisory Group chaired by the Minister of Communications and IT, an Apex Committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) / Committee on Non Plan Expenditure (CNE).