Seasonal Magazine Nov Issue by John Antony

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VOLUME 16 ISSUE 11 NOV 2017

YEARS

MAGAZINE

Seasonal www.seasonalmagazine.com

Managing Editor Jason D Pavorattikaran Editor John Antony Director (Finance) Ceena Associate Editor Carl Jaison Senior Editorial Coordinator Jacob Deva Senior Correspondent Bina Menon Creative Visualizer Bijohns Varghese Photographer Anish Aloysious Office Assistant Alby CG Correspondents Bombay: Rashmi Prakash Delhi: Anurag Dixit Director (Technical) John Antony Publisher Jason D Pavorattikaran

Any astute political analyst would have seen this coming. Because, nothing except the Sensex & Nifty are booming. Jobs are in fact, sinking. So is corporate credit growth. And when stock market booms alone, it is almost always a case of it getting jubilant of the extreme right wing economics getting the upper hand in the country.

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It is no wonder that all these are happening. In fact, we should wonder only if the honeymoon period would have carried on. It is just not possible in India. And it is not a matter of Modi, Shah or any of their ministers. The PM especially is quite passionate about leaving his mark as the greatest leader the country has ever seen. But India’s problems run deeper. This is a land where 90% of the population are employed in the informal sectors with no guarantee on their livelihood or social security, where everything from a bad monsoon to sudden reforms like demonetisation can wreak havoc. A land where 96% of people’s life savings are below Rs.7 lakhs. But where, 1% of the population has managed to amass 60% of the nation’s wealth. What could be more wrong than governing such a country on extreme right-wing economics which critics have rightly christened as crony capitalism? But India’s problems run even deeper. It starts from something called corruption, rampant and systemic across the political and governance structure of the country. Indians always knew this, were always angry about this, and Modi himself had played this anger so deftly in his impressive campaign to wrest power from UPA. The issue now is that this anger is still there. Not even right wing loyalists would claim that corruption has come down in India in any meaningful way. It hasn’t because Indians still pay bribes and still silently suffer at the shameless partiality and favouritism shown by ruling parties at both Centre and States.

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Prescribing medicines, when the need is surgery Reality has sunk in. The honeymoon is over. But it is not due to a new generation media outlet carrying a surprise story on Jay Shah’s alleged changes in fortunes after Modi became PM and his father became BJP President. Neither it is over Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie calling out that the king is naked.

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EDITORIAL

that the so-called Deep State is created, through which they virtually call all the shots concerning their sectors. The collusion of such politicians and bureaucrats result in favourable policy making and weakening regulations for the funding businesses.

Now, one typical mind-set of politicians and bureaucrats is that corruption is not corruption unless caught. Where are the scams, is what BJP is asking. Yes, except for the Jay Shah episode and the allegation by Arun Shourie of large-scale money laundering during demonetisation, there are no scams. And what is funnier is that both these allegations were not from the Opposition benches. But no political observer worth his name would believe that scams aren’t happening even now. They must surely be happening both at the Centre and the States, because, scams are a part and parcel of how Indian politics works. If this is unbelievable to anyone, they need to just ponder over how Indian political parties are funded to run these pompous shows of power. None of the leaders and workers are bringing in funds from their own homes, businesses or pockets. That is why most debates on ending corruption in India have finally arrived at rooting out corruption in the election campaign. But even that is not half the picture, as it is not only for elections, but for the very maintenance of these mammoth political parties that secret donations are continually sought and obtained from businesses of all hues. Mightier or shadier the business, higher will be the virtual extortion money charged by various political parties for offering patronage of power, or for getting specific illegal things done. Most ruling parties at the Centre and States have the additional avenue of pilfering from the state coffers. While it is getting more and more difficult, it is still very much possible – and occurring – by way of kickbacks during major contracts. A popular and successful political party is an expensive affair to maintain. All the more because, except for a handful of Ministers, MPs, & MLAs, the rest 99% members of almost all political parties are not holding any productive jobs, except for being career politicians. Yet, most of them run affluent lifestyles beating the best of corporate world. It is an open secret that corporates of every size maintain many or most of these influential career politicians. They also maintain many of the most powerful bureaucrats so

That is why any meaningful agenda for economic development in this country should go hand-in-hand with radical political reform that aims at dismantling the secretive funding mechanism behind Indian political parties. Like in most developed countries, allow only public and audited donations to political parties, by corporate entities, and that too only within limits barely required for maintaining a political party. Let it dawn on these politicians who are eager to ‘serve’ the nation that political work is a social and voluntary work, and not an entitlement from corporates or quick-rich scheme for fleecing tax money. The GST implementation for instance has become the latest menace to hit the common man as well as small businesses, as it has driven up costs like anything in the guise of raising the GDP. That scams are not surfacing is no proof that scams aren’t happening; in fact, nothing, absolutely nothing has happened on this biggest on-going scam of secret corporate funding of political parties. It doesn’t become a no-scam also because all parties are doing it! During the honeymoon period schemes like Digital India, Make in India, Startup India and such schemes were enough. But now real works need to be done, especially since none of these schemes have delivered on either the jobs front or the economic growth front. If Modi or any future PM in India would be remembered as the greatest leader this country has ever seen, he or she would have to strike at the root of political corruption, which is the corporate political nexus that has been governing this nation for long in the most inequitable way. When the disease calls for a surgery, medicines will never be enough. Otherwise, it would be business as usual - tall promises every 5 years, seeming invincibility during the first half, and rising public resentment during the second half. Because, if things are not getting sharply better for the common man, it is most probably getting worse, as he is fighting an unfair battle with some of the smartest corporate, political and bureaucratic brains on the other side. But he will take his revenge with a vote. John Antony

CONTENTS

HDFC STANDARD LIFE INSURANCE IPO

AIMING TO BE THE MOST OBVIOUS CHOICE In a country where life insurance business has an incumbent king in LIC of India, HDFC Standard Life Insurance has always had a lofty vision of being ‘the most obvious choice for all’. Such courage to take on formidable competition comes only from the strongest of parentages – from HDFC, arguably India’s most well-managed financial services conglomerate, and from UK based Standard Life Aberdeen plc, one of the world’s largest investment & insurance companies. The cash flush HDFC Life is going for its IPO in the classiest and most investor-friendly way, with no dilution involved, which comes naturally to the HDFC stable, one of India’s foremost wealth creators ever in HDFC, HDFC Bank, & Gruh Finance, & HDFC Mutual Funds.

CONTENTS INDIA HOPES TO SPARK NEW LIFE INTO ITS SOLAR REVOLUTION India’s solar energy generation is soon to receive a facelift with the proposed utility-scale solar plant coming up in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

BIG IDEAS CAN SPUR ECONOMIC GROWTH BUT WHERE ARE THEY? NBCC LTD

TOTAL TRANSFORMATION IN 5 YEARS Hundreds of listed companies are hitting 52-Week Highs in India, while a few companies like NBCC are breaching life-time highs. IPO investors in the PSU construction major are sitting on 24 times their investment made in 2012, just 5 years back. What is driving NBCC's momentum? Is it the rumors that this Navaratna company is close to taking over 3 other PSUs in the construction sector? Or is it the unassailable order book position of Rs.75,000 crores? In any case..

UBER UNDER FIRE Uber will lose its licence to operate in London because it may be endangering public safety and security, according to a UK regulator, in a blow to a company facing questions over its..

SCIENTISTS CLAIM UNIVERSE SHOULDN'T EXIST! The CERN scientists have performed the most precise experiment on antiprotons in which they have found a symmetry in nature that they say just shouldn't be possible.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

MEET HONDA’S MOST EXPENSIVE BIKE, COMING TO INDIA SOON Pictures of Honda’s 2018 Gold Wing, set to be unveiled next month, have been leaked on the internet. If all were to go..

JEEP COMPASS TRAILHAWK: MADE IN INDIA FOR WORLD Jeep recently announced that it has started export of the made-in-India Compass SUV to international markets like Australia and Japan.

Economic growth comes from people creating ideas. This simple concept has become more difficult to apply in today’s world with falling research productivity.

BEHIND INDIA'S CAESAREAN BOOM The number of c-section deliveries in India has more than doubled in the past decade, going up from 8.5% of the total births in 2005-06 to 17.2% in 2015-16. Every year,

NEW STUDY CLAIMS SPECIFIC TRAITS ASSOCIATED WITH LONGER LIFE Scientists at the University of Edinburgh looked at 25 population studies and analyzed genetic data from more than 600,000 men and women from...

TRY THESE MOOD ELEVATING FOODS Depression is a serious mental disorder and may require prolonged treatment just like any physical ailment. But there are some natural ways to curb depression.

GOVERNMENT EXTENDS INTEREST SUBSIDY ON MIG HOME LOANS TILL MARCH 2019 The central government has announced that the benefit of interest subsidy of about Rs2.60..

AMIT SHAH, SON JAY SHAH FLOUT SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES AT CRICKET BODY Despite the Lodha Committee norms clearly saying both must quit, the Shah dynasty rules the..

HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN TO FORGIVE? Being able to forgive a partner is crucial to maintaining a healthy relationship because no matter how compatible two people are, there will be times when one partner acts in ways that go against the other’s wishes..

DEATH BY AIR: HOW POLLUTION HAS REACHED UNPRECEDENTED LEVELS IN INDIA

ESAF SMALL FINANCE BANK

DESTINED TO BE A BANK, PREDESTINED TO BE A BANKER

STRESSED OUT? YOU MAY GAUGE DANGERS SLOWER THAN BEFORE

Air pollution levels in India are at an all-time high and accounts for a very high percentage of..

A new study led by New York University neuroscientists reveals that being under acute stress diminishes our ability to pay..

THE NEW SUVS DRIVING IN SOON RENAULT CAPTUR, SKODA KODIAQ, RANGE ROVER VELAR

IS THERE REALLY A ‘LITTLE MAN’ INSIDE OUR HEADS, BEYOND OUR CONTROL?

With the launch of Renault Captur in mid-October others like Tata, Skoda, Maruti, Toyota, Audi and..

Does the unconscious mind really exist? It’s one of the oldest ideas in psychology. We are said to..

MEET THE UNBELIEVABLE 3-WHEEL YAMAHA NIKEN SPORTBIKE

MEET INDIA'S 37.4 MILLION INVISIBLE & UNDERPAID HOME-BASED WORKERS

Seasonal Magazine interviews K Paul Thomas, Founder, MD & CEO, ESAF Small Finance Bank, which has been an astounding story of true wealth creation having grown a paltry investment of Rs.7000 in 1992, to a market valuation of Rs.1200 crores now.

CHE GUEVARA’S INDIAN DIARIES

SMARTPHONES MAY HELP CURB DEPRESSION

While the Republic of Ireland commemorated the 50th death anniversary of Che Guevara by issuing a postal stamp that acknowledged his Irish roots, his

Depression is a serious mental disorder and may require prolonged treatment just like any physical ailment.

AS CENTRAL & STATE GOVERNMENTS MINT MONEY ON FUEL, THE BURDEN IS ON THE MASSES

DOES FACEBOOK’S NEW FEATURE PERPETUATE THE FAKE NEWS MENACE?

Amid protests against the recent spike in petrol and diesel prices, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has ruled out the possibility of an end to the recently..

With an eye on increasing user engagement on their platform, Facebook is set to bring out an additional feature called ‘Explore’ , which has been seen by some as..

Yamaha brought something interesting for the Tokyo Motor Show, and it’s a bizarro threewheeler sportbike. Surely it’s too

They contribute immensely to the final product, but are invisible to companies and buyers.

INDIAN BANKS' BAILOUT: THROWING GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD? Despite the recapitalisation plan, banks burdened by bad loans may still not be completely out of the woods and government’s rescue act for banks could turn out to be a case of throwing good money after bad.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

CONTENTS IT’S A CLOSE RACE TO THE FINISH LINE: BAIDU VS WAYMO IN THE DRIVERLESS CAR MARKET With the advance in robotics and artificial intelligence, carmakers are vying against each..

HAS PIKETTY MISSED A TRICK OR TWO BY OVERSTATING TAX DATA? NEW INDIA ASSURANCE IPO

10 REASONS WHY NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY'S IPO IS PROMISING

Most critiques to Piketty’s work emphasize on his lack of addressing the politics behind income inequality. But, he has received many accolades for the sheer magnitude of his research,

XIAOMI'S FLAGSHIP MI MIX 2 TO GIVE BIGGIES A RUN FOR THEIR MONEY If you thought the Samsung Galaxy S8 looked unique, this just shifts the goalpost. The Mi MIX 2 is an ideal showcase of Xiaomi’s prowess. It’s now available at Rs 35,999.

Seasonal Magazine unravels reasons why New India Assurance Company's Rs.10,000 crore IPO that is set to hit markets in November first week is a highly promising one.

SWARNA PRAGATI HOUSING MICROFINANCE

MIGHTY CHALLENGES, MIGHTIER STRATEGIES The last two years have been tumultuous for most microfinance institutions including India’s sole Housing Microfinance firm, Swarna Pragati Housing Microfinance. Demonetisation,

FOLLOW-ON GLORY? Is Punjab National Bank, one of the largest public sector banks in the country emerging through a ‘U’ shaped recovery in fortunes? While the turnaround seen in FY’17 has held its ground in recent Q1 numbers, RBI’s recent rate-cut after almost a year is a positive factor, and the bank is getting ready with a significant..

COME TO KARNATAKA, INDIA’S MOST ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENT DESTINATION Karnataka Government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to grow at a much faster pace than the rest of the nation. Spearheading the efforts is Karnataka’s Ministries for Large & Medium Industries as well as SEASONAL MAGAZINE

WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE SINGAPORE PASSPORT? Its citizens can travel to 159 countries without visa, or have one issued on arrival.

KOHLI OVERTAKES MESSI Kohli's brand value is higher than football legend Lionel Messi, golf superstar Rory McIlroy and Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry. Kohli is not just the most marketable athlete in India but the face of cricket globally.

PIKETTY’S ANALYSIS OF INCOME INEQUALITY IN INDIA SHATTERS THE ‘LPG’ REFORMS MYTH OF THE 90s Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century is an economics treatise about how the global..

GADGET

he dazzling Mi MIX 2 is sure to catch your eye. About 80% of the fascia is all display, with a minimal bezel. Not many phone makers use ceramic, but Xiaomi does, and the back panel looks gorgeous. It’s a tad slippery, though scratch-resistant too. A gold-plated ring around the camera module adds some glitter. The 5.99-inch IPS display (2,160x1,080 resolution) has good brightness levels that mask the slight reflectiveness of the glass. The colours look rich, but never oversaturated. The only aspect where Xiaomi can perhaps be faulted is the resolution— the Samsung Galaxy S8 with a 5.8-inch screen has, for instance, 2,960x1,440 resolution. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 6 GB RAM results in smooth performance, even if a dozen apps are running in the background. There is no heating either during gaming. The 3,400 mAh battery lasts a day-and-a-half with ease, which should work well for most users even

on a heavy workday. The Mi MIX 2 supports as many as 43 mobile network bands globally, the most in a phone—the Samsung Galaxy S8 supports 30. The Mi MIX 2 will most likely work with mobile networks in all countries The 12-megapixel camera is, however, inconsistent. Daytime photographs are really good, but significant distortion creeps in when there are shadows or inconsistent ambient lighting. This is probably more of a software issue because on paper, there is good camera hardware in place, including 4-axis optical stabilization and large 1.25 um pixels (the Samsung Galaxy S8 has a 1.22 um pixel size).

THE 12-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA IS, HOWEVER, INCONSISTENT. DAYTIME PHOTOGRAPHS ARE REALLY GOOD, BUT SIGNIFICANT DISTORTION CREEPS IN WHEN THERE ARE SHADOWS OR INCONSISTENT AMBIENT LIGHTING.

While Android is making a transition to more rounded icons, the MIUI software still has square icons (there is a horrible white frame around the Instagram and Google Maps icons, for instance), with customization limited. The Mi MIX 2 is an ideal showcase of Xiaomi’s prowess. The guided-design earpiece, for instance, is placed higher than it normally is on phones and the audio is routed through a tube—the result is loud and crisp acoustics. The Ultrasonic proximity sensor sits behind the screen (it’s usually placed above the screen), and does an accurate job of turning off the display when you hold the phone against the ear. The Mi MIX 2 isn’t just about beauty, its performance befits a flagship phone. However, while the last year’s Mi MIX didn’t have to contend with much competition, the Mi MIX 2 has strong “bezel-less” rivals in the Galaxy S8 (Rs53,900), the LG G6 (Rs33,980) and the forthcoming Google Pixel 2 (Rs61,000 onwards). For Xiaomi, then, pricing is the key advantage. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

TRAVEL

WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THE SINGAPORE PASSPORT?

Its citizens can travel to 159 countries without visa, or have one issued on arrival.

Passport Index ranks passports worldwide based on the cross-border access a holder has. It was developed by Canada-based global consultancy Arton Capital.

iny Singapore now has the world’s most powerful passport, according to a new ranking, with its citizens able to travel to the greatest number of countries visa free.

issued on arrival. Germany came in second place, with its citizens able to visit 158 countries without a visa, while Sweden and South Korea tied for third.

Passport Index, which keeps track of how usable such documents are, said the city-state grabbed the top spot after Paraguay removed restrictions for Singaporeans.

India, which was listed 78th last year, has improved its ranking, figuring at 75th position with a visa-free score of 51. Afghanistan came bottom of the list with visa-free access to just 22 countries.

“For the first time ever, an Asian country has the most powerful passport in the world,” Philippe May, managing director of Arton Capital’s Singapore office, said in a statement. “It is a testament of Singapore’s inclusive diplomatic relations and effective foreign policy.”

That means the approximately 3.4 million holders of Singaporean passports can now travel to 159 countries either without a visa at all, or can have one

Passport Index said the U.S. passport’s usefulness has fallen since President Donald Trump took office, with Turkey and the Central African Republic

Passport Index has become the most popular interactive online tool to display, sort and rank the world’s passports. SM

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

becoming the most recent countries to revoke their visa-free entry for holders.

The U.S. passport was in sixth place, alongside Malaysia, Ireland and Canada.

AUTO

Meet the Unbelievable 3-Wheel Yamaha Niken Sportbike YAMAHA BROUGHT SOMETHING INTERESTING FOR THE TOKYO MOTOR SHOW, AND IT’S A BIZARRO THREE-WHEELER SPORTBIKE. SURELY IT’S TOO EARLY FOR IT TO BE SOME SORT OF ELABORATE APRIL FOOL’S JOKE, RIGHT?

he bike is called the Yamaha Niken, and it looks like it has a conventional rear end and Yamaha’s liquid-cooled inline three-cylinder engine. But from there it sprouts two sets of forks and two wheels, giving it the look of some kind future chariot. Yamaha says the benefit of the Leaning Multi-Wheeler is that it “reduces the effects of changing ride environments and to deliver a high feeling of stability when cornering.” Is that some sort of Google Translate code for “It can do double wheelies”? Yamaha says the Niken pairs two 15inch front wheels with dual-tube upside down forks. The whole thing is 885mm wide, or about 35 inches. And that’s about all we know so far. The promo video shows some sort of SEASONAL MAGAZINE

ninja guy crafting high tech skis that then turn into the Niken, and then riding around on roads that seem perfectly suited for your normal kind of motorcycle. So there’s that. It feels like it shouldn’t need a kickstand if it has three wheels. Three wheelers aren’t a new thing for motorcycles, but they’ve mostly been found in the real of scooters, trikes or “autocycles.” Obviously the extra tire means an extra contact patch, and therefore more traction. But are there really a lot of Three wheelers aren’t a new thing for motorcycles, but they’ve mostly been found in the real of scooters, trikes or “autocycles.”

performance bike enthusiasts out there clamoring for an extra wheel up front? We guess it will just depend on how well this thing really handles and whether your resident sportbike rider will be willing to be seen in public with a bike like this. But are there really a lot of performance bike enthusiasts out there clamoring for an extra wheel up front? Perhaps not, but there surely are plenty of *trike* enthusiasts out there clamoring for a three-wheel leaner. I loved my Can-Am Spyder RS for five great years, but I would have bought one of these over a Spyder in a heartbeat simply because of the sensation of leaning, which in my experience with other Spyder riders is the single thing a lot of them miss most going from twoSM to three-wheels.

NEWS- IN -BRIEF US RAPPER CROWDFUNDING SATELLITES TO FIND IF 'EARTH IS FLAT' American rapper B.o.B has started a crowdfunding campaign "Show BoB The Curve" which aims to raise $1 million to "launch satellites into space" to find if the Earth is flat. With an initial $1,000 from B.o.B, the campaign has raised over $2,500 so far. Last year, B.o.B got into a Twitter fight with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson over the matter.

SNAPDEAL SPENDING $500MN TO BE LIKE US: SHOPCLUES COFOUNDER ShopClues Co-founder Radhika Aggarwal in an interview said Snapdeal spent over $2 billion trying to be Flipkart and is now spending half a billion dollars ($500 million) trying to be like ShopClues. Aggarwal added, "If it was so easy to become ShopClues everyone else would have done it as well." This comes after Snapdeal discontinued merger talks with Flipkart.

100 INMATES ESCAPE PRISON DURING HURRICANE IRMA Over 100 high-risk prisoners escaped from a prison in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands during the chaos caused by Hurricane Irma. Residents reported looting and claimed escaped prisoners had committed a rape while on the loose. They were captured following an operation by British Virgin Island and Cayman Island police officers, alongside British Royal Marines and police.

KNIFE-WIELDING MAN ATTACKS SOLDIER IN PARIS

SAUDI ARABIA ARRESTS 10 CLERICS IN CRACKDOWN ON DISSENT Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's crackdown on dissent has led to the detention of up to 10 prominent clerics, the biggest mass arrest of its kind in the kingdom's recent history. The government said it had arrested people who were aligned to "foreign powers". Notably, Salman, who is first in line to the throne, has worked to consolidate power.

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

GOVT APPROVES ?300-CRORE PLAN FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT IN DELHI The Centre has approved a ?300-crore plan for improving solid waste management in Delhi, Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday. The funds would be utilised to procure equipment and automated machinery for "better collection, transport, storage and decentralised treatment of garbage". The equipment are to be procured by the end of this year, Puri added.

A knife-wielding man attacked a soldier patrolling the central ChĂ˘telet metro station in Paris on Friday. The attacker, who made statements referring to "Allah" and "ISIS" during the assault, was immediately seized by the soldier. Notably, soldiers and police officers have frequently been the target of attackers in France in recent years.

'CHEMICAL SURGERY' USED FOR FIRST TIME TO EDIT HUMAN EMBRYOS Chinese scientists have trialled a 'base editing' procedure dubbed "chemical surgery" to mend harmful mutations in human embryos for the first time. The procedure changed a single letter in a faulty gene that gives rise to thalassemia, a blood disorder. Earlier, the same team failed to correct the gene in the firstever human gene-editing instance using CRISPR-Cas9, triggering ethical debates.

30% CONSUMERS DO NOT PAY RESTAURANT SERVICE CHARGE: SURVEY A recent survey has revealed that around 30% people do not pay service charge levied by restaurants after the government termed the charge voluntary, asking people only to pay it if satisfied by the service. It further revealed that the 30% included 21% respondents who weren't asked for the charge, and 9% who got it removed from the bill.

MAN CYCLES AROUND THE WORLD IN 79 DAYS, BREAKS WORLD RECORD Mark Beaumont, a cyclist from Scotland, has set a new world record by successfully circumnavigating the globe in 79 days on his bicycle. He smashed the previous record of 123 days after traveling almost 29,000 km and crossing 16 countries as a part of his journey. Beaumont cycled for 16 hours a day, covering almost 386 km each day.

101-YEAR-OLD AUSTRALIAN BECOMES WORLD'S OLDEST FEMALE SKYDIVER At 101 years and 110 days old, Adelaide's Irene O'Shea became the world's oldest female skydiver after plunging from a height of 14,000 feet in South Australia on Sunday. Irene, who was raising money for Motor Neurone Disease (MND) through her feat, also performed a 12,000-foot tandem jump last year to mark her 100th birthday.

SCIENTISTS DEVELOP FLEXIBLE, WATERPROOF SOLAR CELLS Japanese researchers have developed an ultra-thin photovoltaic device, which can continue to provide electricity even after being soaked in water or being stretched and compressed. The prototype had an energy efficiency of 7.9%, which decreased to 7.5% on dipping in water for two hours. Further, the device worked at 80% of its original efficiency even when compressed to nearly half.

TOURIST GUIDE FINED RS 1 LAKH FOR SCARING OFF POLAR BEAR A tourist guide in Norway has been fined â&#x20AC;˘1,300 (nearly Rs1 lakh) for scaring off a polar bear. The tourist guide had approached the polar bear during a snowmobile expedition in Svalbard, following which the animal fled. The governor's office said, "it is forbidden to approach polar bears in such a way that they are disturbed, regardless of the distance."

SEASONAL MAGAZINE

10 REASONS WHY HDFC LIFE'S IPO IS A RARE OPPORTUNITY Seasonal Magazine unravels some of the most compelling reasons why the imminent Initial Public Offer of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company is a rare opportunity to consider for the investment community.

Potential of Life Insurance in India India is one of the fastest growing markets for life insurance in the world, thanks to its burgeoning middleclass population. But at the same time, India is one of the most underexploited markets for life insurance due to it still being a developing economy. Between now and when India becomes a developed economy around three decades from now, life insurance will be one of those sectors

where robust growth will be available on a platter.

HDFC Stable is Top Ranked in Wealth Creation The HDFC Group is second to none in wealth creation through the listed route in India. The Group is home to top wealth creators like HDFC, HDFC Bank, & Gruh Finance. This is no accident and the result of a conscious growth strategy that revolves around

being profitability leaders rather than volume leaders. Also, HDFC stable is known for the very best in prudential capital management that avoids equity dilution, and assures hundreds or thousands of times in investment appreciation in the long run.

HDFC Life is Not Diluting Equity Despite being a large sized IPO raising over Rs.7500 crores, HDFC Life has opted out of issuing new shares, and

thus diluting its equity, in lieu of raising a couple of thousands of crores for itself. Only the two promoters, HDFC and Standard Life Aberdeen plc would be selling a small part of their existing equity shares in order to get the company listed, and to raise funds for themselves. This is rare in Indian markets, and it is clear that HDFC Standard Life is indicating to its potential customers that it will always have prudential capital management that will ensure rising return ratios.

HDFC Life is Open to Buy Smaller Players Every life insurance company in India is looking at jumpstarting growth to the next level, and HDFC Life has already indicated that it is in this fray with an attempt to buy Max Life which didn't materialise due to the latter failing to get regulatory clearance. With many smaller players finding the going tough, consolidation is sure to happen in Indian life insurance industry, and HDFC Life will be a major player looking out to acquire smaller life companies.

HDFC Life Leads in Persistency Ratio Customers failing to make periodic policy payments have been a bane of the life insurance industry in a developing country like India. Persistency ratio denotes the success of a life insurer in this regard, and HDFC Life has been a leader in the industry for its high persistency ratio. The private sector insurer achieves this

with a rare combination of premium customer bias, rigorous follow-up & reminder mechanisms, as well as easy online payment systems.

HDFC Life is a Growth Leader While the life insurance business has been traditionally dominated by public sector giant, LIC of India, the best managed private players had been

making steady inroads into its territory. HDFC Life for instance has consistently been among the top three private life insurers in terms of market share based on total new business premium between Fiscal 2015 and Fiscal 2017, according to CRISIL.

HDFC Life is a Leader in Profitability The dynamic profitability of a life insurer is measured by way of a measure called Value of New Business Margin. HDFC Life is one of the most profitable life insurers, based on Value of New Business (VNB) margin, among the top five private life insurers in India (measured on total new business premium) in Fiscal 2016 and Fiscal 2017, according to CRISIL.

HDFC Life has Great Potential in Investment Business Life insurance companies the world over, as well as in India as seen in LIC, are some of the largest institutional investors in the capital markets. HDFC Life's parentage is by two of the largest investment groups in India and the world respectively, i.e. HDFC and Standard Life Aberdeen plc of UK which is one of the world's largest institutional investors. Apart from wealth creation in its own stocks, HDFC group companies like HDFC Mutual Funds are among India's most successful institutional investors.

NBFCs. And HDFC Life's Return on Equity is likely to remain high in the foreseeable future due to its high growth as well reluctance to dilute its equity without an adequate reason.

HDFC Life Enjoys Prudent Risk Management HDFC Life is benefitting greatly from the expertise of a Director Board headed by Chairman Deepak Parekh, one of India's most respected corporate leaders and wealth creators, and MD & CEO Amitabh Chaudhry one of India's most successful life insurance professionals. Under their guidance, HDFC Life employs prudential risk management as seen in their lowest product share in the industry for Unit Linked Insurance Plans (ULIPs) which are easy to sell now in a bull market but which can cause pain to customers when markets tank. HDFC Life also has the highest solvency rates in the industry, and both the promoters have the deep pockets and commitment to beef up the solvency ratio in case of any unforeseen risks.

HDFC Life has the Best Return Ratios Return on Equity is a core measure of a company's returns generating potential towards its equity investors. HDFC Life's Return on Equity was at an impressive 26.8% last fiscal, which is a top figure in not only the insurance sector, but the whole financial sector encompassing highly profitable

Interview With MD & CEO

LUXURY

NEW ANDROGYNOUS FALL STYLES FROM CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN

FENDI LAUNCHES THE MULTICOLOUR FUR POMPONS CAPSULE COLLECTION Fendi has launched the new Multicolour Fur Pompons Capsule Collection which is playful and creative, as expected from the brand. It adds colorful soft-at-touch mink pompons to a selection of total-black products. From flats to high heels, ankle boots to boots, bags to minibags and backpacks, Fendi adds glee and humor to every occasion with the colorful pompons. In addition to shoes and bags, textiles are invaded with the pompons as well with a wool hat, silk or wool scarves and leather gloves.

BOVET LAUNCHES THE NEW VIRTUOSO VIII 10-DAY FLYING TOURBILLON BIG DATE Reliability, chronometry and decorative arts are the keywords that are used to describe the Bovet Virtuoso III. In celebration of its 195th anniversary, Bovet is releasing 78 of the Virtuoso

VIII, 39 in white gold upon request and 39 in red gold. The energy of the caliber, which is set by a variable inertia balance wheel, is released by a single barrel that provides over ten days of autonomy. There are six collets driven into the felly of the balance wheel that allow great precision. This double faced timepiece is equipped with a balance-spring that was specifically calibrated for this watch and is fixed in the center with its axis together giving it even distribution on each side. In addition to being full of topnotch technology, the watch is an artwork. Both sides of the plates have bridges that honor Bovet’s pocket watches with polished and chamfered steel. The two plates are chiseled with a delicate and intricate pattern that take skill from the manufacture’s engravers. The full skin alligator wristband pairs perfectly with the intricately carved face of the watch and the ivory, black lacquer, or blue aventurine dials and hands of the watch.

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Christian Louboutin is adding a casual Parisian style to the Autumn/ Winter 2017 collection. The new shoes cross gender lines by offering oxfords, loafers and booties in a variety of styles suited to fit the modern woman. The new Monana, or Monono for men, loafers are available in a combination of black, red and white in addition to an allblack version made with ultra-fine, hand-stitched chain details and a “loubi-Coin” in the shoe. Laperouza reappears in this collection with a gold bullion embroidered Christian Louboutin crest. On the Mi Corazon slipper and Perou Corazon, each has a three-dimensional heart inspired by Mexican ex voto, which is handembroidered in rouge and golden cannetile embroidery. Lug soles return to the women’s collection, offered across a range of dynamic oxfords and chalet-ready booties. The rubber soles, produced alongside the men’s versions, are newly adapted for lightness and increased flexibility, with a shape crafted for a woman’s foot. Oxfords styles Hubertus Donna and Charletta don artisanal details including broguing and light ornamentation, while Crapadonna takes on an intricate floral motif inspired by Moorish murals, in laser cut patent calf contrasted to a crosta suede base. For cooler temperatures, the The Chasse a Clou, Fanny and Mad Boot have shearling linings, fur trim and spike embellishments.

IMPORTANT COLLECTION FROM TECH ENTREPRENEUR LEADS HERITAGE TIMEPIECES AUCTION

HERITAGE OFFERS JEWELRY FROM ACTRESS LUPITA TOVAR Heritage Auctions Lupita Tovar jewelry Known as “The Sweetheart of Mexico” after her first Spanishlanguage film, La Voluntad del Muerto, Mexican actress Lupita Tovar’s jewelry collection featuring Van Cleef & Arpels and Tiffany & Co will be on auction as a part of Heritage Auctions’ Jewelry Signature Auction in Beverly Hills on September 25, 2017. The highlights of the collection are a ruby, diamond, platinum, gold Brooch, and a diamond, platinum ring which features a sparkling marquise-shaped diamond. Together those two pieces range between $10,000 and $15,000. The glamourous Ms Lupita’s retro collection includes a 3.55-carat European-cut retro diamond synthetic ruby platinum rose gold ring est. $15,000-18,000, a 10.00-carat squarecut sapphire, platinum bracelet est. $10,000-12,000 and a European-cut diamond, platinum ring est. $10,000-15,000.

JAPANESE TABLEWARE BRAND NORITAKE LAUNCHES IN INDIA Japanese tableware brand Noritake has launched their first flagship showroom in New Delhi along with Ekaani, their north west and east India brand partners. Noritake, renowned for its distinctive designs and superior product quality in tableware, has also launched an exclusive line for the Indian market, encompassing new designs in both white porcelain and bone china called the Heart Collection. Inspiration for this collection has been drawn from India’s heritage. The store is spread over 1000 sq ft. Noritake is manufactured in Sri Lanka and each item is created to perfection. The brand has continuously cultivated and accumulated various ceramicsmanufacturing techniques, such as grinding, kneading, molding, firing and printing.

An influential tech entrepreneur, according to Jim Wolfe, Director of Fine Timepieces at Heritage Auctions, has meticulously curated a collection for Heritage Auctions’ Timepiece auction on October 24, in New York City. There are rare Patek Philippe timepieces being offered in the collection. Two of them are very important: a Patek Philippe Ref. 5013R-010 in rose gold, with selfwinding minute repeating movement, perpetual calendar, moon phase, leap year indication and retrograde date with an estimated value of $250,000. Also, a yellow gold Patek Philippe Ref. 3974J automatic perpetual calendar minute repeating wristwatch with moon phases, circa 1991 with an estimated value of $250,000. In addition, 75 pieces of JaegerLeCoultre’s Skeletonized Gyrotourbillon II in Platinum will be on offer at the auction.

MONTEGRAPPA LAUNCHES NEW SET OF GAME OF THRONES PENS With 300 fountain pens, 300 rollerball pens and seven exclusive fountain and rollerball pens in solid 18K Gold and detailed with Flaming White celluloid, Montegrappa introduces its second set of intricately designed Game of Throne pens. The fountain pen is piston fed and is engraved with the throne itself. To represent the Iron Throne, artisans created a cap made of overlapping swords which represent all seven kingdoms with hilts that rise above the cap to create a crown. It has a sword that serves as a pocket clip with a red ruby hilt. The Game of Thrones logo is also on the cap of the pen. The pens barrel is metal using the lost-wax cast technique which represents the saga through symbols suggestive of the houses. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

INTERVIEW

NBCC LTD

Hundreds of listed companies are hitting 52-Week Highs in India, while a few companies like NBCC are breaching life-time highs. IPO investors in the PSU construction major are sitting on 24 times their investment made in 2012, just 5 years back. What is driving NBCC's momentum? Is it the rumors that this Navaratna company is close to taking over 3 other PSUs in the construction sector? Or is it the unassailable order book position of Rs.75,000 crores? In any case, what CMD Anoop Kumar Mittal has achieved is nothing short of a total transformation within 5 years. He has made the NBCC team dream larger than life through mega redevelopment projects.

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ANOOP KUMAR MITTAL, CMD SEASONAL MAGAZINE

“Indian policymaking is traditionally with a few years, say 5 to 7 years in mind. But here, NBCC is making plans with the next 50 years in mind. This is not only in the EV charging project, but across all our infrastructure projects.”

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n 22nd March 2012, a small PSU IPO hit the Indian market for raising just Rs. 125 crores as part of Governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disinvestment program. While the IPO amount was small by todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s standards, it was a princely sum for the company to raise, as its market cap then was only around Rs. 900 crores. Since the company was not in need of funds and not issuing fresh shares, its only promoter, Government of India, was the only seller. The market response was mixed. While the NBCC IPO was oversubscribed by nearly five times, the opening day trade was flat to negative, making some retail investors to sell out on the listing day itself. And their view seemed vindicated for almost a year after listing, when NBCC stock traded with negative-to-flat or flat-to-modest gains. But in April 2013, there was a change of guard at the top in NBCC. Anoop Kumar Mittal was an NBCC veteran for 28 years when he was made the Chairman & Managing Director. While he was a top performer in the company, his prior experience was a bit different. Soon

"Project after project, we went in for newer technologies, flawless quality, and struck diligently to the promised delivery times. Soon, clients got confidence and NBCC starts getting large redevelopment projects that boosted our revenues and profits."

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after his graduation in Civil Engineering from Punjab’s Thapar University, Anoop Kumar Mittal was associated with the construction activities of the prestigious Asiad 1982 event. While it was a short stint, it was enough for a civil engineer to realize that construction could be done much much faster than conventionally taught and practiced. After Asiad, young Anoop Kumar’s next destination was Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd, arguably one of India’s best managed construction conglomerates, then and even now. For the next 3 years, Anoop Kumar learned the ropes of EPC trade there, but he knew his true calling was in India’s dull-looking but high potential public sector. In 1985, he joined NBCC, and has since then never looked for another job or company. This faithfulness and steadiness put him in good lead when in 2013 Government was looking for a new CMD. Soon after taking over the top job in April 2013, Anoop Kumar Mittal vowed to make it a Navaratna enterprise as fast as possible. He knew that nothing less than a total transformation would be needed to achieve that. He set out to demolish the ad hoc structures followed till then in the company, and went in for a new professional and transparent structure for the hierarchy as well as operations. By then a publicly listed company too, this brought in much needed accountability to NBCC that was not

NBCC CMD conferred APEA Awards 2017 SEASONAL MAGAZINE

"We weren’t a monopoly to start with, but we may have developed into a virtual monopoly for government and PSU works, which is solely due to our new way of working during these past 5 years."

missed by the institutional investors. The Human Resources Management system too was overhauled with total transparency being ushered in from the recruitment stage itself, with professional written tests instead of subjective interviews. But the most lasting contribution from Anoop Kumar Mittal was that he taught the NBCC team to dream big, dream larger than life. Slowly but surely, NBCC started attempting bigger and much bigger projects than it was conventionally undertaking until then. It took time to convince the various government and public sector clients, to entrust bigger projects with NBCC, but finally it started happening. The company’s topline and bottomline began to swell, taking even seasoned investors by

surprise. Within 14 months from taking over as CMD, Mittal had succeeded in making NBCC a Navaratna enterprise too. Today, those who had invested in NBCC in 2012 are sitting at nearly 24 times their investment! NBCC’s market capitalization has swelled from barely 1000 crores then to over 21,500 crores now. It has done a 1:2 bonus issue and

Anoop Kumar Mittal, CMD, NBCC, seen receiving the Annual Excellence Award

also rewards its shareholders with decent dividends. CMD Mittal continues to push the boundaries for NBCC by attempting bigger and bigger projects, especially in the redevelopment sector, which brings together its expertise in PMC, EPC & real estate development. Two such projects worth mentioning are the

Rs.3200 crore project in Central Excise land in Wadala, Mumbai, and the 3.5 million sq ft World Trade Centre at Nauroji Nagar in New Delhi. The company bags such projects on its reputation for keeping deadlines, for using the latest international technologies through tie-ups, and for its radical designs that meet even

Anoop Kumar Mittal, CMD, NBCC, seen receiving SCOPE Leadsership Excellence Award

"The Naurojinagar project in Delhi is a huge redevelopment project, but we took it to a new level by applying for a World Trade Centre licence from WTCA, New York. No government agency would normally think in such an out-ofthe-box manner."

future needs like EV charging stations. Besides this, NBCC continues to get bulk projects like redevelopment of around 12 major railway stations across the country. With such projects in its kitty, NBCC is in solid ground with an order book of Rs.75,000 crores which would be enough for execution during the next five years. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SEASONAL MAGAZINE IN CONVERSATION WITH ANOOP KUMAR MITTAL, CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR, NBCC LTD. ou had recently entered into a tie-up with a Finnish major to open nationwide electric charging stations. Do you think the Indian EV market is ripe for such a move? Well, the thought behind this is not for today or tomorrow, but for down the line. I don’t expect 100% of vehicles going electric even after many years. But will 30-40% of vehicles go electric after a few years? There is ever chance for this happening, and this move is anticipating such a development. It doesn’t mean that since we have 5000 apartments coming up at Kidwai Nagar, we will go and install 50 charging stations there in one go. We will commission them only in steps, as and when the need arises. But the main point is that from now on, all our suitable projects will have the basic design and facilities in place to install EV charging stations later, when the need arises. This may be difficult to understand, as this is not usually how planning is done in our country. Can you elaborate why? You see, the Indian policymaking is traditionally with a few years, say 5 to 7 years in mind. But here, NBCC is making plans with the next 50 years in mind. This is not only in the EV charging project, but across all our infrastructure projects. We care about how each of our constructed buildings would fare 50 years from now. This has been a core way in which we have differentiated from some of our competitors.

CBI HQ Building, New Delhi SEASONAL MAGAZINE

The NBCC stock has surged by nearly 18 times, during the past 5 years, which also coincided with you being at the helm. How could you execute such a dramatic turnaround in the fundamental performance that in turn drove the stock prices up? When I was appointed CMD in 2013, the first thing I did was restructure this company in a proper manner. Earlier, ad hoc considerations were driving the overall structure. I decided to put all the required systems in place, especially with regard to transparency and accountability. Today, even if it is the PM who is directing us to do something, our systems are such that it will be on our records. The same kind of transformation I brought in our HR system too. Earlier, we used to have this interview system for recruiting new engineers, which was more subjective or less transparent. It also created scope for unprofessional recommendations from many quarters. Instead, now we have recruitments based solely on a written test, which has brought much needed transparency into our HR. This is significant for us as we recruit close to 200 engineers in most years. But there was also a significant jump in revenues and profits... Yes, I was coming to that. Soon after taking charge as CMD, I decided that we should take up much larger projects than what NBCC was traditionally doing. But it was difficult as the clients and even the Governments had to have confidence in our new ambition and

Rabindra Bhawan

capabilities. But project after project, we went in for newer technologies, flawless quality, and struck diligently to the promised delivery times. Soon, clients got confidence and NBCC starts getting large redevelopment projects that boosted our revenues and profits. Critics while hailing NBCC’s impressive achievements have also pointed out that your success owes a lot to your near monopoly status in government projects. How far is this view true? We weren’t a monopoly to start with, as there were and still are government companies in this field, not to speak of private companies. But we may have developed into a virtual monopoly for government and PSU works, which is solely due to our new way of working during these past 5 years. It is something like blaming Amazon for being a monopoly. They are a monopoly in ecommerce, but it is something they worked for and succeeded in more than all their peers. When you consistently maintain quality in your projects, and provide cost-effective solutions to your clients, success is sure to come, and that is what happened with NBCC. We aren’t a real monopoly because, we still have to diligently guard our position too. Why do you say so? See, construction is not rocket science. There are so many organizations that can do the work we are doing. If we become careless, we can lose projects, and in the construction field it takes only one

NBCC VIBGYOR TOWERS, RAJARHAT, KOLKATA

KMRCL NBCC COMMERCIAL CENTRE, KOLKATA

day to lose a major project or client. And it is not something about being diligent alone. We have to constantly innovate to deliver better capabilities and better deals to our clients. For example, no other government company, has thought of providing for EV charging stations in their projects. Our service also has to better and better. Our team-members often ask me why I require our contractors to complete major projects in 24 months and not 36 months as earlier. They say I make life difficult for the contractors as well as for them. But I tell them that this is the way market is going, and if we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t innovate for it now, someone else will, and we will lose clients looking for such faster execution. How do you rate NBCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s construction capabilities with that of the Chinese government owned majors, or even Indian private sector

SVNIT, Surat

NBCC ARAVALI APARTMENTS, SURYA NAGAR, ALWAR, RAJASTHAN

players? Is there a lot of catching up to do for NBCC? We have improved tremendously over the past five years. Construction period for even large projects has come down from 4 years to 2 years. We are now completing Rs.3000 crore projects in 24 months. Technology is very important in this direction. As of now, we are introducing one or two new technologies every month. We have started a R&D Centre in Greater Noida with participation from IIT Delhi. Better efficiency and better safety are always attempted through technology. However, international capabilities are

improving more rapidly, and there will always be some catching up to do for Indian companies. Can you mention some technologies that NBCC is implementing now? Yes, some recent implementations include modular construction, aluminium formwork, light weight concrete slabs, precast columns, prefab columns, composite steel structures etc. Our plan is to utilize these technologies more as per the client requirements. Has NBCC made any overseas tie-ups for technology transfer? SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SEASONAL MAGAZINE IN CONVERSATION WITH ANOOP KUMAR MITTAL, CHAIRMAN & MANAGING DIRECTOR, NBCC LTD. Yes, we have several tie-ups with select companies or organizations in UK, Russia, Finland, South Korea, Poland, Hungary, & Belarus. We get assistance in domains like faster construction technology and smart ITES facilities from such companies. NBCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core projects span domains like PMC, EPC, and realty. Can you walk us briefly through each of these sectors, and the potential they hold for NBCC? Over 90% of our business is Project Management Consultancy (PMC), while the rest is split between Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) and Real Estate Development. Some of our major projects commissioned recently include, NIA Lucknow, BPR&D Mahipalpur, TFC Varanasi, and the NIA CGO Complex. Some of our largest ongoing projects include the Greenfield Redevelopment Project Project at Wadala, Mumbai on Central Excise Department land, and the World Trade Centre (WTC) at Nauroji Nagar, New Delhi. What would be the financial scope of these larger projects? And what would be the scale of your typical projects? The Mumbai project at Wadala Central Excise land will be at around Rs. 3200 crores, and will be done on self revenue generation model. The New Delhi WTC at Nauroji Nagar will be really huge at a built-up area of 3.5 million sq ft, to be completed in 3 years time. It is one of the largest such projects in Asia. The first tower launched here has already been sold out, and we plan to

ESIC Medical College Mandi SEASONAL MAGAZINE

sell more commercial and office towers in Nauroji Nagar in the coming weeks. Our typical projects range from Rs. 50 crore to Rs. 500 crores and above. Some of the other large projects we have bagged include SDMC HQ at Pragati Maidan amounting to Rs. 525 crores, Sports Injury Centre at Safdarjung Hospital at Rs. 464 crores, and DG S&D Office Complex at nearly Rs. 227 crores. What is the profile of the typical EPC contractors you work with under the PMC model? We award EPC contracts to the leading contractors like Shapoorji Pallonji, Ahluwalia Contracts, Punj Lloyd etc. Apart from winning such orders, project to project, are you having bulk projects from the Centre or State Governments? Yes, we have signed up with RLDA, Ministry of Railways for redevelopment of 10 railway stations at Nellore, Kota, Delhi Sarai Rohilla, Thane, Madagaon (Goa), Gomti Nagar, Lucknow, Tirupati, Ernakulam, & Puducherry. NBCC has also been offered the Varanasi and Ghaziabad stations by Indian Railways. With regard to State Governments, NBCC is exploring redevelopment of properties in Assam, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tripura, & Uttar Pradesh. In UP, we are very bullish on redevelopment business and exploring opportunities in Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Agra, & Shahjahanpur. Analysts have remarked that your order-book position continues to be strong, at over Rs.75,000crore. For what kind of a period will this be sufficient for with the current level of

NBCC Centre

EAST KIDWAI NAGAR, NEW DELHI

project attrition? Do you foresee attrition going up during this period? Yes, our current order book is at Rs. 75,000 crore, around 94% of it coming under PMC. It should be enough for the next 5 years. But we will be adding new orders at a rapid pace, so that we can safely say that the combined topline for the next 5 years would be at least Rs. 75,000 crore. At the end of this 5 year period, we expect our order book to be around Rs. 2 lakh crore. Some analysts have highlighted the emergence of redevelopment projects, especially large scale

NBCC TOWERS SECTOR 7, BAHADURPUR, PATNA, BIHAR

redevelopment projects, as something that will drive NBCC’s future growth. Do you subscribe to this view? Yes, this is what will drive NBCC’s future growth. There are a lot of government and PSU projects coming up for redevelopment and there aren’t many capable government agencies in this challenging field. This is because redevelopment is a combination of three sectors viz. PMC, EPC, & Realty, and only since we have developed worldclass expertise in these domains, even we are capable of planning and executing large redevelopment projects. In addition to all these, in redevelopment projects we need to have the entrepreneurial mindset. Take the World Trade Centre project at Naurojinagar. It was a huge redevelopment project, but we took it to a new level by applying for a World Trade Centre from WTCA, New York. We got this licence in June 2017. No government agency would normally think in such an out-of-the-box manner. Do you handle any purely private sector work, and if so, what percentage of your current work is accounted for by private sector projects? If not, does NBCC have any

NBCC SHOPPING CENTER, NBCC VIBGYOR TOWERS RAJARHAT, KOLKATA

such plans to tap the private sector? Not really. But we have started doing our own real estate development projects, on lands we have directly bought for ourselves. We are doing this at standards rivalling the private sector. Just like the EV charging stations foray, is NBCC planning any diversifications into some sunrise or even conventional domains? We will attempt many diversifications but only in construction and related fields. We won’t do anything totally unrelated to infrastructure. We are

currently preparing a scheme for affordable housing on surplus land of various Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). NBCC has also been appointed as LMA for around 8 sick or loss making CPSEs. We will also make a mark for ourselves with radically different designs in usually stock work like for the redevelopment of railway stations. Many unconventional opportunities are also coming to us, when companies and their bankers try to solve the NPA crisis. For example, IDBI has recently contacted us to think over how we could develop some of the Jaypee Group lands to solve SM the stalemate. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

aul and a few likeminded friends as well as close family members, thus started Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF) in 1992, with just Rs.7000 as their capital. ESAF started out in his own rented home, by giving out tiny loans to rural women.

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INTERVIEW

ESAF SMALL FINANCE BANK

DESTINED TO BE A BANK,

PREDESTINED TO BE A BANKER Seasonal Magazine interviews K Paul Thomas, Founder, MD & CEO, ESAF Small Finance Bank, which has been an astounding story of true wealth creation having grown a paltry investment of Rs.7000 in 1992, to a market valuation of Rs.1200 crores now.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good, to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28, The Holy Bible)

ow much of a human being’s life is predestined by God? How much of it is controllable by that person through his own free will and initiatives? This has remained one of the foremost mysteries of human existence for both the believers and nonbelievers alike. While the believers trust their sacred books like Bible, Quran & Gita in this regard, atheists too have their favourite books in this regard like ‘Fooled by Randomness’ by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Champions of predestination teach that God even knows the sins as well as the good things each human being will do in the future. On the other hand, exponents of free will argue that it is only man’s free will which calls the shots in his life. Anyway, the argument is endless only because each side can’t vanquish the other completely. Then there are champions of free will like Bill Gates, who sometimes states the opposite

when he says that his unprecedented success as the globe’s richest man is mainly due to being born in the right place at the right time to the right society and right parents! Yes, how much modern logic and scientific temper would like to wish it away, predestination is here to stay, because the human experience can’t deny something that is so obvious. Popular authors like Paulo Coelho blends both worldviews romantically when he echoes what St.Paul wrote to Romans as recorded in the Bible 2000 years ago, when he says in ‘The Alchemist’ that “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” When we heard the life story of K Paul Thomas, these were among the first thoughts to cross our minds. Nearly a decade before he was born, his grandparents migrated from Ernakulam to Palakkad not for anything else but to make SEASONAL MAGAZINE

their future grandson a banker, as if it was predestined. When it happened, ESAF became the first bank from Kerala since independence. Paul’s grandparents became settlers in one of the remotest villages in Palakkad, and thus was born what would be this family’s eternal tryst with agriculture and rural living. While growing up, Paul remembers that he always had a love for agriculture. After doing pre-degree in Palakkad Victoria College he got enrolled for a diploma in Agriculture, and later a job with Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO), which would last for nearly two decades. The other passion of Paul was social work. Hailing from a Christian Evangelical family, he and his family members always had an eye for the downtrodden, and Paul especially had dreams about making entrepreneurs out of farmers. The work with IFFCO enabled Paul to travel extensively through rural India, often staying with farmers in remote villages. It was at that time that micro-credit for economically weaker sections were opening up across the world. Paul and a few likeminded friends as well as close family members, thus started Evangelical Social Action Forum (ESAF) in 1992, with just Rs.7000 as their capital. ESAF started out in his own rented home, by giving out tiny loans to rural women. Now, came the stroke of predetermination. Microfinance pioneer Muhhamad Yunus who started Grameen Bank in Bangladesh was launching a reach-out program to mentor microcredit providers across the world. ESAF led by Paul, also got a rare invitation from Yunus. When Paul returned from Bangladesh after a brief stay, it was not only with the knowledge of how to scale the microfinance business, but with an assurance of $40,000 in investment from Grameen Bank to ESAF! Though it took almost a year for that Rs. 15 lakhs to reach ESAF’s bank account due to cumbersome procedures, from then there was no looking back. Slowly, lenders like Bank of Baroda, SIDBI, & SEASONAL MAGAZINE

hen Paul returned from Bangladesh after a brief stay, it was not only with the knowledge of how to scale the microfinance business, but with an assurance of $40,000 in investment from Grameen Bank to ESAF.

ICICI Bank began powering ESAF’s operations, and ESAF rapidly became Kerala’s leading microfinance provider. However, from his IFFCO experience, Paul knew better about this activity’s real need in other parts of India, and that is how ESAF rapidly spread its wings to 10 states in India. Again, came the stroke of predetermination. India had kicked off giving new banking licenses, including that for specialized banks like small finance banks. All the giants in the NBFC sector as well as India’s corporate sector made their banker suits ready. And here is the clincher – most of them would have got it if things were being done in India in the old style. But by then India had a radically different RBI Governor in Dr. Raghuram Rajan. He ignored the mighty, and chose to give banking licenses to those who were really working for financial inclusion. That is how Bandhan Bank got a universal banking license, and ESAF landed a small finance banking license! Paul is a firm believer in God, and believes that it is his calling to contribute in the creation of an equitable society. At the same time, he is perfectly in tune with modernity, having a deep interest in behavioural economics as expounded by Richard Thaler, the 2017 Nobel laureate in economics. ESAF has been an astounding story of true wealth creation having grown a paltry investment of Rs.7000 in 1992, to a networth of Rs.330 crores, and a market valuation of Rs.1200 crores now.

Seasonal Magazine in conversation with K Paul Thomas, Founder, MD & CEO, ESAF Small Finance Bank: ithin 7 months of operation, your deposits have crossed 1000 crores while your advances have crossed 3000 crores. What were the numbers on which you started off, and what are your strategies for crossing a total business of 10,000 crore in the first year? When we started as a bank seven months back, our deposit base was zero as we were not permitted to take deposits as an MFI until then. But we had microfinance loan assets of around Rs. 2328 crores. And we have grown our loan book by around 25% within these seven months.For the next few years, our asset growth will be driven by the unsecured small-ticket microfinance loans itself. However, side by side, we will also be growing secured loans in retail segments like housing, MSME, gold loans, agriculture valuechain etc. This year, we have placed a target of Rs. 500 crore for this new secured loan book. Within the next 5 years, our plan is to have a loan book

You have pioneered door step banking with an agent army running into thousands. How has this been helping your bank to grow?

agents. Today, we have around 3000 field staff continuing this doorstep model. Now, we are empowering them further by developing a software per se for agent banking.We already have the digital or tablet based banking services for them like real-time data capture of customers and eKYC. Microfinance loan origination has already been digitized. Now,the new software would also enable cash-in, cash-out, and card swiping operations through these agents, so that they can reach out to customers as human ATMs. We are planning to have 10,000 such agents across India, and they will be mobile as well as having a small 200 sqft brick-nâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;mortar facility that will act as the local touchpoint. Each such agent will serve an area having a 10 km radius. We are already doing a pilot of this program, and this is in sync with RBIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new vision of growing banking business through banking outlets rather than conventional branches.

From our inception onward as a microcredit firm, our success was based on the doorstep delivery model using

Which are your major territories as of now, and where are you eyeing to enter in the near future? Which are

r. Raghuram Rajan ignored the mighty, and chose to give banking licenses to those who were really working for financial inclusion. That is how Bandhan Bank got a universal banking license, and ESAF landed a small finance banking license.

that is made up of 60% in microfinance loans, and 40% in the secured retail segments.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan Inaugurates ESAF Small Finance Bank in Thrissur

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your largest states by business volumes?

banks, but I feel the Indian model of small finance banks is the best.

ESAF Small Finance Bank is already in 10 states of the country - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Pondicherry, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, & West Bengal. Now, we are entering Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi & Haryana. Kerala is our largest state by revenue, accounting for around 40% of our total business, and then comes Tamil Nadu & Karnataka, and we will be expanding more in these two states.

The microfinance industry is seeing a new wave of consolidation, with a few high-profile mergers or buyouts where banks are buying MFIs. To what all factors do you attribute this trend, and is it true that it sounds the death knell for smaller or standalone microfinance business units?

Did you opt for being a small finance bank rather than a new universal bank like Bandhan, or is it RBI who decided on this? How is a small finance bank different from a universal bank? We applied only for being a small finance bank. When the universal banking licence came up, we gave it a skip as the capital requirement was high at Rs. 500 crores. Also, differentiated banks like small finance banks and payment banks were already quite popular in several countries. I knew about this. So, when we went through the requirements of being a small finance bank in India, we realized that it could be the best natural progression for a microfinance institution. Regarding the differences between a small finance bank and a universal bank, well, we can offer almost all services that a universal bank can offer. But the regulatory framework is a bit different in certain aspects. Their Capital Adequacy Ratio is 9% while our CAR is higher at 15%. They don’t need RBI’s prior permission to open new branches, but we need to take that. We need to have 25% of our branches in unbanked areas for furthering financial inclusion. 40% of lending needs to be in priority sectors for them, whereas 75% of our lending needs to be in priority sectors. The idea behind all these changes is that small finance banks should remain focused on segments like rural, agrarian, underserved & unbanked customers. I have gone through differentiated banking models in a few countries, some even having dedicated microfinance SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Microfinance will continue robustly as a service, due to the high demand for the same in the society. But whether standalone microfinance companies, especially the smaller ones, will be able to survive these difficult times is open for debate. I will tell you why. Almost always in India, financial innovation has happened not from banks, but from NBFCs. Take any product, be it home loans, auto loans, gold loans, we can easily see that it is the NBFC segment that identified the opportunity and developed it. But when these segments mature, banks with much bigger financial muscle enter the fray sensing the opportunity. The same is now happening in the microfinance sector. Some banks are starting their own microfinance vertical while other banks are buying out entire microfinance institutions. Owing to the current challenging situation for the microfinance industry, some MFIs might

aul is a firm believer in God, and believes that it is his calling to contribute in the creation of an equitable society. At the same time, he is perfectly in tune with modernity, having a deep interest in behavioural economics as expounded by Richard Thaler, the 2017 Nobel laureate in economics.

have assessed that it is better for them to sell out at this stage. But the number of such significant deals in itself shows that microfinance as a service is going to survive robustly. As a microfinance focused bank, ESAF must be having above average NIMs. What is the trajectory of your NIM, and how do you assess this attractiveness vis-à-vis risks from too much concentration in a sensitive sector like microfinance? Currently, our Net Interest Margin is around 9%. While this is high compared with conventional banks, it is offset by our higher operational costs due to door delivery of services. Moreover, the high NIM won’t stay there as RBI expects the banks to reduce rates, and we would do so as we raise more and more lower cost deposits. In fact, we are already doing it by offering housing loans at 13% and business or MSME loans at 16%. Our MCLR is at 16.6%. In the unsecured book, that is the microfinance segment, our rates have come down in tune with the industry, and now stands at 22.9%. What percentage of your loan book is currently composed of microfinance loans?Within the next three years, how would you see the loan book change? Will you be able to grow other businesses so that microfinance business is limited to 50-60% of your book? As of now, our loan book is dominated by microfinance loans at around 95%. If not in the next 3 years, in the next 5 years, we are planning for such a change as you mentioned in our loan book so that at least 50% of the loan book is made up of secured loans for retail and business customers. For this we are bringing in unbanked customers to our fold, who may have incomes but no proof for it. For example in the markets we find a lot of vendors selling fish, vegetables, fruits etc who fit into this fold. There are even tens of thousands of tiny manufacturers who haven’t yet come into the banking system. Then there are lakhs of auto rickshaw drivers who have good monthly incomes, and so looking for home loans, but have no

income proof for it. We are pretty confident that we can scale our secured loan business to a significant size, but whether it would be indeed 50% of our overall book is not sure, as our traditional microfinance loans through JLG mechanism would also be growing at a rapid pace.

base of over 18 lakh customers who have taken microfinance loans from us. While it is clear that they belong to the economically weaker sections now, their situation wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t remain so. This is precisely what we are experiencing now in our various territories. Many of them are improving their finances rapidly so much so that they are graduating to asset-backed loans like gold loans, auto loans, MSME loans and even home loans.

Are you diversifying into certain synergistic sectors for a microfinancier like gold loans, affordable home finance, MSME etc? What are the specific synergies that you are exploring in these sectors?

How bullish are you on the home finance front?

There are great synergies that we can tap here. For example, we now have a

Even before becoming a bank, we were giving home improvement loans for

individuals organized as JLGs. But now as a bank, we can have all kinds of home loans without having a separate housing finance subsidiary. These include affordable home loans, LAP etc. Housing is a top priority for us, especially as this sector is booming now. But how will you undertake credit appraisal for such customers? We are developing customised credit appraisal and credit undertaking tools for this purpose. Like all lenders we have been sharing our data with credit rating agencies like CIBIL for a few years now, and we are also using the data coming in from all lenders including

â&#x20AC;&#x153;T

oday, we have around 3000 field staff continuing this doorstep model. Now, the new software would also enable cash-in, cash-out, and card swiping operations through these agents, so that they can reach out to customers as human ATMs."

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microfinance firms through all rating agencies like CIBIL, Equifax, Experian, Highmark etc. By using such data in our customised tools, we can steer clear of customers with over-indebtedness. Can you briefly explain to us your thrust in growing your tech-led channels, which many are predicting to be a game-changer for newer banks? We have introduced net banking and even mobile banking. Tablet based sourcing of microfinance loans has been introduced. Technology based backend processing is soon to be introduced which will take care of credit appraisal. Retina based eKYC has been introduced and is being upgraded to thumb impression too. Over 90% of our bank accounts have been linked to Aadhar. Then we have an ATM network with our own ATMs in branches, and we have tied up with a white label ATM company, India One, for ATMs in different parts of the country. And as in our every initiative, it is not only a matter of doing it for namesake, but with an aim of making a difference to our customers. For instance, we were the first to install ATMs in some of the remotest villages in Kerala like Poopara & Vattavada in Idukki District, and in similarly remote villages in Wayanad and Palakkad. Have your NPAs jumped significantly during the last quarter, due to the sentimental impact due to farm loan waivers? With various states going in for elections during almost all years, and with the rise of such populist steps, do you think this is a cause for concern for the microfinance industry? It is really a cause for concern. Before demonetisation, our NPAs were as low as 0.3%. Demonetisation led to a spurt in NPAs for all MFIs, and later when demonetisation and the bad sentiment in rural markets led to loan waivers in certain states, NPAs soared. Today, for us, Net NPA stands at around 5%. Loan waivers affect banking sentiment adversely, as customers then expect waivers for all loans including unsecured ones like microfinance loans. Now, after customers have realized that nothing of that sort is going to happen, SEASONAL MAGAZINE

With Prof. Muhammad Yunus

slowly things are limping back to normal. The political system should understand that loan waivers are quite detrimental to banking discipline, and thus damaging to the economy in the long run. The other step, demonetisation at least had a favourable side effect. Can you explain this positive side-effect? Demonetisation has led to adoption of digital banking and digital transactions on an unprecedented scale. You will be surprised to know that even 10% customers of a microfinance-based bank like ESAF is using debit cards for

â&#x20AC;&#x153;E

SAF Small Finance Bank is already in 10 states of the country Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Pondicherry, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, & West Bengal. Now, we are entering Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi & Haryana."

shopping, and not just for ATM transactions. When we converted into a bank, we had opened bank accounts for all over customers and given them debit cards. Also, whereas earlier we were disbursing loan amount as cash, now we are disbursing through the bank, and the customers are taking it via ATMs. In a huge and complex country like India, where literacy too is low, we sometimes need such sudden changes to usher in long term gains despite the short term pains. How has been GST implementation affecting your business? So far, the impact has been minimal. But as a banker now, I welcome GST implementation, as it is leading to tens of thousands of small businesses across India to be formalized, by paying tax, and coming in through the banking channels which will grow significantly due to it. Ultimately this will lead to countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tax income swelling, and if it is put to good use, tax burden on individuals can come down, and a development agenda pursued more vigorously by the Government. What are your strategies for growing attractive segments like CASA? What are your challenges in this regard?

We pay higher interest rates for savings bank deposits. For up to 1 lakh deposit in SB we give 6%, from 1 lakh to 10 lakh we give 6.5%, and above 10 lakh, we give 7%. So, customers can keep their money in SB accounts rather than term deposits. We also give senior citizens an additional 0.5% in interest. Now, we are also starting micro recurring deposits (micro RDs) with doorstep collection facility. Many of our microfinance customers would go for it. Otherwise, they can’t spend 200 rupees for coming to a branch every week for investing 100 rupees in an RD. There is a huge opportunity for us in mobilizing deposits in this way. We call it convenient banking. We also do a lot of social outreach programs. Recently, we had our Senior Citizens Day. Also, we conduct various medical camps etc for them and the weaker sections of society. Five years from now, where do you want to see ESAF Small Finance Bank? Is it as a leading microfinance bank, or is it as a diversified lender having significant presence in all major retail and corporate banking services? Well, 5 years from now, we don’t want

M “

icrofinance will continue robustly as a service, due to the high demand for the same in the society. But whether standalone microfinance companies, especially the smaller ones, will be able to survive these difficult times is open for debate."

to be known as just a microfinance bank. But we would like to be known for our focus on small value customers. We want to handhold them, grow them, and grow with them. We are also envisaging a future where we will be giving much bigger loans to them as well as to others. In fact, this is already underway. Earlier, our MSME loans were up to only 10 lakhs. Now with a tie-up with SIDBI we can give up to 2 crore with 50% coming from them. Similarly, NABARD has given us a Rs. 500 crore refinancing facility. In fact, all apex regulators like National Housing Bank (NHB) and Mudra Bank as well as programs like

Prime Minister’s Awaz Yojana (PMAY) are giving us support. So, in short, we will diversify our portfolio as much as possible but without losing our focus on small value customers. For this, we had been given the banking license by RBI, and we would stick with that financial inclusion mission. Are you mandated by RBI to go in for your IPO within a stipulated time? Yes, once we cross Rs.500 crores in net worth, we are mandated to go for our IPO within the next 3 years. Currently, our net worth is at Rs.330 crores, so we hope to go in for public listing in 2020. You are hailing from Thrissur, which has a glorious banking heritage, as well as home to the 10th highest number of credit accounts in the country. How far has it helped, and is helping you in the banking business? Thrissur is the financial capital of Kerala, being home to a few noted banks, and several chit funds. The one way in which it has definitely helped us in our initial years, and even now, is the ease with which we can get trained people here. Thrissur is also home to numerous small businesses and the entrepreneurial

ESAF wins European Microfinance Award SEASONAL MAGAZINE

K Paul Thomas & Mereena Paul

mindset is strong here. But we didn’t plan for ESAF to be at Thrissur for these advantages, it just so happened. But once we got the banking license, we were certain that we won’t move away from Thrissur. In fact, there were several suggestions to move to Chennai, where we had taken over a microfinance firm to scale up. Chennai has several advantages in this regard, but I decided to stay on at Thrissur, and that too at the same location Mannuthy where we started. I passionately believe that when good times come for a company, the society around it should benefit too.

fully secular in our approach. From day one, our employees, customers, and even our Director Board now include people from all religions and castes. Can you tell us more about your background and how you came into microfinance? My grandparents hailed from Keezhillam near Perumbavoor, in Ernakulam District. But I was born and brought up in Kizhakkencherry, in Palakkad District, where my grandparents had migrated to. Ours was an agrarian family. I did my schooling in local

government schools and pre-degree in Government Victoria College in Palakkad. Then I took a Diploma in Agriculture from Agriculture University, Vellanikkara, in Thrissur. I had a deep interest in rural development and farming, and so joined Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO), where I worked for 18 years. While there, one of my jobs was to take farmers from a few states to another state, and I travelled and stayed with farmers, coming into a deep knowledge about how India’s vast rural economy works. Later, in 1992, we started ESAF

You have a background in social and evangelical work. How has it helped you in the microfinance and now banking business? Not evangelical work specifically, but yes, social work was there. But I believe in God, and it is very true that it is my faith that led me to social work. I believe that God has created an equitable world, and that it is up to men and women who believe in God to make our societies equitable too. I always felt that it is my responsibility to serve others. Thus was born Evangelical Social Action Forum or ESAF. Having said that, I should also say that we are truly and SEASONAL MAGAZINE

ESAF MD wins Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award

as a small NGO in our rented home, to provide microcredit to poor women with just Rs.7000 as our initial capital. Much later, I got an invitation from microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh founder of Grameen Bank, as part of their global outreach for promising microcredit providers. They gave us our initial seed capital of US$40,000 which was around Rs.15 lakhs then. It took us almost a year to get that amount due to various regulations in place then. Various banks and institutions have also assisted us in later years including Bank of Baroda, SIDBI, NABARD, ICICI Bank, & Dia Vikas to name a few.

ESAF celebrates Silver Jubilee

Can you tell us something about your family, and whether they are involved in this business? I have one brother and two sisters. My brother is into farming. Both my sisters are involved in ESAF, one sister in the parent NGO and the other in the bank. My wife plays a central role in our organization, as our co-founder and CMD of our holding company. We have four children, one daughter and three sons. My eldest is the daughter who has done her Social Entrepreneurship program from TISS and together with her husband is staying at Guwahati, and is managing ESAF’s entry into Assam. Our eldest son is planning to do his Masters in Behavioural Economics. The younger boys are studying in 10th and 7th grades. How is ESAF Small Finance Bank trying to differentiate itself in your social and customer relations? Our core philosophy is captured in a slogan we have created – ‘People, Profit, Planet’. We call it our 3Ps. By ‘People’ we mean a lot of things than the usual. For instance, we have what we call social targets. Our managers have to achieve a certain percentage of new customers coming in from weaker sections like SC, ST, disabled and their caregivers. We have a strong focus on backward districts of India, and I am proud that we were the first MFI to start

ESAF wins Chamber of Indian MSME Award

operations in the most backward districts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh & Jharkhand. In fact, this was the reason why we got the banking licence from RBI. Similarly, our focus on ‘Profit’ is not just in the conventional sense, but implying sustainability of our customers. Towards this, we are always promoting the entrepreneurial spirit in our customers. This goes a long way back, right from our first days as an MFI. Now, we call it Sustainable Banking. Under the third P of ‘Planet’, we do a lot of financing for green energy, clean energy, water, sanitation etc. We have tied up with a US based company for formalizing the credits from these, and have made Rs. 1 crore in revenue from carbon credits.

Do you still have NGO operations under the ESAF umbrella? The parent organization ESAF Society still has sizeable NGO operations. We do a lot of diversified work, but core among these is cluster development of small entrepreneurs. You would be surprised to know that we have promoted over 75 farmer producer companies, which are doing very well now. A farmer producer company, as you might know, is a cooperative organization but which is registered as a company. It frees such organizations from wasting time and resources with the otherwise cumbersome cooperative regulations. It is a beautiful structure for developing entrepreneurship among farmers. We have done this with the support of SM Government and NABARD. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

WORLD

INSIDE SAUDI ARABIA'S CITY OF THE FUTURE This week, the country's crown prince announced plans to build a "futuristic city" run entirely on alternative energy. Some other things will be different, too. The flashy promotional video features women running in sports bras and working side by side with men, often without the head-covering hijab.

rince Mohammed bin Salman said he wanted to turn Saudi Arabia into a more moderate version of Islam. Now, Saudi Arabia is breaking into the citybuilding business. This week, the country's crown prince announced plans to build a "futuristic city" run entirely on alternative energy. Some other things will be different, too. The flashy promotional video features women running in sports bras and working side by side with men, often without the head-covering hijab. If (and that's a big if) this city actually comes to pass, it would augur a major shift in how Saudi women live. Until last month, Saudi Arabia was the only SEASONAL MAGAZINE

country where women were not allowed to drive. Male guardians in the kingdom still have the final say on whom a woman can marry and even where she travels. In the speech Tuesday, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman stressed that he wanted to turn his country toward a more moderate version of Islam and that he'd push for the social reforms that would accompany such a transition. "We were not like this in the past," he said. "We want to go back to what we were: moderate Islam." The $500 billion project, dubbed "Neom," imagines a supercity that would stretch 10,230 square miles. It is intended to be a hub for technological innovation, funded by the government

as well as private and international investors. "This place is not for conventional people or conventional companies," Mohammed told an audience of investors gathered in Riyadh. "This will be a place for the dreamers of the world."

To take one example: The prince imagined a place where drones, driverless cars and robotics might work together to ensure there's no traffic. He promised, too, that investors would make healthy returns somehow. Mohammed also envisioned cuttingedge research into energy and water, along with biotechnology, food and manufacturing. "Neom" is part of a broader effort to diversify the Saudi economy, which is largely dependent on oil exports. Most Saudis hold jobs with the government, and the public-sector wage bill makes up about half of the country's total expenditure. By 2030, Saudi Arabia wants to trim that by about 20 percent, which would mean that there's a need SM for rapid private-sector growth.

LUXURY KATE HUDSON JOINS MICHAEL KORS TO WATCH HUNGER STOP

DROPS OF GOOD EARTH’S HOME & APPAREL IN SHADES OF MONSOON In honor of the Indian monsoon season, Good Earth has launched four different home & apparel collections. The Narmada collection draws inspiration from the trees and palms that line River Narmada. It features hand block printed bed linen featuring some of India’s old forests. The Monukuru collection, inspired by the monochrome aesthetic, is crafted in handloom cotton and chanderi that details intricate ikat designs and crochet trimmings. The Makhar collection is inspired by the Dabu technique, a form of mud-resist hand block printing that involves stamping ‘dhabu’, a resist black clay, whey powder gum and lime water using woodblocks. Lastly, the Sakura collection focuses on dinnerware that is crafted with artisanal hand-thrown stoneware and pays homage to chrysan-

ALILA HOTELS VENTANA BIG SUR SET TO REOPEN IN FALL 2017 International lifestyle company Two Roads Hospitality has announced the expansion of Alila Hotels & Resorts into North America. Singapore-based Alila, will open its first North American resort property in California’s Big Sur in fall 2017. Boasting a multimillion-dollar comprehensive revitalization, Ventana Big Sur feature 59 refreshed guest rooms, suites and villas, a full-service Spa Alila, two enhanced outdoor pools with a new infinity-edge hot tub and

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themums and spring blooms, chevrons and textual patterns in pale blues and white. The collections are available online at the Good Earth web boutique www.goodearth.in and across all Good Earth stores.

Michael Kors has announced that Kate Hudson, an actress, author, entrepreneur and humanitarian will be helping by representing for the third year in brand’s annual campaign to fight global hunger. The Watch Hunger Stop campaign was established in 2013 and raises money and awareness to relieve the world of hunger. The brand's partner in the effort is the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), and funds go to support WFP's school meals program. The sale of special products is one way Watch Hunger Stop raises funds for WFP. This year, those products will include a special edition of the not-yet-released Michael Kors Access Sofie smartwatch and a unique version of the brand’s Lon aviator sunglasses.

outdoor Japanese hot baths. Additionally, The Sur House restaurant, with a new concept and expanded ocean-view patio, will offer views of the Pacific Ocean. Ventana’s resort-wide enhancements also will include a new Social House with three unique lifestyle spaces for relaxing and connecting; the new 7,000-squarefoot Ocean Meadow Lawn for events and celebrations; a new Glass House Gallery; a new Alila Experience Program featuring discovery-based guest activities such as beekeeping, string art, candle making and aromatherapy; and the debut of a luxury camping experience — Redwood Canyon Glampsites— in the resort’s 20-acre redwood-canopied forest. Alila Hospitalities include daily guided walks through the serene landscape, yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates classes, and nightly wine tastings and cheese pairings. An on-site experience coordinator is available to arrange further adventures.

BALLY JOINT VENTURE LAUNCHES ITS FIRST STORE IN INDIA Bally is launching a joint venture partnership with Reliance Brands in India for their first flagship store. The store is located within New Delhi’s renowned luxury shopping destination, DLF Emporio mall. The Bally store has launched with the brand’s Autumn Winter 17 collection including women’s and men’s shoes, accessories and leather goods. This seasons collection encompasses the mood of a gentlemen’s club in 1970’s New York City. The collection features a contrast of evening dresses and urban sportswear. The New Delhi store incorporates the design by David Chipperfield Architects, boasting luxurious walnut panel walls and tile flooring laid with wool and silk-blend carpets in pink and green, separating the women’s and men’s collections.

MANDARIN ORIENTAL, MILAN LAUNCHES A VINTAGE FERRARI SELF-DRIVE AND RIVA SPEEDBOAT EXPERIENCE Mandarin Oriental, Milan is offering a luxury self-drive Lake Como package. In addition to a suite accommodation at Mandarin Oriental, Milan, guests will have an opportunity to drive to Lake Como in a vintage Ferrari and experience a 3hour tour aboard a classic Riva speedboat while Champagne and canapés are served guests are shown their chosen places of interest round the lake. The day trip can be tailored to guests’ wishes. Guests booking the Lake Como Luxury Vintage Experience package can drive a Ferrari Dino 246 GT Gallettoni through of Italy’s countryside. A personal road assistant driver will accompany guests from Milan in a separate vehicle and be on call provide valet parking, car wash, refuelling service and technical support. The lake destination, choice of car, and duration of the drive and boat tour in the Lake Como Luxury Vintage Experience package are decided by

the guest. The Lake Como Luxury Vintage Experience and the basic package includes: the Milan suite accommodation for at least two nights, transportation to the hotel, daily breakfast for two in-room or at Mandarin Bar & Bistrot, a personalized road trip itinerary to Lake Como and a 10% discount on treatments at The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, Milan. The experience will be available until September 30th , 2017 and will be priced from EUR 5,100 per room per night with a sevenday advance booking requirement.

IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN LAUNCHES THE FIRST EVER CERATANIUM WATCH CASE To mark the 50th anniversary of Aquatimer diver’s watches, watch manufacturer IWC Schaffhausen has released a special edition with the first Ceratanium case. This material is as light and unbreakable as titanium, but also as hard and scratch-resistant as ceramic. “Since we already had a pioneering role in the use of titanium and ceramic in the 1980s, we are now once again highlighting our expertise with materials by employing Ceratanium,” explains Christoph

SILVER MICHAEL KORS X FUJIFILM INSTAX MINI 70 CAMERA LAUNCHED Fashion brand Michael Kors has continued its collaboration with Fujifilm with the release of a second Instax Mini 70 camera in a silver metallic hue. Similar to the original collaboration camera, the silver Michael Kors x Instax Mini 70 features the brand logo on the front of the case body and the designer’s signature in the silver hue on the camera door. The camera can also double as a must-have accessory with the addition of a gold or silver-tone chain-link strap.

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NEWS- IN -BRIEF EINSTEIN GOT 1921 NOBEL A YEAR LATE AS 'NO ONE MET CRITERIA' Albert Einstein received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 as "none of the year's nominations met the criteria" outlined in the will of its founder Alfred Nobel. The Nobel Foundation thus reserved the award for one year as per the rules. Further, Einstein was awarded the Nobel for 'photoelectric effect' and not for his energy-mass equivalence equation E=mc2.

BIOPIC TO BE MADE ON PADMA SHRI AWARDEE SHAHNAZ HUSAIN A biopic on Padma Shri awardee Shahnaz Husain, known for her line of herbal and Ayurveda products, has been announced. The film will be based on Husain's daughter Nelofar Currimbhoy's biography on her titled 'Flame: The Inspiring Life Of My Mother Shahnaz Husain'. Kamlesh Pandey, who is credited for the story of 'Rang De Basanti', will write the film's script.

RUSSIA REBUKES UK'S CLAIM OF 'MAJOR' ROLE IN ISIS DEFEAT

BHU HOSPITAL USED INDUSTRIAL GAS FOR ANAESTHESIA

Russia has rebuked a claim by UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon that Britain has made a "major contribution" to "cripple" Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. "If there is any way that you can call the UK's contribution invaluable, it is only because it is so difficult to assign any value to it, as it is so negligible," officials said.

EDIBLE TEMPERATURE SENSOR TO MONITOR FOOD MADE Researchers at a university in Zurich have developed an edible temperature sensor that can monitor food. The sensor's electrical filament, which is made of magnesium, silicon dioxide, and nitride, can be crumbled or folded and weighs about a fraction of a milligram. The sensor is 16 micrometers thick, making it thinner than a human hair.

PRO GOLFER TAKES SELFIE WITH THREE FORMER US PRESIDENTS American professional golfer Phil Mickelson took a selfie with three former US Presidents, Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama, at the start of Presidents Cup on Thursday. Phil's brother shared the picture with the caption, "When you can take a selfie with three US Presidents, you do it!!" The picture was dubbed the "most presidential selfie ever" by many.

A probe has revealed that industrialgrade nitrous oxide, which is not permitted in medicine, was being used for administering anaesthesia to patients in a hospital attached to Banaras Hindu University. The probe was launched by the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government after at least 14 surgery patients died between June 6 and 8 at the hospital.

ONE JUVENILE HELD FOR RAPE EVERY 4HRS IN LAST 3YRS IN INDIA The data released by Home Ministry reveals that in the last three years, on an average, at least one juvenile is arrested on charges of rape every four hours in India. It added that 6,039 juveniles were arrested for such crimes between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2016, while in 2016 alone, one juvenile was held every two hours. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

MEENAKSHI TEMPLE NAMED CLEANEST ICONIC PLACE IN INDIA The Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu's Madurai has been named the cleanest iconic place in India under the 'Swachhata Hi Seva' programme. It was shortlisted along with ten other iconic places, including Taj Mahal, Ajmer Sharif Dargah, and Golden Temple. As many as 60 people were employed to keep the temple clean and 300 others volunteered during monthly cleanliness drives.

DILIP SHANGHVI BIGGEST LOSER ON FORBES INDIA RICH LIST 2017 Sun Pharmaceutical's Dilip Shanghvi is the biggest loser on the Forbes India Rich List 2017 as his net worth fell by $4.8 billion. Shanghvi slipped to the ninth position with a net worth of $12.1 billion, ending his threeyear run as India's second-richest. Twelve people have turned poorer than a year ago, with half of them from the pharmaceutical sector.

A FIRE HAS BEEN BURNING UNDERNEATH A US TOWN FOR 55 YEARS SURGICAL GLUE THAT CAN SEAL WOUNDS IN 60 SECONDS MADE Australia and US-based researchers have developed an elastic surgical glue that seals wounds in 60 seconds without the need for surgical staples or sutures. The gel-like material can be applied directly and is activated by UV light. Further, it has a built-in degrading enzyme which can be modified to determine how long the sealant should last to heal the wound.

A fire has been burning underneath US' mining town Centralia since 1962, when authorities allegedly decided to burn garbage in a former mine connected to underground mining tunnels full of coal. Though extinguished above ground, it is expected to continue burning underneath for around 250 years. A 1984 $42 million relocation plan incentivised residents to relocate, although few remained behind.

CHINA BUILDING ROAD 10KM FROM DOKLAM STANDOFF SITE: REPORT China has started widening a road located 10 kilometres away from the Doklam site where the Indian and Chinese troops were locked in a standoff for over two months, reports have said. Around 500 soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) are reportedly guarding the construction workers. Meanwhile, IAF Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa said he expects the Chinese to withdraw.

ASIA'S FIRST UPPER-ARM DOUBLE-HAND TRANSPLANT DONE IN KERALA Asia's first upper-arm double-hand transplant was conducted at Kochibased Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences on Shreya Siddanagowda, a 19-year-old student, who lost both her hands in a road mishap last year. It took 20 surgeons and a 16-member anaesthetic team 13 hours to complete the transplantation. Meanwhile, the donor was a 20-year-old student who had been declared brain-dead.

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IPO NEW INDIA ASSURANCE IPO

10 REASONS WHY NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY'S IPO IS PROMISING

SEASONAL MAGAZINE UNRAVELS REASONS WHY NEW INDIA ASSURANCE COMPANY'S RS.10,000 CRORE IPO THAT IS SET TO HIT MARKETS IN NOVEMBER FIRST WEEK IS A HIGHLY PROMISING ONE.

Industry Leadership Government has well-chosen the largest general insurer, New India Assurance, to be the flag bearer in insurance IPOs. NIA is the largest general insurer among 31 public and private players in terms of premium, profits, market share and distribution network. It's marketshare is high at 16% and edging up during the past 5 years. Diversified Player NIA is also a diversified non-life player with the right balance between core segments like auto and health. Moreover, NIA has been growing its gross written premium and net profits impressively, across both these core domains. Impressive Growth The company has been growing at a CAGR of over 15 percent for last five years, which is over the double the growth rate for insurance companies in developed countries. This growth is despite having a large asset base of over Rs 69,000 crore and robust solvency of 2.27 percent. Multinational Operations The insurance major is a multinational SEASONAL MAGAZINE

having operations in 28 countries, with sizeable operations in developed markets like United Kingdom. Unlike some segments of its Indian business, its overseas operations have been consistently profitable. Highest Rating & Clientele New India is the country's only direct insurer with an international 'A' rating and has operations through a desk at Lloyd's, the world's largest specialist insurer. Most of India Inc's top business houses are long-time customers of NIA.

Unique Investment Business NIA is a major institutional investor in the country. Its market value of investments stood at Rs 63,100 crore at the end of June quarter of the current fiscal. Its investment business has been consistently profitable. NIA's networth, including fair value of investments, increased to over Rs 38,100 crore as of June-end. Likely Attractive Pricing NIA's IPO is likely to be priced very conservatively at 2 or 3 times its book, un-

like private sector insurance players priced at 6 or 7 times its book. This will leave something for IPO investors both retail and institutional. Government Support The company's owner, Government of India, has been providing wholehearted support to the company and its peers by allowing the hike of thirdparty auto premiums by nearly 100% to make this loss-making business

profitable. NIA has been repricing its auto and health products in recent quarters too. Unlimited Growth Potential NIA has virtually unlimited space to grow in the Indian market, as one of its core segments, health insurance is still nascent in India. Moreover, India continues to be one of the largest and fast-

est growing automobile markets as well as infrastructure development market, making NIA's growth potential limitless. Positive Investor Feedback The outlook for the Rs.10,000 crore IPO continues to be robust as evidenced from the recent roadshows conducted by the company in overseas markets. FIIs are likely to favour this Indian market leader due to its additional potential as an investment company due to receipt of advance premiums which is not the case in SM developed markets.

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HEALTHCARE

HUMANS BETTER AT SURGERIES THAN ROBOTS HUMANS MAKE BETTER SURGEONS THAN ROBOTS, ACCORDING TO A STUDY WHICH SUGGESTS THAT MACHINEASSISTED SURGERY FOR KIDNEY REMOVAL NOT ONLY TAKES LONGER TO PERFORM, BUT ALSO COSTS MORE.

esearchers from Stanford University in the US looked at nearly 24,000 patients with kidney cancer. The analysis showed that the use of robot-assisted surgery to remove kidneys was not always more cost-effective than using traditional laparascopic methods. However, the two approaches have comparable patient outcomes and lengths of hospital stay, researchers said. Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure in which surgical operations are done through small incisions. The removal of the entire kidney is called radical nephrectomy. “We found that, although there was no statistical difference in outcome or length of hospital stay, the roboticassisted surgeries cost more and had a higher probability of prolonged operative time,” said Benjamin Chung, associate professor at Stanford. Surgical robots are helpful because they offer more dexterity than traditional laparoscopic instrumentation and use a SEASONAL MAGAZINE

three-dimensional, high-resolution camera to visualise and magnify the operating field. While some procedures require a high degree of delicate manoeuvring and extensive internal suturing that render the robot’s assistance invaluable, researchers hypothesised that less technically challenging surgeries may not benefit as significantly from a robot’s help. They analysed data from 416 hospitals from 2003 to 2015. Researchers found that among nearly 24,000 patients, almost 19,000 underwent a traditional laparoscopic procedure and about 5,000 underwent a robotic-assisted procedure. They found that 46.3 per cent of those patients whose surgeon used the robot had a total procedure time of more than four hours.

RESEARCHERS NOTED THAT THE STUDY COVERS A TIME PERIOD WHEN MANY PHYSICIANS WERE JUST LEARNING TO USE THE ROBOTS FOR THIS TYPE OF PROCEDURE.

In contrast, about 28.5 per cent of the patients whose surgeon used the conventional laparoscopic procedure were in the operating room for more than four hours. On average, the total hospital cost for the robot- assisted procedure exceeded that of the traditional laparoscopic procedures by about USD 2,700 per patient. The researchers speculated that the increased cost may be due to longer times spent in the operating room and the disposable instruments upon which surgical robots rely. Researchers noted that the study covers a time period when many physicians were just learning to use the robots for this type of procedure. It is possible that the operating time will decrease and that the cost differences between the two procedures will narrow over time. “But for now, the study suggests that robot-assisted surgery is not always the right choice,” researchers said. SM

STATE-IN-FOCUS

COME TO KARNATAKA, INDIA’S MOST ATTRACTIVE INVESTMENT DESTINATION

Karnataka Government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is leaving no stone unturned in its quest to grow at a much faster pace than the rest of the nation. Spearheading the efforts is Karnataka’s Ministries for Large & Medium Industries as well as Infrastructure Development, both led by Minister RV Deshpande. Under the visionary leadership of these leaders, the state has hosted high-profile international investment meets, bettered ease-of-doing-business, and unleashed industrial and tech-led innovations through more than ten flagship programs. The massive efforts have found stunning results with Karnataka surpassing Gujarat as the most attractive investment destination in India, according to Central Government’s own numbers. Here is a look into these ten programs that are proving to be game changers for the state in the next round of prosperous industrialization, especially in emerging sectors. Karnataka has surpassed Gujarat to occupy the pole position as the country’s most attractive investment destination as per the SIA Index up to May, 2017. These figures have been released by DIPP recently

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Siddaramaiah, Hon’ble Chief Minister

“Karnataka is one of the fastest growing States in India, propelling the country’s growth to greater heights.”

The State of Karnataka is home to scores of multi-national corporations (MNCs) of all hue. The State, known as the Silicon Valley of India while housing the maximum number of Information Technology (IT) companies in the country, is also known as the ‘R&D Hub’ and the ‘Start-up Hub’. Karnataka is not only thrives in IT, but has diverse strengths across sectors including Coffee, Aerospace, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Agro and Food Processing, Renewable Energy, Heavy Industries, Machine Tools and Construction. From the late twentieth century, when the Indian economy was not as open as it is today, these industries operated in Karnataka, and prospered. Post 1996 as the liberalization of the Indian economy took place and barriers of doing business in the country were broken down, Karnataka grew at a scotching pace. As a result, not only did these industries expand at a great pace, but new and innovative companies too started springing up and expanding. Karnataka Government has initiated a number of programmes to translate its promises to the people for social and inclusive growth. Where, the Department of Industries and Commerce acts as a catalyst for the overall development of the industrial sector. With a view to promote investment and trade, the Department formulates and implements the Policies of the State. Facilitating the take-off of infrastructure projects that boost the industrial growth has also been the Department’s forte. The Department helps enhance the competitiveness of domestic industry through modernization, technology upgradation and adoption of best practices. Karnataka, the first state in the country to come up with Karnataka Industries (Facilitation) Act, 2002 for the promotion of the industrial development and facilitation of new investments. Karnataka Udyog Mitra (KUM) is the nodal agency for providing single window facilitation for all investors has been assisting the State Industries and Commerce Department by holding regular meets under the State Level Single Window Clearance Committee to clear projects.

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Flagship Programmes by Government of Karnataka a) New Industrial Policy 2014-19 The New Industrial Policy 2014-19 aims at achieving an industrial growth rate of 12% per annum by attracting investments of about 5 lakh crore & generate employment to about 15 lakh persons during the Policy period.Special attention has been given to MSME sector by reserving 20% of the allotable land in each KIADB industrial area. Policy helped to incentivise investments in the industrially backward regions of the state and support the investments by socially disadvantaged people. Policy also supports for development of industrial and economic corridors and to promote private industrial parks have been laid.

b) Retail Trade Policy: The State Government has announced the Retail Trade Policy on 13.06.2016, to create an efficient and seamless internal trade opportunity and to boost the economic competitiveness of the State economy by promoting and facilitating world class logistics / warehouse chain, minimizing wastage and transaction cost within the retail enterprises, giving the best value for money to the ultimate consumer while at the same time maximizing returns to the products, particularly farmers and SMEs.

c) NRI Policy: India today has one of the world’s largest and most successful “diaspora”, with a large number of expatriate Indians and people of Indian origin living across nearly 185 countries. According to a recent report, the top 15 countries in descending order with large overseas Indian population include USA, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Myanmar, UAE, UK, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Canada, Mauritius, Kuwait, Oman, Singapore, Qatar and Nepal. The State Government has announced NRI Policy of Karnataka on 02.12.2016 to direct investments to Karnataka and to ensure the welfare of SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Boosted by the Government’s promises and actions, the state has emerged as a hot investment destination. Different schemes and programmes implemented have won acclaim at several national and prestigious fora. While Bengaluru has emerged one of the 20 emerging cities of the world - the one and only city in India. Also, the State is third in the country in terms of good governance.

R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Large & Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development

Industrial Policy 2014-19 has an ambitious target of creating 15 lakh job opportunities and attracting investment of Rs.5 lakh Crore. overseas Kannadigas. d)Formulating and implementing revolutionary policies and statutes like the pioneering Start-up Policy, Aerospace Policy, Semi-conductor Policy, and AVGC Policy has helped Karnataka to become one of the largest technology clusters in the world and a global hub for IT and ITeS. These initiatives are also assisted by different accelerators, which are set-up in coordination with different industry bodies like NASSCOM. Start-ups will not be limited only to software and aerospace. It will encompass all sectors including aerospace, health, food processing, and others. In order to ensure that innovation in the state is supported and further encouraged through sectoral policies and the recent initiatives of the start-up policy.

Events By Karnataka Government: a) Invest Karnataka 2016 In the recent past, “Invest Karnataka 2016” a Global Investors Meet, the State's flagship investment promotion event was held during 3rd to 5th February, 2016 in Bengaluru in which the State attracted an investment of Rs.1.27 lakh crores from 122 MOUs. Further 1080 projects were approved in the Single Window to an investment of Rs.1.77 Lakh Crores for the State. The

industry representatives from over 15 countries were participated.

b) “Think Big 2016”International Women Entrepreneurs Summit The event was organized in coordination with WE Connect International on 14-15 November 2016 in BIEC, Bengaluru. It was Asia’s largest platform for multinational corporate buyers, Government officials, Multilateral organizations, investors, venture capital executives and industry thought leaders to connect with Women-owned Businesses in Asia. The summit was attended by over 4,000 dynamic participants who participated in the inspiring and interactive sessions. The

event brought together stakeholders of women entrepreneur community on one platform with 100 speakers, 400 companies and 60 women associations participating in the event.

of the best arranged and most attended PBD convention so far.

c) PravasiBharatiya Divas 2017

Make in India-Karnataka Conference was organized in association with Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Govt. of India and CII on 14th&15th February, 2017 at Bengaluru. The event was brought together leading industrialists / CEO’s from domestic and international corporations and SMEs, policy makers from different countries, members of international business and financial community, trade and industry associations, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, researchers etc. on one platform for knowledge sharing, business

PBD 2017 was organized jointly with Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India from 7th to 9th January 2017 in Bengaluru. This event enabled the State to showcase the potential of the State for investments to the visiting Non Resident Indians (NRI), Person of Indian Origin (PIO) and Overseas Citizens of India. The convention saw participation of 7,200 delegates including 2,000 overseas delegates from across 72 countries. MEA, GoI has acknowledged that this was one

d) “Make in India-Karnataka Conference’’

networking and investment promotion. Over 500 B2B meetings and 20 B2G meetings were held across different focus sectors with international / national business houses and corporations. More than 50 world class companies showcased their manufacturing prowess in the exhibition. More than 2500 entrepreneurs witnessed 9 focus sector sessions and more than 6,300 delegates participated in this event.

e) Aero India – 2017, Bangalore Government of Karnataka has actively participated in Aero India – 2017, the 11th International Aero Show organized by the Ministry of Defence, Government of India from 14th to 19th February, SEASONAL MAGAZINE

2017 at IAF, Yehalanka, Bengaluru. The State Government has extended all kinds of support for this mega International Event, as Karnataka particularly Bengaluru is the Aerospace Hub of India.

Ease of Doing Business in Karnataka during 2016 The key pitch for Invest in Karnataka is the ease of doing business here. eBiz is one of the integrated services projects and part of Mission Mode Projects (MMPs) under the National E-Governance Plan (NEGP) of the Government of India. Accordingly, the State has also started integrated services for the project approvals of the line departments related to Industrial Investments, which provides online filing of application, processing, status verification and also provision of downloading of final certificate/clearances. The system also provides third party verification of the certificates & clearances issued. The ebiz web link viewed at http:// ebizkarnataka.gov.in Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Govt., of India had circulated 340 Action points for the year 2016 to implement Reforms in Ease of Doing Business for the State/UTs under Business Reform Action Plan 2016. These include the reforms on regulatory processes, policies, practices, inspections and procedures spread across 10 Reform areas comprising of 23 different departments of the State. The Govt., of Karnataka had achieved implementation of 301 Action Points with 88.39% during 2016 by improving its achievement from 48.50% during 2015. The evidences of the Action points implemented were uploaded through EODB dashboard of DIPP & these evidences were scrutinized for its appropriate by World Bank team, accordingly the implementation status revealed. Major achievements during 2016 in the areas like Tax reforms, Environmental and Labour reforms & Inspection reforms. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Major initiatives of Ease of Doing Business: • Dedicated Single Window Agency for project approvals formed under Karnataka Facilitation Act, 2002. • Project approvals provided online through Single Window portal.(www.ebiz Karnataka.gov.in) • “Guide to Investors on setting up of Industrial Enterprise” providing holistic information on infrastructure, registrations, approvals, etc. on Single Window portal. • Registrations/approvals of line departments provided online through Single Window portal. • All Commercial tax related services are being provided online. • Online information on availability of land in Industrial Areas. • Timelines fixed for providing most of the industry related services under Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act. • Property registration fully computerised. • Online Consent for Establishment from Pollution Control Board. • Labour and Factories and Boiler Dept. related registrations & renewals are being made online with provision for online payment and digitally signed downloadable & verifiable

certificates. • Forest department has exempted all notified industrial areas from seeking prior permission for felling of trees. • Validity of Consent for Establishment (CFE) made 5 years for all categories. • Consent for Operation (CFO) made 10 years for Green Category and for Red & Orange categories extended from existing 1 year to 5 years. • 58 Industrial Activities are notified as white category and do not require consent from Pollution Control Board.

Industrial and infrastructure Development a) Aerospace Common Finishing Facility (ACFF) Centre: The Govt. is establishing Aerospace Common Finishing Facility (ACFF) Centre in Aerospace Park, Bengaluru to facilitate the MSME’s in the Aerospace sector through the Government of India Modified Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation scheme (MIIUS) with a project cost of Rs. 93.00 Crore.”

b) Tumakuru Machine Tool Park (TMPT) at Vasanthanarasapura Industrial Area, Tumakuru District Karnataka has proposed to develop

Tumakuru as an Industrial Node in Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC), which also happens to be India's first National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ).An extent of 529.50 acres of land has been earmarked for development of Tumakuru Machine Tool Park (TMTP) in Vasanthanarasapura Industrial Area III Phase, Tumakuru.

international investors. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) engaged a consortium of consultants for the preparation of a Comprehensive Regional Perspective Plan for the CBCIC Region, Master Plan & Development Plan for the selected industrial nodes, including Tumakuru in Karnataka.

c) Japanese Industrial Township at Vasanthanasarasapura Industrial area, Tumakuru District.

The “National Manufacturing Policy” has envisioned establishment of National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) in the similar line for the development of Industrial Node at Vasanthnarasapura, Tumakuru District. Total land of 9,628.43 acres has been acquired.

The Government of Karnataka has proposed a Japanese Industrial Park (JIP) to be developed in Vasanthanarasapura Industrial Area III Phase in an extent of 519.55 acres of land near Tumakuru district, located at about 90Kms from Bengaluru. The proposed JIP will be developed with the assistance of Government of Karnataka, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan. The approximate cost estimate for development of the proposed JIP has been worked out to Rs.365.00 Crores.

d) Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor [CBIC] The corridor is planned to cover a distance of around 560 KMs and pass through 16 districts spread across the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The corridor could possibly follow the alignment along the Golden Quadrilateral Highway. There is significant interest in the region from

e) Industrial Node, Tumakuru

f) Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC) The Government of India (GoI) in partnership with Government of United Kingdom intends to develop the Bangalore-Mumbai Economic Corridor (BMEC) between Bangalore and Mumbai in similar lines of DelhiMumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). BMEC would have an influence area spread across the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra, covering an overall length of 1,000 kms. approx. Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), GoI has nominated Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation Limited (DMICDC) as project nodal agency. Three priority industrial nodes viz. (1) ChitradurgaDavanagere (2) Dharwad (3) Belagavi along the BMEC region of Karnataka.

g) Industrial Townships: It is proposed to declare large industrial areas and estates in Peenya and Bommasandra of Bengaluru, Mysuru, Belagavi&Hubballi as industrial townships and establish Authorities in respective townships to be managed by the industrialists as per the Karnataka Municipalities Act, 1964. Already Electronic City industrial area has been declared as Industrial Township.

h) Vision Group: ‘Vision Group’ has been formed headed by sectoral experts for Pharma and Medical equipment to formulate the necessary programmes to encourage Pharma and Medical Devices Units in the State. i) KSIIDChas initiated activities for the development of the following projects • Expansion of the Bengaluru International Airport. • Development of Bengaluru International Convention Centre Complex adjacent to the Bengaluru International Airport on PPP mode • Development of Devanahalli Business Park • Development of a Sea Port at Tadadi on PPP mode • Dabhol-Bangalore Gas Pipeline & City Gas Distribution Project for Bangalore • Development of Airstrips

j) Other proposed Initiatives • Karnataka Government wishes to make Bengaluru the Electric Vehicle Capital of India. • Karnataka intends to formulate a policy for hi-tech and frontier industries like 3D printing, Robotics, Nano Technology, IOT, Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Stem Cell Research, Bespoke DNA Medicine and other areas which will define the next 20 years. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

AUTO

THE NEW SUVS DRIVING IN SOON RENAULT CAPTUR, SKODA KODIAQ, RANGE ROVER VELAR

With the launch of Renault Captur in mid-October others like Tata, Skoda, Maruti, Toyota, Audi and M&M are beelining with either refresh or allnew SUVs to boost sales. In the premium segment, the Skoda Kodiaq, a seven-seater SUV based on the Superb platform, and Range Rover Velar from Jaguar Land Rover India are set to be launched next month. his festive season car buyers will be spoiled by huge number of options in the sports utility vehicle segment as the manufacturers have more than half dozen launches in the segment for festive season. These launches include some refreshes and a few completely new products like Skoda Kodiaq, Tata Nexon and Renault Captur. Carmakers are expecting a 1215 oer cent spike in sales this festive season thus trying to catch the opportunity. The festival season is considered as auspicious time for buying so automakers are cashing in on this opportunity by queuing up a bevy of new sports utility vehicles to lure buyers. French carmaker Renault recently unveiled its premium SUV with crossover DNA – Renault Captur. The carmaker has commenced the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

production of Captur, and has also started taking bookings on the Renault Captur App and Renault India Website at an initial booking amount of Rs 25,000. Sumit Sawhney, Country CEO & MD, Renault India Operations, said: “Over the past few years, SUV sales are growing exponentially, making it the fastest growing segment in India. Renault Captur is a globally successful premium SUV and is widely acclaimed for its stunning expressive design, premium and class-leading features and the high levels of personalisation that can be achieved with this car.” “Renault Captur will further strengthen our position in the fast-growing SUV segment and will set new benchmarks with its global styling and unmatched road presence,” he further added.

Tata Motors on Thursday launched its first compact SUV -- Nexon. Priced at Rs 5.85 lakh to Rs 9.45 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi), Guenter Butschek, MD of Tata Motors, said aiming for a podium, if not a No. 2 position in the compact SUV space with Nexon is ‘realistic’ and is not ‘aiming for moon’ due to the strong value package of Nexon. The festival season is considered as auspicious time for buying so automakers are cashing in on this opportunity by queuing up a bevy of new sports utility vehicles to lure buyers. Maruti Suzuki is inching closer to launch a refreshed avatar of its crossover model, the S-Cross. The facelifted variant, which is expected to go on sale on 28 September, will be yet another launch to watch out for in the SUV space. The car is expected to be priced between Rs 7.94 lakh and Rs 11.66 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). In the

premium segment, the Skoda Kodiaq, a seven-seater SUV based on the Superb platform, and Range Rover Velar from Jaguar Land Rover India are set to be launched next month. Others including Mahindra and Mahindra and Toyota Kirloskar Motor are set to launch their facelifts of some existing models. Although, the new launches are coming at a time when fuel prices are higher and the GST Cess on some automobiles categories have made car purchasing SM expensive.

Honda’s Most Expensive Bike,

MEET

COMING TO INDIA SOON Pictures of Honda’s 2018 Gold Wing, set to be unveiled next month, have been leaked on the internet. If all were to go according to Honda’s plan, the new Gold Wing was set for a global debut just ahead to the Tokyo Motor Show. And since they have leaked on the internet anyway, here’s what we could decipher on what to expect and not to expect with Honda motorcycles legendary flagship cruiser.

irst off, the flat-six engine 1800 cc engine seems to have been retained, but that’s about as much as has been retained. The new girder front suspension system replaces the old telescopic forks. Now, this should make the massive Goldwing, which is nothing short of a recliner with a 1800cc motor, easier around corners. The motor will get the DCT treatment in terms of transmission, although if one was to consider the Africa Twins DCT be any kind of benchmark we are sure that the Honda Goldwing DCT will be bang on. Interestingly some patent applications would have us believe that Honda has given the GoldWing a reverse gear. If that sounds strange to you, you’ve probably never needed to 407 kg (wet weight) Honda Goldwing out of a tight spot in traffic. That considered it may well be Honda’s USP trump card for the new Goldwing. It is likely to be fully-automatic however according to the images, we see that Honda might offer a semiautomatic shifter kit with it like on the Africa Twin. Honda has even gone

about addressing the Gold Wing's lack of an electrically-adjustable visor. What seems to be the centrepiece to 2018 Honda Goldwing identity is the new console, or dashboard, there’s a large central display that suggests and

We also suspect that the Goldwing will get electronically adjustable, semi-active suspension. If that sounds, a bit aggressive, there is a good reason for it, Honda’s Goldwing has traditionally been the most sci-fi motorcycle on earth. Think of it as half a ton of wonderful Honda R&D.

tank mounted control unit that would not feel out of place on the centre console of a luxury sedan. Although the presence of the centrally mounted controls would suggest the absence of a touchscreen. We also suspect that the Goldwing will get electronically adjustable, semi-active suspension. If that sounds, a bit aggressive, there is a good reason for it, Honda’s Goldwing has traditionally been the most sci-fi motorcycle on earth. Think of it as half a ton of wonderful Honda R&D. Interestingly, Honda does have the GoldWing on sale in India currently and it’s been doing fair numbers, ie for a Rs32 lakh motorcycle. This also means that Honda will probably be bringing the bike to India later next year, although the big question is will we get to see it at the 2018 Auto Expo. Well, we sure hope so! Until we do know, enjoy the pictures. SM

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CELEBRITY

Kohli Overtakes Messi KOHLI'S BRAND VALUE IS HIGHER THAN FOOTBALL LEGEND LIONEL MESSI, GOLF SUPERSTAR RORY MCILROY AND GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS' STEPHEN CURRY. KOHLI IS NOT JUST THE MOST MARKETABLE ATHLETE IN INDIA BUT THE FACE OF CRICKET GLOBALLY. ndia captain Virat Kohli has a lot of things going for him at the moment. The 28-year-old has showcased remarkable batting consistency and astute leadership in all three formats of the game. Kohli not only has a vision for Indian cricket but has also been able to implement measures within the team to achieve it. From showcasing an aggressive brand of cricket to drastic improvement in fitness levels of players, Kohli's stamp is all over the current Indian cricket set up. Kohli is not just the most marketable athlete in India but the face of cricket globally. In a sense, Kohli's popularity and power has been captured in the latest list of the world's most valuable athletes released by Forbes on Wednesday.

The brand value of athletes is their earnings (excluding salary and bonus from their sport and all investment income), minus the average income of the top 10 athletes in the same sport. Kohli's brand value is higher than football legend Lionel Messi, golf superstar Rory McIlroy and Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry. Roger Federer tops the list, while Cristiano Ronaldo features at the number four spot. Top 10 most valuable athletes 1. Roger Federer $37.2m 2. LeBron James $33.4m 3. Usain Bolt $27m 4. Cristiano Ronaldo $21.5m 5. Phil Mickelson $19.6m 6. Tiger Woods $16.6m 7. Virat Kohli $14.5m 8. Rory McIlroy $13.6m 9. Lionel Messi $13.5m 10. Steph Curry $13.4m

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The star batsman has been on a recordbreaking run in recent time. In the 1st ODI against New Zealand, Kohli smashed a brilliant hundred at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to become the second-highest centurymaker in One-day International cricket. With his 31st ODI ton, he went past Ricky Ponting and is now just behind Sachin Tendulkar, who has 49 ODI centuries. After his 29-run knock, Kohli became the highest run scorer in ODIs in 2017, overtaking South Africa's Hashim Amla. SM

FINANCIAL

Indian Banks' Bailout:

Throwing Good Money After Bad? DESPITE THE RECAPITALISATION PLAN, BANKS BURDENED BY BAD LOANS MAY STILL NOT BE COMPLETELY OUT OF THE WOODS AND GOVERNMENT’S RESCUE ACT FOR BANKS COULD TURN OUT TO BE A CASE OF THROWING GOOD MONEY AFTER BAD.

anking operates on the basis of an entirely legal scam called “fractional reserve banking”. A customer puts his money in a bank and the bank promises to return it with interest. The bank lends the money out to another entity, and charges a higher rate of interest and lives off the difference. In case customers wish to withdraw their money, banks keep a small fraction of the deposits as a reserve. For example, A puts Rs 100 in the bank, which will pay 5% interest. The bank keeps Rs 10 on deposit in case A wants some cash back and lends out Rs 90 to B, a stock broker, at 15% interest. Now, B gives the money to C, a trader, at 25% interest. The bank has Rs 100 on deposit from A

and it has loaned out Rs 90 to B, who has also given (the same) Rs 90 on loan to C. So, Rs 100 is doing the work of Rs 180. If all goes well, the bank receives a sum of Rs 103.5 from B, and B receives a sum of Rs 112 from C. So, fractional reserve banking can generate activity and profits up and down the line. But if one of these deals goes wrong, somebody has to bear the loss. Ultimately, the bank must repay A, if B fails to return the principal, which may happen if C loses the money. So, the bank sets aside profits to cover potential bad loans (this is provisioning). If the bad loans are of a high volume, the bank’s owner must dip into his pockets, leading to erosion of equity. A lot has gone wrong with the Indian banking system. Roughly Rs 9.5 trillion

worth of loans are now reckoned to be unrecoverable. That is the equivalent of about 6.5% of gross domestic product (which is the sum of all goods and services produced in a country in a year). The banks have to cover those losses. This will erode their equity. Most of the banks that have lost serious money are owned by the government. The public sector banking sector is responsible for about 70% of the outstanding credit in the banking system and over 90% of bad loans. Many public sector banks are technically bankrupt – their equity would be wiped out if they covered all the bad loans. Now, there are strict global norms for the ratio of net worth (equity and reserves, which generally consist of accumulated profits) to loans SEASONAL MAGAZINE

outstanding for banks. Those norms are to ensure that banks do not default. This can lead to a peculiar situation where a bank has deposits to spare but cannot easily lend out that money because it does not have enough net worth. This might be the case for many public sector banks because they received huge deposits during demonetisation – when people turned in their old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes after they were declared illegal tender by the government in November – but their net worth is wiped out. These norms are set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, according to the Basel Accord, the third round (Basel III) of which is kicking in. Indian banks cannot do business abroad without meeting those reserve requirements. So the banks, especially public sector units, have to raise new capital to shore up net worth urgently. The consensus estimate is that at least Rs 4.2 trillion will be required to meet Basel III norms by 2019. So how does this recapitalisation work? The government wants to sell as little equity stake as possible. It does not have much money to spare and also has to worry about the fiscal deficit (the gap between its expenditures and revenues) going out of control. By definition, the Basel III norms have to be met by “Tier-1 Capital”, which contains a third option for funding. That is secured debt, or debentures. Debentures are “first call” instruments. If an entity goes bankrupt, debenture SEASONAL MAGAZINE

holders get the first chance at being paid. Other than that, debentures are very flexible. They can have any tenure, including perpetuity, which means that the principal will never be returned. However, the agreed rate of interest (this could be zero) must be paid – again, the legal remedies for default are much stronger than with unsecured loans. So the government intends to raise Rs 2.17 trillion to recapitalise banks by 2019. Of this, Rs 75,000 crores will be via equity. The government will pump in something over Rs 18,000 crores – this is part of an earlier commitment. Public sector banks will sell Rs 58,000 crores worth of equity stakes. In addition, the banks will raise nearly Rs 1.4 trillion by a convoluted process involving “recapitalisation bonds”. As far as can be figured out, the government will issue these bonds. The banks will use their spare liquidity (remember demonetisation) to buy those bonds. Lending to the government does not run foul of net worth-related matters because government debt, by definition, is considered 100% safe. So the banks will transfer this Rs 1.4 trillion to the government in return for the recap debentures. The government

SO THE GOVERNMENT INTENDS TO RAISE RS 2.17 TRILLION TO RECAPITALISE BANKS BY 2019. OF THIS, RS 75,000 CRORES WILL BE VIA EQUITY.

will then use the cash received to subscribe fresh equity for the banks, raising the Tier-1 Capital. That improves the banks’ net worth. Maybe the banks will then sell the bonds to the public. As of now, we have no idea what interest terms and tenures those bonds will carry. All we know is that the bonds will have a sovereign guarantee because the banks are government-owned. So, there will be takers if these are sold. This financial engineering will result in partial recapitalisation. But at least twice as much will be required by 2019 to simply bring public sector banks up to required Basel III levels. Even more might be required since nonperforming assets (loans on which the principal or interest payment is overdue for 90 days) and stressed loans continue to proliferate. So do farm loan waivers. Plus, assuming credit growth recovers, even more money will be required for recaps – more loans will mean additional Tier-I requirements. There is a further point. The bad loans have accumulated over the years as a result of bad processes, political interference and bad lending policies. Public sector banks are treated as instruments of political will. There are vague assurances being made about bank reforms but those should have been put in place and articulated transparently. If public sector banks continue to operate in the same fashion as they always have, this will be just another round of throwing good money SM after bad.

AUTO

Jeep Compass Trailhawk: Made in India for World JEEP RECENTLY ANNOUNCED THAT IT HAS STARTED EXPORT OF THE MADE-IN-INDIA COMPASS SUV TO INTERNATIONAL MARKETS LIKE AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN.

he SUV is built at the FCA plant in Ranjangaon, which is also the mother plant for all right-hand-drive Compass units globally. The company had begun building the SUV for Indian market way back in June this year. However, the rugged Trailhawk variant of the Compass wasn't part of the plant until now. Being developed only for the export market at the moment, the rugged Compass Trailhawk will be positioned as the topspec trim internationally. It comes with Jeepâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Active Drive Lowrange 4WD tech for serious off-road duties and a new 'Rock mode' for its Selec-Terrain 4WD system. The right-hand-drive Trailhawk gets a 2.0-litre diesel engine mated to a nine-

COMPARED TO THE STANDARD VARIANT, THE COMPASS TRAILHAWK GETS DIFFERENT ALLOY WHEELS, DUAL-TONE BLACK AND SILVER SHADE, RED RECOVERY HOOKS, A BLACK PAINTED ANTI-GLARE BONNET DECAL, UNDERBODY SKID PLATES AND ALL WEATHER FLOOR MATS.

speed automatic. It also sits 20mm higher than the standard variant and gets unique front and rear bumpers. This facilitates for better approach and departure angles that stand at 30 degree (approach), 24.4 degree (breakover) and 33.6 degrees (departure) respectively. The Jeep Compass Trailhawk also gets hill descent control as standard. Compared to the standard variant, the Compass Trailhawk gets different alloy wheels, dual-tone black and silver shade, red recovery hooks, a black painted anti-glare bonnet decal, underbody skid plates and all weather floor mats. There is no news on whether Jeep will bring this variant to India. However, there are talks of the Compass diesel automatic heading to showrooms in the coming months. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

INTERVIEW

SWARNA PRAGATI HOUSING MICROFINANCE

MIGHTY CHALLENGES, MIGHTIER STRATEGIES

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he last two years have been tumultuous for most microfinance institutions including Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sole Housing Microfinance firm, SwarnaPragati Housing Microfinance. Demonetisation, farm loan waiver, GST implementation, and the continuing distress in agricultural sector have all contributed to growing NPAs and moderating growth at rural financiers. But under veteran banker and housing microfinance pioneer Ramesh Kumarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dynamic vision, SwarnaPragati has fought back impressively, still managing to grow its loan-book at 65%, and remaining a profit making venture. It has also contained its net NPAs at a manageable 3.3%. SwarnaPragati has also beefed up operations in lucrative territories like Karnataka and entered newer ones like West Bengal. It has also started a second growth engine of direct branches apart from partnering with MFIs & NGOs. No wonder, awards and accolades have been pouring in on the Chennai based rural housing finance specialist. Seasonal Magazine interviews Ramesh Kumar, Founder and CMD.

In 2015, when we talked, Swarna Pragati was the only Housing Microfinance company in the country. Has new competitors emerged since then? No, not at all. No significant company has entered this niche segment of Housing Microfinance. Having said that, I should also tell that competition from more conventional housing finance models have emerged. Older companies like Mahindra Rural as well as some microfinance companies with housing finance subsidiaries and small finance banks are providing us some competition in the rural space. But nobody is doing it in our model of Housing Microfinance.

Two years back, Swarna Pragati was growing at a CAGR of 200%. Has the growth moderated? Yes, of course, due to various reasons. Firstly, the 200% growth was on a much smaller base. Secondly, demonetization has had a negative impact on rural growth. Then a policy measure like farm loan waiver has had a sentimental impact of repayments, but which thankfully was short-lived in our case. The drought situation in Tamilnadu and elsewhere has had an impact. Owing to all these, the growth in loan book was 65% during last fiscal, and this year it may go down a bit more due to the lingering effects of these developments as well as our larger base. A lot of consolidation is happening in the microfinance industry. How is it affecting your operation? As of now, this has had little impact on Swarna Pragati. Consolidation in the microfinance industry is driven by various factors. Firstly, some of the larger MFIs are getting converted into Small Finance Banks, but are finding the going tough as banking business is much more complex than they expected it to be. These MFIs have no long term liabilities except for capital, and they are now looking at SME loans and vehicle loans to tide over this challenge. This will take time.

Ramesh Kumar, CMD

But some MFIs are also selling out to banksâ&#x20AC;Ś That is driven both by banks as well as MFIs. Many banks have absolutely no rural reach SEASONAL MAGAZINE

and they are trying to create it in one step by buying these MFIs. However, it is not an easy process as the nature of bank branches and MFI branches are very different. Assimilation of MFI branches and utilizing them for banking operations will take time. From the MFIs’ side, post demonetization and farm loan waivers, the NPAs have skyrocketed from less than 1% to double digits. This has affected the operations and standalone feasibility of some smaller MFIs which weren’t finely managed with good corporate governance controls. Is Swarna Pragati eyeing a banking license of any kind? No, not immediately. We are still in the process of building up our core business of Housing Microfinance, where we are the pioneers. This will continue for the next few years. And we are happy that our work continues to be recognized by domestic and international agencies.

Yes, Swarna Pragati and you have been getting a lot of awards and accolades. Can you briefly mention some recent wins? Yes, Wall Street Journal and Metlife Foundation jointly gave us the award for Best Financial Inclusion Company in the Asia Pacific Region. Then, Government of India awarded SwarnaPragati as Top Social Innovator in Housing. The Socrates Society Oxford, UK, gave us the Best Regional Enterprise Award, as well as a Best Manager Award for me. We have also won Responsible Business Awards for

“We have started a

second engine of direct lending too through our own branches. Towards this, we have started 48 branches across the country.”

Rural Action and an Award for me as Social Innovator of the Year, 2017. Have any of your major investors or managers left the company, or the structure remains the same? Yes, it remains the same. Major investors like Aavishkar Goodwell II, Zephyr Peacock and Omidyar Network are still backing us. Co-founder Sameer Siddiqui is also with us. How have the challenges become different for Swarna Pragati during the last two years? The core challenges remain the same, but the main new development is that we have realized the partner model with MFIs and NGOs may not be enough to scale up our operations. So, during this period we have started a second engine of direct lending too through our own branches. Towards this, we have started 48 branches across the country. But branches are enabled to go for local tie-ups with grassroots level MFIs and NGOs for promoting sales, while collections have almost all been taken over by the branches directly. Is this driving up Swarna Pragati’s costs? In the short term, yes, it does increase our costs. But, what we have found is that now we have better calibrated growth. Also, being a microfinance model, our lending rate of 23% can absorb this higher cost. Has the nature of your loans or borrowers changed during these years? Not really. Our primary borrowers are still women, 100% of them. Also, we

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still lend a lot through Self Help Groups and Joint Liability Groups. The nature of our housing loan remains still incremental to account for the low and fluctuating income levels of the rural customers and the need for short terms. However, the range of our loans has gone up, with SwarnaPragati lending from Rs.50,000 to up to Rs. 7 lakhs, from the earlier Rs. 2 lakhs. Nearly 75% of the loans are still under Rs. 2 lakhs, with the average ticket size at around Rs. 1.6 lakhs. Our Housing+ product now gives up to Rs. 10 lakh loans for those with higher income levels, earlier it was capped at Rs. 7 lakhs. Has productive housing, where a new house is used for productive work, delivered as much as you expected? Not in most geographies. But in Bengal, where we recently entered, this has huge scope. There converting jute into yarn is a cottage industry, and we are getting good response for productive housing. Has your reliance on para legal mortgage changed over the years? Only in certain geographies like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where we found out that para legal mortgage is not really needed. In every other territory like Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal it remains valid. What about your asset quality? Is it still at manageable levels? Earlier, our net NPAs were under 1%, if you remember. But post the demonetization impact, the Net NPA has become 3.3% while our Gross NPA went to 4.6% as on March 2017. The distress in the agricultural sector has also contributed to this and its effects

have not fully reversed. But the current asset quality is definitely manageable due to the secured or mortgage nature of our loans, as well as our higher interest rates. We continue to make profits. What is your loan book size now? Are you getting adequate funds to fuel further growth? Our loan book is currently at Rs.170 crores now. We have obtained Rs. 50 crores from SBI that is fuelling our further growth in the short term. Which are your most productive states, and which are the most promising in the future? As of now, Odisha and Tamilnadu have been our most productive states. But from next year onward we expect West Bengal and Karnataka to be major contributors. As a former banker, and now a financial services entrepreneur, how

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wall Street Journal and Metlife Foundation jointly gave us the award for Best Financial Inclusion. Then, Government of India awarded Swarna Pragati as Top Social Innovator in Housing.â&#x20AC;?

do you assess the impact of demonetization, farm loan waiver, and GST implementation? I believe demonetization was wellintentioned, but it has brought immense pain to the cash-only economy of rural areas. I would say it is an ecosystem blow, and it would take many quarters if not years for many rural businesses and MFIs to recover from this impact. Loan waiver, on the other hand, is in principle itself quite bad. It is a quick fix to fight social resentment due to other reasons, and it is proving to be a huge sentimental blow to loan repayments across the board. It has damaged the rural credit culture. What should have been done instead was diverting these funds to building up rural marketing infrastructure. With regard to GST, it does have an impact on our sensitive rural customers as tax on certain cost has gone up from 15% to 18%. How far have the government schemes to boost rural housing helped Swarna Pragati? Both the PMAY Grameen and PMAY Rural Interest Subsidy Scheme have been benefitting us. In fact, I have been personally fighting hard for the Rural Housing Subsidy Scheme. Now, the rural customers get an interest subsidy of 3%. This will benefit nearly 100% of our customers. The other one is really a refurbishing of the older Rajiv AwazYojana and will benefit the poorest of the poor customers, whom also we serve. We see a good fillip for SM our future business. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

HEALTH

Smartphones

May Help Curb Depression

DEPRESSION IS A SERIOUS MENTAL DISORDER AND MAY REQUIRE PROLONGED TREATMENT JUST LIKE ANY PHYSICAL AILMENT.

new study, published in the journal World Psychiatry, indicates that smartphone apps can help in treating depression. The results of the study show that smartphones open up nonstigmatising and self-managing avenues of care for people with depression. Smartphones can help them monitor, understand and manage their own mental health. According to lead author Joseph Firth, postdoctoral research fellow at Australia's National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM), "The majority of people in developed countries own smartphones, including younger people who are increasingly SEASONAL MAGAZINE

affected by depression.â&#x20AC;? Firth added, "Smartphone devices may ultimately be capable of providing instantly accessible and highly effective treatments for depression, reducing the societal and economic burden of this condition worldwide.â&#x20AC;?

The team suggests that these apps can be used as an "integrative medicine" approach and can be particularly useful for improving mood and tackling symptoms in patients.

Researchers have found that these apps are not from cognitive behavioural therapy or mood monitoring programmes in terms of application of principles of mindfulness. The team suggests that these apps can be used as an "integrative medicine" approach and can be particularly useful for improving mood and tackling symptoms in patients. For the study, the team reviewed 18 randomised controlled trials which examined a total of 22 different smartphones-delivered mental health interventions. The studies involved more than 3,400 male and female participants between the ages of 18-59. SM

ECONOMY

AS CENTRAL & STATE GOVERNMENTS MINT MONEY ON FUEL, THE BURDEN IS ON THE MASSES Amid protests against the recent spike in petrol and diesel prices, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has ruled out the possibility of an end to the recently introduced policy of revising fuel prices daily.

forces, not costs. So lower crude oil prices need not necessarily lead to lower fuel prices. Costs only determine the profits of oil companies, whose operating margins have naturally improved since deregulation. Taxes are the main culprit stopping petrol and diesel prices from reflecting the fall in international crude oil prices. About half the retail price paid by consumers for petrol and diesel goes towards paying the excise duty and the

ince June 16 this year, petrol and diesel prices across the country have been revised on a daily basis, against the previous policy of revising prices every fortnight. By opting for daily pricing, India has joined advanced countries like the United States and others which follow the practice. The daily pricing policy is in line with the governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s efforts over the years to deregulate the pricing of essential fuels. The prices of petrol and diesel were first deregulated in 2010 and 2014 respectively, bringing in the practice of fortnightly revision of prices. The new daily pricing policy, the government argues, will now allow oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and others to price their products even better, that is, in accordance with their fluctuating input costs. The oil companies need not wait a fortnight to change prices, and it is believed that this would allow them to quickly pass on the benefit of lower crude oil prices to retail customers. Also, daily price revisions will reduce the risk of huge revisions in prices, which is more common under the fortnightly pricing policy. The daily pricing policy has been blamed in recent weeks for the sharp increase in petrol and diesel prices. Fuel prices fell in the initial days after the implementation of the new policy, but have seen a sharp acceleration ever since. The price of petrol in metro cities like Delhi and Kolkata, for instance, has risen by more than Rs.5 since the introduction of daily pricing. The government has blamed supply constraints due to floods in the United

states for the present rise in prices. A wider criticism, however, is that domestic fuel prices have also failed to match the drastic fall in international crude oil prices over the last few years. Petrol, for instance, sold at a retail price of Rs.65 in 2012 when the price of the Indian crude oil basket was around $120. Today, even as the price of crude oil has dropped by more than half to hover around $50, the retail price of petrol stands at well over Rs.70. The surprising divergence in the cost of crude oil and domestic fuel prices has caused a lot of anger. What is being missed is the fact that fuel prices are determined by market

The surprising divergence in the cost of crude oil and domestic fuel prices has caused a lot of anger.

value added tax imposed on them. These taxes increase the price at which oil companies can profitably sell essential fuels to consumers, thus restricting supply and keeping prices high. Taking on the Oppositionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s criticism, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently dared the States ruled by the Congress and the CPI(M) to reduce VAT on petroleum products and forgo their share of the Centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s revenue from fuel taxes. He said 42% of the Central tax receipts from petrol go to the States. Mr. Pradhan has called for petrol and diesel to be brought under the GST to lower the tax burden. This will help bring down their prices, but only when it is combined with better competition in the oil sector. Otherwise, lower taxes will merely improve the profits of oil companies without any of the benefits, whether it is lower crude oil prices or any other fall in input costs, being passed SM on to consumers. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SCIENCE

Scientists Claim Universe Shouldn't Exist!

The CERN scientists have performed the most precise experiment on antiprotons in which they have found a symmetry in nature that they say just shouldn't be possible.

n a recent breakthrough research, CERN Scientists have revealed that the universe which we know it should not exist.The findings from the BASE (Baryon Antibaryon Symmetry Experiment) are published in the journal Nature. The CERN scientists have performed the most precise experiment on antiprotons in which they have found a symmetry in nature that they say just shouldn't be possible. The scientists have raised serious concern about the universe that the first matter formed after the Big Bang. Because particles and antiparticles annihilate one another when they come into contact, if there were exactly equal measures of both, the universe wouldn’t exist—at least not in the form we see it today. As such, there must be an imbalance between particles and antiparticles, even if it is only by the tiniest fraction. "All of our observations find a complete symmetry between matter and antimatter, which is why the universe should not actually exist," first author Christian Smorra, from Japan’s RIKEN institute, said in a statement. In the study, researchers used antiprotons that had been isolated in 2015. The antiprotons were measured using the interaction of two traps that use electrical and magnetic fields to capture them. The team was able to measure the magnetic force of the antiproton to a level that is 350 times more precise than ever before. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

If there was an imbalance between protons and antiprotons, this level of precision would be the best bet for finding it. "At its core, the question is whether the antiproton has the same magnetism as a proton," said Stefan Ulmer, spokesperson of the BASE group. "This is the riddle we need to solve." "The measurement of antiprotons was extremely difficult and we had been working on it for 10 years. The final breakthrough came with the

revolutionary idea of performing the measurement with two particles." After finding no asymmetry between particles and antiparticles, the researchers will now work to develop even higher-precision measurements of protons and antiprotons to improve on the latest findings. "An asymmetry must exist here somewhere but we simply do not understand where the difference is. What is the source of the symmetry break?" Smorra said. SM

SPACE

Inside One of NASA’s Most Challenging Missions NASA’s asteroid sample return mission, OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security – Regolith Explorer), passed about 11,000 miles (17,000 kilometers) above Earth just before 12:52 p.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 22. Using Earth as a slingshot, the spacecraft received an assist to complete its journey to the asteroid Bennu. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SIRIS-REx is undertaking a challenging mission to visit the near-Earth asteroid, survey the surface, collect samples and deliver them safely back to Earth. This is the first NASA mission to attempt such an undertaking. The spacecraft is halfway through its two-year outbound journey, and now OSIRIS-REx needs an extra boost to successfully rendezvous with Bennu. Bennu’s orbit around the Sun is tilted six degrees in comparison to Earth’s. The gravity assist will change OSIRIS-REx’s trajectory to put the spacecraft on a course to match the asteroid’s path and speed.

and another on Aug. 23, 2017 (30 days before the gravity assist) – that further refined the spacecraft’s trajectory in preparation for the flyby. The navigation team comprises employees from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and KinetX Aerospace. KinetX Aerospace navigation team members plan and carry out all OSIRIS-REx maneuvers with the Lockheed Martin spacecraft operations team at the Lockheed Martin Waterton Campus in Littleton, Colorado. To properly target the Earth Gravity Assist, the navigation team calculates any required amount of change in the spacecraft’s course and speed. This information is then translated by the operations team into commands that are uploaded to the spacecraft and executed by firing the spacecraft’s rocket engines. After traveling almost 600 million miles, OSIRIS-REx approached Earth at a speed of about 19,000 mph. The spacecraft flew over Australia before reaching its closest point to Earth over Antarctica, just south of Cape Horn, Chile.

“The Earth Gravity Assist is a clever way to move the spacecraft onto Bennu’s orbital plane using Earth’s own gravity instead of expending fuel,” said Dante Lauretta, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator at the University of Arizona, Tucson. The team has already made multiple adjustments to the spacecraft’s path since launch on Sept. 8, 2016. The largest was a deep space maneuver on Dec. 28, 2016, that changed the speed and path of the spacecraft to target Earth for the flyby. There have also been three trajectory correction maneuvers – one on Oct. 7, 2016, one on Jan. 18, 2017,

“For about an hour, NASA was out of contact with the spacecraft as it passed over Antarctica,” said Mike Moreau, the flight dynamics system lead at Goddard. “OSIRIS-REx uses the Deep Space Network to communicate with Earth, and the spacecraft will be too low relative to the southern horizon to be in view with either the Deep Space tracking station at Canberra, Australia, or Goldstone, California.” NASA regained communication with OSIRIS-REx at 1:40 p.m. EDT, roughly 50 minutes after closest approach. At 4:52 p.m. EDT, four hours after closest approach, OSIRIS-REx began science observations of Earth and the Moon to calibrate its instruments. During the gravity assist, OSIRIS-REx passed through a region of space that is inhabited by Earth-orbiting satellites, and NASA had taken precautions to ensure the safety of the spacecraft as it flies through this area. The mission’s flight dynamics team had designed a small

maneuver that, if necessary, could be executed a day before closest approach to change the spacecraft’s trajectory slightly to avoid a potential collision between OSIRIS-REx and a satellite. “A few weeks after the flyby we will assess the outgoing trajectory on its way to Bennu,” said Dan Wibben, the maneuver design and trajectory analysis lead from KinetX Aerospace. “There is a maneuver planned in case we need to adjust the orbit just a little bit to push the spacecraft back on track.” In late June of 2018, the team will perform another deep space maneuver to further target the rendezvous with Bennu. Then beginning in October 2018, a series of asteroid approach maneuvers will be executed to slow the spacecraft with respect to the asteroid. Once OSIRIS-REx rendezvous with Bennu in late 2018, the spacecraft will begin surveying the surface. “The asteroid’s small size and low gravity makes OSIRIS-REx the most challenging mission that I have worked on,” said Peter Antreasian, the navigation team chief from KinetX Aerospace. “At roughly 500 meters in diameter, Bennu will be the smallest object that NASA has orbited.” NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center provides overall mission management, systems engineering and the safety and mission assurance for OSIRIS-REx. Dante Lauretta of the University of Arizona, Tucson, is the principal investigator, and the University of Arizona also leads the science team and the mission’s science observation planning and data processing. Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver built the spacecraft and is providing flight operations. Goddard and KinetX Aerospace are responsible for navigating the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers Program. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the agency’s New Frontiers Program for its Science Mission Directorate in Washington. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

SCAM feed commercial and non-medical interests?

BEHIND INDIA'S CAESAREAN BOOM THE NUMBER OF C-SECTION DELIVERIES IN INDIA HAS MORE THAN DOUBLED IN THE PAST DECADE, GOING UP FROM 8.5% OF THE TOTAL BIRTHS IN 2005-06 TO 17.2% IN 2015-16. EVERY YEAR, AS MANY AS 6.6 MILLION BABIES – A FIGURE EQUIVALENT TO IRELAND’S POPULATION – ARE BORN IN INDIA THROUGH CAESAREAN-SECTION (C-SECTION) SURGERY.

he number has more than doubled in the past decade, going up from 8.5% of the total births in 2005-06 to 17.2% in 201516. During the same period, institutional deliveries – births at hospitals, health centres and clinics – also doubled from 38.7% to 78.9%, data released by the National Family Health Survey-4 in 2017 shows. “C-sections are effective in saving maternal and infant lives, but only when required for medical reasons. At the population level, c-section rates higher than 10% do not lower mother and newborn deaths,” said the World Health Organisation (WHO) on c-section in 2015, after a systematic review of scientific literature. Globally, 18.6% of all births occur through c-section surgery, ranging from 6% in less-developed to 27.2% in moredeveloped regions, data from 150 countries till 2014 shows. The c-section rate worldwide increased by 12.4% (from 6.7% to 19.1%) between 1990 and 2014. So, are instances of c-section surgery rising because it minimises chances of birth complications (such as preterm births and cephalic, breech or transverse foetal presentations) or does it simply SEASONAL MAGAZINE

To introduce transparency, the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) plans to ask all empanelled hospitals and clinics to display their c-section rates prominently at reception counters. If hospitals don’t comply, they will risk losing CGHS empanelment and, with it, several thousands of CHGS beneficiaries whose treatment is paid for by the government. The most common medical causes for csection are large or premature babies, routine repeat caesareans, nonprogressive labour, breech presentation, foetal distress, prematurity, in-vitro fertilisation, and late age of conception. (Shutterstock) C-section rates in rural India (12.9%) are closer to WHO

TO INTRODUCE TRANSPARENCY, THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT HEALTH SCHEME (CGHS) PLANS TO ASK ALL EMPANELLED HOSPITALS AND CLINICS TO DISPLAY THEIR C-SECTION RATES PROMINENTLY AT RECEPTION COUNTERS. recommendations, but its urban count – 28.3% – is nearly three times that. The rates hover around 50% at many private tertiary-care hospitals in Indian cities. Tertiary medical institutions such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and district hospitals across the country show higher c-section rates than the population average because complicated pregnancies are often referred there. “At the institution level, low c-section rates are often not the best indicator of quality and ethical healthcare because states with the worst public health infrastructure often have the lowest rates. They simply don’t have the infrastructure or human resources to conduct c-section deliveries,” says Dr Neerja Batla, professor of gynaecology and obstetrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

A substantial number of emergency csection cases are referred to other medication institutions even from the AIIMS-run government hospital (Comprehensive Rural Health Services Project) at Ballabhgarh in Faridabad because it has no anaesthetist on weekends. The most common medical causes for csection are large or premature babies, routine repeat caesareans, nonprogressive labour, breech presentation, foetal distress, prematurity, in-vitro fertilisation, and late age of conception. “Technology capable of monitoring foetal distress has made it possible to save babies as young as 25 weeks. The priority of doctors is to safeguard the mother and child in the safest way possible,” says Dr Rishma Pai, president, Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of India.

The ministry official shrugs off her objection. “We just want transparency, and what’s best for the mother and child, In 2015, WHO recommended the Robson classification system as the global standard for assessing, monitoring and comparing c-section rates at healthcare facilities to ensure that it is performed only for medical reasons. “C-section rates at private hospitals and clinics are often higher than government medical colleges and district hospitals, where junior doctors and post-graduate students are available on a 24x7 basis. Doctors at private centres don’t want to wait around for a natural delivery, which can occur at a time inconvenient to them,” says a health ministry official. Moreover, a large number of private sector doctors visit more than one hospital or clinic – making unplanned deliveries inconvenient. “Opting for a csection helps them plan their day and also make more money for the hospital,” claims 34-year-old Sailesh Manchanda, who believes his wife’s obstetrician opted for the scalpel even when all her health parameters were normal.

“I got a second opinion after my daughter was born, and was told there was no need for a c-section,” says Mandhanda, whose daughter – Siya – is now five. His second child, Nimish, had a natural birth at a different hospital earlier this month. Doctors at private hospital also tend to practise “defensive obstetrics”, where litigation fears make them choose to deliver the baby through surgery at the first sign of trouble. “If the baby is born with a birth-related defect, who will be held responsible? This is about human life, and the quality of life cannot be compromised,” says Dr Pai, who differs with the government on forcing hospitals to display c-section rates. “Such a step may pressurise some hospitals to reject complicated pregnancies.” The ministry official shrugs off her objection. “We just want transparency, and what’s best for the mother and child,” he says. Following a UK Supreme Court judgment in 2015 that compensated a baby who suffered brain damage during a vaginal birth inadvisably conducted on a woman with diabetes and a small pelvis, all doctors are officially required to warn expectant mothers on the risks posed by both c-section and natural births. Some of them pick c-section in the hope of avoiding labour pain. “Conducting c-section by saying that the mother wanted one is no excuse. Doctors have to inform her that epidural anaesthesia makes delivery painless,” says Dr Batla. Incidentally, surgery comes with its own risks – anaesthesia complications, infections, haemorrhage, scarring, injury to other organs, increased chances of respiratory distress, and the likelihood of the baby contracting autoimmune diseases and allergic ailments. C-sections also delay mother-newborn bonding and breastfeeding, and increase the chances of repeat caesareans for subsequent deliveries. Dr Batla says charging the same amount for c-sections and natural deliveries is one way to build trust. “Some hospitals are already doing that to dispel suspicions of medical profiteering,” he adds. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

FINANCE

BAD LOANS, GOOD MONEY, AND WHY A CRISIS MUST NOT BE WASTED A truism embedded in the history of India’s political economy is that things must get worse before they get better, and that crisis compels reformative action. Recently, India was presented with validation when the government finally announced its intent to capitalise public sector banks to clear the stench of bad loans was wafting across the economy since 2013. nquestionably it is a laudable first step. There are questions over the commas and semicolons of the package, about who is eventually paying for it, the fate of defaulters and the adequacy of the quantum estimates have ranged between $30 billion to $65 billion by 2019. What is clear is that recapitalisation alone will not be enough. Yes, there is excitement in the stock market but it is useful to remember that little has changed structurally, and the password for happy hours is still with the addicts in detox! The government has promised reforms but is yet to unveil them. For now intent is the plan. To appreciate the need for more than just capitalisation one must review the state of decay perpetuated over a decade. The burden of bad loans is currently estimated to be around Rs 9.5 lakh crore or $145 billion, and the bulk of it is in public sector banks. The pileup of unsustainable corporate debt, the burden of bad loans on banks and the unprecedented slowdown in credit growth despite rate cuts are indicators of the mess. The rot caused by systemic debauchery is illustrated in the destruction of value. Even after the bump up in the stock market, listed public sector banks which hold assets worth 2.5 times that of all private sector banks are valued at less than half that of private sector banks. The market value of all the 21 listed public sector banks is less than that of just two banks HDFC Bank Ltd. and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. Indeed, the market value of the largest public sector bank, State Bank of India is nearly half of HDFC Bank and that of Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank is less than that of Bajaj Finance Ltd., a nonSEASONAL MAGAZINE

banking finance company. The phraseology of ‘too big to fail’ has a unique connotation in the Indian context with the bulk of the public sector segment of banking being afflicted. The slide in investments and impact on growth is one manifestation. A more serious issue is the vulnerability of savings. Savers have over Rs 109 lakh crore in banks of which 70 percent is in public sector banks and over Rs 9 lakh crore is deemed to be at risk. Deposit insurance is limited. Sovereign ownership is a comfort, not an assurance. The unattended ongoing crisis represents an inestimable risk to economic and political stability. Every crisis is a feel-good factor, the harbinger of reformative change, and hence must not be wasted.

Anatomy Of The Crisis Albert Einstein once said if he had an hour to solve a problem he would spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes on solutions. Critical to the resolution of the banking crisis is

comprehension of the problem. There are three distinct aspects to review. There is the issue of economic philosophy what role does the government play in managing the economy? There is the political context tactical and contextual myopia that leads to longterm damage. There is the structural design the operational mechanism of who borrows from whom to lend to whom for what. The cliché about governance in India is that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. The stench in India’s banking is a testimony to it. Take government ownership, political management and blend it with populism, policy paralysis, judicial interventionism and crony capitalism. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.

Must The Sarkar Run Banks? It is true that nationalised banks have served as instruments of not just

economic but also socio-political change. And there was a context to the nationalisation of banks in 1969. But by 1980, as then RBI Governor IG Patel revealed in his book after demitting office, when five more banks had to be nationalised, even Indira Gandhi had lost the appetite for nationalisation.The question to interrogate in 2017 is, does ownership matter for the objectives of the government? In their 2009 report on financial sector reforms, ‘A 100 Small Steps’, a committee of 12 experts led by Raghuram Rajan opined that there was “little evidence that the ownership of banks makes any difference to whether they undertake social obligations, once these are mandated or paid for” and add that “the majority of this Committee does not see a compelling reason for continuing government ownership.” Indeed, the report points out that “out of 138 countries only nine had a predominantly state-owned banking sector.” In fact, as early as in 1998, the Narasimham Committee had advised that government shareholding in banks to be brought down to 33 percent. Two decades later, the lowest holding of government in any public sector bank is 58 percent. This government does not subscribe to the idea of privatisation, primarily due to the risk of transfer of public wealth of many to a few. Fair enough. But does it have to invest faith in the political management of public savings? Why not transfer the holdings of public sector banks into a trust or a sovereign fund à la Temasek, get the Sarkar out, and professionalise banking?

The Economic Risks Of Politics It is true that there is no economics without politics. It is equally true that political and economic cycles are not always in sync. At the same time, the construct of democracy requires parties to win elections. Electorates expect a fair return for votes in governance and growth that translates into prosperity. Parties are often caught between ‘all is well’ and ‘all will be well’. To ensure this, parties in power choose to intervene to influence the generation of income, increase in consumption and demand for investment. For instance, the

THE SAGA OF BAD LOANS IS SCARCELY UNIDIMENSIONAL. WORLD OVER, INVESTMENT IS ABOUT RETURN ON CAPITAL. government, on Tuesday, announced a stimulus package promising revival of growth an array of infrastructure projects entailing an expenditure of over Rs 7 lakh crore. Presumably, some or most of these will be executed in concert with private players and banks will be lending to these projects. How do the players factor the economic risks of politics? Take a look at the list of stranded projects or sectors under stress on the NPA map infrastructure, power, telecom, transport, and steel. Manufacturing enterprises must deal with politics of pricing, bureaucracy, and markets. Two of three factors of production labour and land are constrained by myriad regulations. Then there is judicial intervention, populist legislation, and policy unpredictability. The saga of bad loans is scarcely unidimensional. World over, investment is about return on capital. In India, delays and denial have embedded a phenomenon called return of capital. There is the entrepreneurial pathology and then there is a structural malaise. There is a business risk and then there are political risks. Businesses can be expected to understand and assess business risks but not political risks. Evidently, this calls for a systemic cleanup, mitigation of policy and political unpredictability and an end of the permission raj.

Liability Of Mismatched Risks At an operational level, the architecture of banking is stuck with a serious mismatch of assets and liabilities, resources, tenures, and risk. On the liability side every rupee in the portfolio of the banking system is essentially risk-averse capital. On the asset side, every rupee that banks lend goes to risk-vulnerable enterprises. Much of the lending is of long tenure

and savings is of short tenure. The need for long-term financing to bridge resource and tenure risks is known and was well recognised. In the 1950s and 1960s, in the Harrod Domar era of economic thinking, the government had established institutions for long-term lending – IFCI Ltd. in 1948, ICICI in 1955, IDBI and UTI in 1964 – institutions with capacity and capabilities to match resource and risks. Over a period of time IFCI flailed, IDBI and ICICI morphed into banks. By late 1990s the need for specialised institutions was rediscovered leading to the creation of IDFC Ltd. in 1997, IIFCL in 2006 and NIIF in 2015. IDFC is now a bank and the other two haven’t quite taken off. Aggravating the situation is the poor depth of long-term debt market. The gap in capacity and capabilities has consequences and must be redressed if banking is to survive and thrive.

Player, Umpire, Spectator, Or Cheerleader?

Finally, the choice of policies for development is contextual the call depends on the economic and political imperatives. There are many paths to choose from there is the muchmentioned Keynesian way, the HarrodDomar model favoured by PC Mahalanobis and company in the 1950s, the Schumpeterian template of circular flow interrupted by innovation and/or the Samuelson system of autonomous and derived investment. The fact is, the government’s action in one domain has consequences in another domain. A wrong twist on the Rubik’s cube can and does misalign colours on the plane. Critical is whether the government wants to be a player, umpire, spectator or cheerleader and what in which segment of the economy. It is this positioning that enables efficient management of business and political cycles, determines success and failure. Shankkar Aiyar, political economy analyst, is the author of Aadhaar: A Biometric History of India’s 12-Digit Revolution; and Accidental India. The views expressed here are those of the author’s and do not necessarily represent the views of BloombergQuint SM or its editorial team. By Shankkar Aiyar For Bloomberg Quint SEASONAL MAGAZINE

HOMEBUYING

GOVERNMENT EXTENDS INTEREST SUBSIDY on MIG Home Loans Till March 2019

THE CENTRAL GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THE BENEFIT OF INTEREST SUBSIDY OF ABOUT RS2.60 LAKH ON HOME LOANS UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI AWAS YOJANA (URBAN) WILL NOW BE AVAILABLE FOR BENEFICIARIES BELONGING TO MIDDLE INCOME GROUPS (MIG) FIR 15 MORE MONTHS BEYOND DECEMBER THIS YEAR.

urga Shanker Mishra, secretary (housing and urban affairs), announced this while addressing the 'Real Estate and Infrastructure Investors Summit' organised by NAREDCO, in Mumbai recently. He said the government has decided to give more time for MIG beneficiaries to avail interest subsidy under PMAY (Urban). Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his announcement on the 31 December last year had made applicable the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS) under PMAY (Urban) to MIG, till the end of December this year. Under CLSS, MIG beneficiaries with annual income of above Rs6 lakh and up to Rs12 lakh would get an interest subsidy of 4 per cent on a 20 year loan component of Rs9 lakh. Those with annual exceeding Rs12 lakh and up to Rs18 lakh would get interest subsidy of 3 per cent. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Reiterating the government's commitment to meet the `Housing for All' targets in urban areas by 2022, Mishra urged private investors to invest in affordable housing, being promoted by the Government in a big way with several incentives and concessions. Mishra later held an hour-long discussion with a 30-member delegation of NAREDCO and assured them that the government would look into various issues raised by them in all sincerity and possible interventions would be considered. The delegation referred to

The delegation expressed concern over GST and other taxes accounting for over one third of the cost of residential properties.

what they called anomalies in GST rates for completed and under construction housing projects, stamp duties being higher and kept outside the purview of GST, scarcity of land, delays in granting construction permits, lack of coordination among different municipal agencies, RBI's high risk weightage for lending to real estate sector despite Real Estate Act coming into force, inadequate bank financing despite non-performing assets in respect of construction being much less than other sectors etc. The delegation expressed concern over GST and other taxes accounting for over one third of the cost of residential properties. Minister of housing and urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, who addressed the summit yesterday suggested to NAREDCO to have a detailed discussion with secretary (HUA) for resolving the issues so that affordable housing could be given a boost. SM

WELLNESS

Try These Mood Elevating Foods Depression is a serious mental disorder and may require prolonged treatment just like any physical ailment. But there are some natural ways to curb depression. You are what you eat and your diet can play a crucial role in maintaining mental health. Try to include these foods in your daily diet to curb symptoms of depression. 1. Complex carbohydrates: Include foods that are rich in complex carbs in your diet like whole grains and brown rice. A lot of studies have shown that low carb diets have been linked to nervousness, anxiety, decreased

concentration and insomnia. 2. Vitamin D: A deficiency of this nutrient if often linked with mood swings and depression. Add natural

sources of Vitamin D like mushrooms, eggs and soy milk to your diet. 3. Antioxidants: Antioxidants can help in reducing the oxidative stress on your mental health. Berries and foods like cherries, grapes and dark leafy greens are your best bet. 4. Good quality proteins: Protein rich foods are known to boost alertness. Some of them contain an amino acid called tryptophan which helps your body make the mood boosting brain chemical, serotonin. Peas, beans, soya, lentils and paneer are good options and so are chicken and fish. These healthy foods can really help in lifting your mood and making you SM feel better. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

MEMORIAL

CHE GUEVARA’S INDIAN DIARIES WHILE THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND COMMEMORATED THE 50TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY OF CHE GUEVARA BY ISSUING A POSTAL STAMP THAT ACKNOWLEDGED HIS IRISH ROOTS, HIS INDIAN ADMIRERS HAVE THEIR OWN INTERESTING PIECE OF TRIVIA TO SHARE ABOUT THE ICONIC REVOLUTIONARY DURING HIS FIRST VISIT TO THE COUNTRY IN 1959. WHILE HEAPING PRAISE ON NEHRU’S SOCIALIST PLANNING AND GANDHI’S NON-VIOLENT STRUGGLE, CHE WAS HOWEVER TOUCHED BY THE DEEP INEQUALITIES PREVAILING IN POST-COLONIAL INDIA AND THE PLIGHT OF THE KASHMIRIS WHO HAD SUFFERED A MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE ONLY MONTHS BEFORE.

ean-Paul Sartre was impressed enough by Ernesto Che Guevara (1928-1967) to call him “the most complete human being of our age” after Che’s death. It was a reference to the Renaissance man, whom Sartre exhorted for possessing fraternal as well as revolutionary ideals. Che, the Marxist revolutionary from Argentina, who became the major figure of the Cuban Revolution, had also spoken of “the New Man”, who would be a genderblind, anti-imperialist, selfless worker of the people. He contrasted this to the American penchant for producing the “safe subject”, who is geared towards ushering “the revolution of the toilets”. Che battled hard to restore his social SEASONAL MAGAZINE

and political optimism by upturning America’s hegemony in Cuba. Soon after the revolution was successful, Fidel Castro sent Che as an emissary to a number of countries including India. Che and his delegation met Nehru in his office in New Delhi. Che later said Nehru met them with the “amiable familiarity of a patriarchal grandfather,” Thanvi documents. That comment on Nehru’s demeanour perhaps bordered on sarcasm. However, Che is said to have had an admiration for Nehru. Jon Lee Anderson wrote in his book Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life that Che read The Discovery of India with interest,

“underlining and scribbling comments about passages he found thoughtprovoking”. Anderson unfortunately did not furnish us with those passages. But it is possible to imagine Che being impressed by Nehru’s zeal for industrialisation within a socialist mode of state-controlled productivity. In his recorded impressions of India, Che had approvingly observed that India “had to be industrialised as a base for future economic development”.

Picture of contrast But Che contrasted these welcoming signs with “the most abject misery”,

of thought. By that statement, Che endorses the crucial importance of a tradition of contemplation prior to modernity. Che perhaps also implied that without such a tradition, a figure like Gandhi was impossible. For it was Gandhi alone who had challenged the ideology of modernity and churned out a political response against it.

Of merit which he observed during his visit to Calcutta. It opened his eyes to India’s stark social inequalities. In his impressions, which Thanvi sourced and published. Che began by comparing India’s soil with the soil of Egypt — which he had recently visited — finding India’s soil superior to that of the desert country. However, he proceeded to point out that “social injustice has resulted in an arbitrary distribution of land where a few have a lot and many have nothing”.

Though Che put the problem of economic disparities on record, he subtly avoided being judgemental about Nehruvian India. Che’s overall tone was optimistic rather than harsh. He was probably following Fidel Castro’s directives to get friendly with countries close to the socialist bloc. Che also offered to help the “brother people” of Kashmir when an earthquake struck the place near the end of his two-week visit. Even though it was about a non-political event, Che’s desire to help Kashmir and his use of the endearing phrase “brother people” evoke a sense of comradeship in the thick of calamity. Perhaps the most significant remark Che made in his impressions was this: “In India, the word war is so distant from the spirit of the people that they did not use it even in the tensest moments of their struggle for independence.” This observation can serve to illuminate Che’s admiration for Gandhi’s method of resistance that was largely responsible for India’s non-militaristic struggle during the anti-colonial movement. Che called Gandhi a “mystic figure” but did not elaborate on that description. In an interview on All India Radio to journalist K.P. Bhanumathy, as documented by Thanvi, Che said, “You have Gandhi and an old philosophical heritage; in our Latin America we have neither. That is why our mindset has developed differently.” The mindset of politics, in Che’s inference, depends on the presence or absence of an old culture

Even as Che asserted to Bhanumathy that the “practical revolutionary initiates his own struggle simply fulfilling laws foreseen by Marx”, he conceded that Gandhi’s struggle had merit. For a man following the laws of revolution, Che’s estimation of Gandhi reveals his broadmindedness about political practices coming from a different historical context as well as his recognition of ideas resistant to the violence of history. In his interview at AIR, Che had to face an awkward moment when Bhanumathy told him, “communist dogmas won’t be accepted by a multireligious society”. In the face of this provocation, Che avoided calling himself a communist and asserted instead that he was a socialist who believed in equality and freedom from exploitation. But he drove a fundamental point home, saying, “The struggle for freedom starts from the hunger of the people.” If Gandhi’s struggle stemmed from a critique of violence, Che’s ideology was an attack against a system that instilled violence by violating the basic necessities of people. For Che, hunger is a violent condition forced upon the hungry, and he finds violence an unavoidable method to counter that condition. For Gandhi, violence is a boomerang, which, once unleashed against the oppressor, would return to chase the oppressed. Despite Che’s close ties to violence, his endorsement of Gandhi’s non-violent struggle as a historical possibility is food enough for revolutionary thought. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

ECONOMY

“ The top 1% of

earners captured less than 21% of total income in the late 1930s, before dropping to 6% in the early 1980s and rising to 22% today,

”

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PIKETTY’S ANALYSIS OF INCOME INEQUALITY IN INDIA SHATTERS THE ‘LPG’ REFORMS MYTH OF THE 90s Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century is an economics treatise about how the global income inequality levels have skyrocketed due to the influence of neo-liberal capitalism. But, it was largely based on the study of developed economies, especially the USA and his native France. In a joint essay published along with Lucas Chancel, Piketty reveals some startling data on the severity of the issue in developing countries like India.

ndia has witnessed a rapid increase in inequality beginning from the 1980s, with the top 1% of the population cornering as much as 22% of the national income, says a report. The share of national income accruing to the top 1% of income earners is now at its highest level since the creation of the Indian income tax in 1922, says the paper ‘Indian income inequality, 19222014: From British Raj to Billionaire Raj?’ by renowned economists Lucas Chancel and Thomas Piketty. “The top 1% of earners captured less than 21% of total income in the late 1930s, before dropping to 6% in the early 1980s and rising to 22% today,” it said. The turnaround of income inequality (in 1983-84) seems consistent with the implementation of a new economic policy agenda to disengage the public sector and to encourage entrepreneurship as well as foreign investments. “The start of the process has been associated with the nomination of Rajiv Gandhi as prime minister in 1984,” said the two economists. They document a large increase in the level of inequality in India over the recent period and a large increase in the current level as compared to surveybased statistics generally used in public debates. “We find that our results are

robust to a large set of alternative estimation strategies addressing important data gaps,” they said. The paper said that top income shares and top income levels were sharply reduced in the 1950s-1970s period, at a time when strong market regulations and high fiscal progressivity are implemented. During this period, the bottom 50% and middle 40% incomes grew faster than the average. “The trend reverted in the mid 1980s with the development of pro-business policies,” it said. According to the paper, the ‘Shining India’ was about the prosperity of top 10% of the population and not those belonging to the middle-income group. “’Shining India’ corresponds to the top 10% of the population (about 80 million adult individuals in 2014) rather than the middle 40%. Relatively speaking, the shining decades for the middle 40% group corresponded to the 1951-1980 period, when this group captured a much higher share of total growth (49%) than it did over the past forty years,” it said. The paper further noted that since the early 1980s, growth has been highly unevenly distributed within the top 10% group. “This further reveals the unequal nature of liberalisation and deregulation processes. India in fact comes out as a country with one of the highest increase in top 1% income share concentration over the past thirty years,” said the economists. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

ECONOMY

Has Piketty missed a Trick or Two by Over-stating Tax Data? Most critiques to Piketty’s work emphasize on his lack of addressing the politics behind income inequality. But, he has received many accolades for the sheer magnitude of his research, which incorporates data from various governmental sources. Except that one of India’s famed economist, Swaminathan Aiyar argues that Piketty’s use of income tax statistics, was always going to skew his conclusions about India’s inequality figures. addressed the claim of Lucas Chancel and Thomas Piketty, guru of inequality, that economic reform had led India to fantastic, unprecedented levels of inequality (Indian Income Inequality, 1922-2014: From British Raj to Billionaire Raj? ). Chancel and Piketty use income-tax data for the richest 5%, but adjusted consumption survey data for others. He implies that the rich lie outrageously to surveyors about consumption, but are far more truthful to the taxman — something many will find hilarious.

Tax Data is a Bit Rich Piketty views tax data as a novel way of measuring inequality, better than household data from surveys. He is wrong. Tax data have so many distortions that they mislead rather than enlighten. They both understate and overstate incomes, mostly the latter. Household surveys cover only humans. However, tax laws cover artificial entities like corporations and trusts. If a businessman owns 60% of a large company, his tax returns don’t include a 60% share of company profits. They include only dividends declared by the company, which may be zero (some of the biggest global companies never declare dividends). Again, a businessman may control several trusts and societies, but their income is treated as separate by the taxman, not clubbed with the businessman’s. The businessman can keep all his profits SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Swaminathan Aiyar

tax revenue of around 20% of GDP. In fact, total income-tax revenue is less than 2% of GDP. Where has the rest disappeared?

Trust in Exemptions In tax exemptions, of course. Most exemptions — e.g., for long-term savings or provident fund contributions — are trivial for the rich. A bigger exemption is for donations to charitable trusts, but is limited to 10% of gross income. The most important tax breaks by far are for capital gains, which have often been taxed at concessional rates. Long-term capital gains became tax-free in 2004 for sales through stock exchanges. This induced huge selling and buying. The Sensex has gone from 1,000 to 31,000 since 1991. Land values have risen as fast, so, all farmers have gained too.

in a corporation (avoiding dividends) and pay himself no salary, ending with virtually zero income as defined by the taxman. This was, indeed, the strategy of the rich when Indira Gandhi raised the top income tax rate to 97.75%. Piketty’s calculations based on tax data show a huge improvement in equality in the ‘garibi hatao’ era. But this contain illusions. The rich kept much money black or as undistributed corporate income. The bottom line: some tax data understate the income of the rich and, hence, inequality. But in other ways, tax data grossly exaggerate inequality. Household surveys of the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) or the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) estimate the consumption or income of households, and divide this by the number of family members to get a per capita figure. But income-tax data relate strictly to individuals and tell you nothing about family income. If a rich man has a wife and college going kids who earn nothing, the wife and kids will show up in tax data as paupers, even if they own Mercedes cars

and go to London for weekend shopping. By not sharing family income among all members, tax data grossly exaggerate the living standard of the businessman and grossly underestimate that of his wife and children. This methodology produces a huge but artificial inequality. A better procedure would be to club all family income and divide it by the number of family members, as is done in household surveys. By not using divided data for the rich but using divided data for the non-rich, Piketty greatly inflates the gap between them. That’s not all. Piketty estimates that the richest 1% have 22% of all income. He doesn’t say what the share of the richest 5% is. But let’s conservatively take it to be twice as much, or 56%. If taxed at the top rate of 35%, this should yield

A better procedure would be to club all family income and divide it by the number of family members, as is done in household surveys.

All capital gains (including exempt ones) are included in tax returns. The taxman defines capital gains as income. But GDP or national income as defined in economics excludes capital gains, since these don’t reflect value addition: they merely reflect the churning of assets. Consider two rich men. One does not churn his portfolio at all. The second churns his portfolio every month. At the year of the year, the value of the two portfolios may be the same, but the first portfolio will have zero capital gains, while the second will show huge capital gains. This creates an illusion of a huge gap between the two, when their yearend asset values are identical. Many investment gurus now say that an unchurned portfolio like an exchangetraded fund will intrinsically do as well or better as a churned one. So, there is no advantage in churning. Yet, the taxman treats the churning as massive income. GDP calculations do not, and they represent reality far better. In sum, the use of tax data instead of household survey data produces enormous illusory inequalities. Using tax data for the rich and survey data for the non-rich compounds the illusion. Piketty’s admirers think he has uncovered a treasure trove in tax data. Alas, all that glitters is not gold. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

GREEN ENERGY

INDIA HOPES TO SPARK NEW LIFE INTO ITS SOLAR REVOLUTION INDIA’S SOLAR ENERGY GENERATION IS SOON TO RECEIVE A FACELIFT WITH THE PROPOSED UTILITY-SCALE SOLAR PLANT COMING UP IN THE ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS. WHILE USE OF SOLAR-GENERATED POWER HAS BEEN PALTRY, THE POTENTIAL FOR THE SECTOR IS HUGE IN INDIA WITH A REPORT SUGGESTING THAT INDIA IS THE SECOND-MOST FAVOURED MARKET FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY INVESTMENT.

One of the major gaps in India’s renewable energy sector is getting plugged. Despite the low prices and abundance of renewable energy sources, solar power still accounts for just 1.6% of the power generated in India. This is partly because of the transient nature of solar power. Since sunshine is intermittent, solar energy can only be generated during certain parts of the day. That makes storage facilities, which can bank this power for use when sunshine isn’t available, critical. Globally, and particularly in India, storage technology is still nascent and expensive. There’s been little progress in constructing utilityscale solar power plants with energystorage facilities in India.

But things are slowly changing.

Mahindra Susten, the renewable energy arm of the $19 billion Mahindra Group, has quoted the lowest price to set up the project for NLC India at Rs289 crore ($43 million), said a Mahindra Susten spokesperson. The others in the race were solar companies such as Adani and Sterling & Wilson, and energy storage companies like Exide, renewable energy consultancy Bridge to India (BTI) said in a note.

Government-owned mining and coal-

Before NLC India opened the auctions

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based energy producer NLC India is building the country’s first utility-scale solar plant with a battery energy storage in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The remote region, located deep in the Bay of Bengal, depends on diesel-based power-generating units, which the solar project seeks to replace. The 20 megawatt (MW) solar-cum-storage plant is expected to be commissioned by April 2019.

for this project in May this year, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) and India’s largest power utility NTPC conducted four similar auctions for 35MW of projects in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, but all were scrapped due to high costs. This pioneering project comes at a time when the solar sector in India is booming, and tariffs have fallen to record lows of Rs2.44 a unit. The country currently has an installed capacity of around 13,650MW of solar power, according to the ministry of new and renewable energy, and is aiming for 100,000MW by 2022. The sector saw investments of over $9.7 billion in 2016 and India has been listed as the world’s second-best market for renewable energy investment by consulting firm EY. SM

TREND

DOES FACEBOOK’S NEW FEATURE PERPETUATE THE FAKE NEWS MENACE? WITH AN EYE ON INCREASING USER ENGAGEMENT ON THEIR PLATFORM, FACEBOOK IS SET TO BRING OUT AN ADDITIONAL FEATURE CALLED ‘EXPLORE’ , WHICH HAS BEEN SEEN BY SOME AS DILUTING THE EFFORTS OF TACKLING FAKE NEWS AND “FILTER BUBBLE”.

acebook has rolled out a new feature that lets users browse content they might be interested in but may not see as part of their regular newsfeed. It’s called Explore and, unlike the Newsfeed, it isn’t composed of posts from pages you like or people you follow—but it might as well be just that. Content on the feed, which was previously available on mobile, isn’t random; it features posts similar to things you’ve liked in the past, or that your friends have, notes TechCrunch, which first reported and confirmed the rollout for desktop. You can easily compare it to Instagram’s somewhat addicting feature with which it shares a name. A Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch that it decided to introduce the feed because users told them “that they want an easy way to explore relevant content from Pages they haven’t connected with yet.”

By only reinforcing people’s existing interests, there seems to be the potential for perpetuating the so-called “filter bubble,” a phenomenon that many have criticized for isolating people from views different than their own, and for spreading fake news. Facebook, of course, has an incentive to create bubbles: it wants users to spend more time engaging with its platform, and what better way to do that than showing people more things that they already like? Facebook executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and more recently, COO Sheryl Sandberg, have been countering the “filter bubble” accusation, saying that the Newsfeed allows you to see more views than you would in a traditional news outlet. But as Recode wrote in April, the company’s introduction of an update that allows you to see “related” articles from other publications under a news post in your feed, “feels like Facebook

is, at the very least, acknowledging [the filter bubble] might exist.” For me, the feed, which is found, somewhat confusingly, in the sidebar of my Facebook screen that is also called “Explore”, and indicated with a rocket ship, looked like a less-enticing mirror image of my regular newsfeed, with pages related to the ones I already follow but that I haven’t bothered to “like,” or that I’ve simply overlooked, mixed in with some that I would never like in the interest of avoiding clutter. So I had pages for verticals from news organizations that I follow; brands from which I’ve made purchases; publications I read, but not religiously; some comedy content that I probably would find funny, but would rather not spend my time on; and, weirdly, a lot of universities. The two items that take me out of my Facebook bubble: a slightly horrifying video related to butchering meat (preparing a steak is a struggle for me), and a page called “It’s a Southern Thing” that one of my Facebook acquaintances “likes” (I’ve visited the US South, but I’ve spent my life thus far only on the East Coast and in Europe). All that said, I did spend about 30 or 45 seconds watching a cool surferescaping-killer-whale video, suggesting the feature is probably effective at what the company wants it to achieve. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

TECHNOLOGY

IT’S A CLOSE RACE TO THE FINISH LINE: BAIDU VS WAYMO IN THE DRIVERLESS CAR MARKET With the advance in robotics and artificial intelligence, car-makers are vying against each other to tap the potential of the driverless car-segment. But the Chinese tech major, Baidu, is making rapid strides in reaching there. And it seems like its competitor Waymo will have its task cut out. In the race to autonomous vehicles, no one is more aggressive than Chinese tech giant Baidu.

t The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ D.Live technology conference, the compa ny’s chairman and CEO Robin Li said Baidu plans to roll out fully driverless buses in China next year, mass produce semiautonomous cars by 2019, and produce fully autonomous ones by 2021. It also envisions equipping its vehicles with interactive screens and entertainment. The company has partnered with an unnamed Chinese bus maker and Chinese car maker BAIC Motor for the fleets’ design and manufacturing.

BAIDU IS COMPETING WITH ALPHABET’S WAYMO, WHICH BEGAN DEVELOPING SELFDRIVING TECHNOLOGY IN 2009, SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER THAN THE CHINESE COMPANY.

Baidu is competing with Alphabet’s Waymo, which began developing selfdriving technology in 2009, several years earlier than the Chinese company. Baidu uses self-driving open-source software Apollo, developed with over 50 partners including Ford, Nvidia, and Intel. Most industry experts agree that Waymo’s technology is more

advanced, the Journal reports. Baidu spends roughly 15% of its revenue, or about $1.5 billion, each year on self-driving R&D, Li said, with almost all of it spent on applying artificial intelligence to self-driving problems. Waymo reportedly spent a total of $1.1 billion in its first six years while still a project within Google. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

POLLUTION

Death By Air

How Pollution Has Reached Unprecedented Levels In India Air pollution le levvels in India are at an all-time high and accounts er centage of deaths based on the ffindings indings of a eryy high per percentage for a vver commission. The recent Diw ali celebrations w ould only fur ther Diwali would further aggra e the pr oblem despit e the Supreme Cour aggravvat ate problem despite Courtt order banning the sale of ffirecrac irecrac ker irecrack erss in the Capital. 2015, a staggering 2.5 million Indians died due to non-communicable diseases, including strokes and lung cancer, caused by pollution, according to a report by The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health. China recorded 1.8 million such deaths in the same period. Together, the two countries accounted for nearly 48% of the worldwide total of 9 million. The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health based its findings on data from the Global Burden of Disease study.

Interestingly, the report comes at a time when air pollution levels in India tend to spike following the festival of Diwali, which involves massive celebratory fireworks, adding to the already high levels of particulate matter. Last year, in New Delhi, firecracker smoke combined with vehicular pollution, coal plant emissions, and fumes from burning crops in neighbouring states to produce a blanket of smog that lingered for days after the celebrations.

Air pollution is by far the biggest culprit around the world, followed by polluted water. The greatest impact is occurring in rapidly developing and industri alising countries, the report says.

Fearing a repeat, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Supreme Court banned the sale of firecrackers in the national capital region this festive season. However, it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help the air quality, with several areas recording alarmingly high levels of particulate matter. Other Indian cities like Chennai, too, witnessed a similar situation following the festivities.

In India, where cities such as New Delhi routinely rank among the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most polluted, nearly a quarter of all deaths in 2015 were caused by pollution-related illnesses. If anything, the burden of pollution-related diseases and deaths is likely to be underestim ated, the report adds, given that so many emerging chemical pollutants are yet to be identified.

But even on regular days, pollution in many Indian cities far exceeds the World Health Organisation-recomm ended limits. And while there are encouraging signs that the Indian government is taking the problem seriously, committing to renewable energy and electric vehicles, the continued use of dirty fuels and the ever-rising count of diesel vehicles are SM hindering real progress.

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EMPLOYMENT

MEET INDIA'S 37.4 MILLION INVISIBLE & UNDERPAID HOME-BASED WORKERS They contribute immensely to the final product, but are invisible to companies and buyers.

alliamma wakes up at 5 am to finish the trimming on T-shirts. She needs to hand them over to the contractor by 11 am – they’re part of an important order for a global brand. There are no labels and no way of identifying the brand but according to Valliamma, the strict timeline and fine quality T-shirt are proof that the assignment is for a high-end brand. She has been doing this work for two decades and is paid 50 paise for each T-shirt, but after workers in the long supply chain have worked on it and a fashion label has been sewed on, the T-shirt will sell for at least a thousand times more in the global market. Valiamma works for eight to 10 hours a day, then takes care of her ailing husband and two children. She is one of 40,000 homeworkers who are part of the supply chain in the garment manufacturing industry in Tirupur, a busy town near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. According to a study conducted across three cities in India and Nepal by HomeNet South Asia, a network of home-based workers, and a research and policy network called Women in SEASONAL MAGAZINE

Informal Employment: Globalising and Organising, home-based workers labour for 21-29 days a month and earn approximately Rs 6,000 on a piece-rate basis. Most of these home-based workers are women who spend six to eight hours a day stitching sleeves, sewing buttons, trimming threads, attaching drawstrings, and crafting embroidery. Homeworkers are a sub-category of home-based workers that are contracted by a firm, individual trader, intermediaries or sub-contractors on a piece-rate basis. They work from their homes, or around them, and don’t have direct access to markets. There are 37.4 million home-based workers in India.

Like many women in the country, she is responsible for the unpaid care work at her home. “Working from home and making papads is not a choice, it’s the only option I have

Homeworkers work in many industries including manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, social and personal services, hotels and restaurants. They contribute to the final product sold in the market, though they are invisible to the companies and buyers for whom they make the products (or part of the product). The invisibility of homeworkers in a supply chain can be attributed to the fact that they are employed through a series of intermediaries. But there is a serious lack of recognition of their work by companies, governments and society at large. Sanjugta Muduli, a homeworker who makes papads in the Kargil Basti of Bhubhaneshwar, said that home-based

work pays less than regular work but it allows her to take care of her family of four. Apart from making papads for almost six to seven hours a day, she also cooks for the entire family, cleans the house, washes clothes and utensils, drops her children to school and fetches water from a nearby community tap. Like many women in the country, she is responsible for the unpaid care work at her home. “Working from home and making papads is not a choice, it’s the only option I have,” she said. Eashwari from Tirupur had a different perspective: “In Tirupur, everyone works in garments. Earlier I used to work in a factory. I earned a lot more, though I had to stand and work for almost nine to ten hours and we were

Homeworkers in supply chains in Delhi receive far less work than in Tirupur. The work they received was also inconsistent every month. In Delhi, homeworkers’ tasks included embellishment work and embroidery. provided two tokens to use the toilets in the entire day. We weren’t allowed to talk to other workers. There was strict monitoring to ensure that we don’t waste any time. Home-based work provides me with time for basic things

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like using the toilet or resting my back once in a while.” Homeworkers in supply chains in Delhi receive far less work than in Tirupur. The work they received was also inconsistent every month. In Delhi, homeworkers’ tasks included embellishment work and embroidery. They could generally complete two pieces of the garment a day and received Rs 70 for it, while in Tirupur the homeworkers did less skillintensive work like trimming or stitching sleeves and buttons. They received 30 to 75 paise per piece and generally completed 200 pieces per day. For both categories of workers, the income was way below the minimum wages prescribed in their respective states. Apart from the low income and

inconsistent work, many of the risks of production also affect homeworkers. For example, fast-changing fashion trends cut into their lead time in production. In Delhi, just as workers were able to get the hang of a design and were producing pieces at a faster pace, the design would change. Women also reported incurring added production costs, like purchase of threads, trimmers, machines and electricity. For home-based workers, poor living conditions equate to poor working

conditions. Lack of individual toilets, running taps, poor drainage and lack of solid waste management contribute to reduced productivity. In a joint publication, titled Ensuring Access to Basic Services for the Home-based Workers – Learnings from Bhubaneswar, HNSA along with WIEGO and Harvard South Asia Institute documented the impact of a project to improve drainage and solid waste management in two low-income areas of Bhubaneswar. The study pointed out that providing SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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“In Tirupur, everyone works in garments. Earlier I used to work in a factory. I earned a lot more, though I had to stand and work for almost nine to ten hours and we were provided two tokens to use the toilets in the entire day.

agarbattis. We home-based workers got together and, in partnership with ROAD, negotiated with the local government for improved drainage. Now at least I can work through the year.”

basic infrastructure to homes increased income between $45 (Rs 2,900) and $270 (Rs 17,600) per annum, increased work by almost three months every year, and reduced illness and health expenses for the workers and their families. Munira Begam recalled, “Shantipally used to be flooded every year. The heavy rains and poor drainage would lead to water-logging inside our house for over a month. I make agarbattis and during three month of monsoons, it was impossible to work as I couldn’t dry the

Government policies like demonetisation and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax have added to their existing woes. A report prepared by LEARN Mahila Kamgar Sanghatana and SEWA Bharat that was supported by WIEGO detailed the effects of demonetisation. Workers reported reduced work, payment in old currency or non-payment for work done, increase in consumption of loans, reduced expenses on food consumption, clothing, education for children and increase in expenses of healthcare. A home-based worker affiliated with SEWA in Jaipur shared how work had come to standstill in the months after demonetisation. She also added that while things had finally improved, work was scarce and there simply wasn’t enough to be distributed among entire communities of workers. For over 45 years, SEWA has organised home-based workers into trade unions, cooperatives and social enterprises. An

excellent example of collective bargaining spearheaded by the workers is the institution of tripartite boards by beedi and agarbatti workers in Ahmedabad. These tripartite boards comprise of a representative from the Labour Department, an employer and worker leaders. They negotiate for increase in piece rate and bonuses together. There are also other initiatives where home-based workers are provided skills training and they move up the value chain, defying the roles of intermediaries. One such example is SADHNA, a social enterprise of 714 home-based workers, spread across 16 locations in Udaipur. Members of SADHNA make handicrafts and garments. They market their products at their own shop and supply to domestic as well as global companies. These grassroots organisations come together in the network of HomeNet South Asia, which supports in making supply chains ethical. This is done by conducting supply chain studies mapping all the workers and their working conditions in the chain, followed by joint negotiations between home-based workers, sub-contractors SM and companies. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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HEALTH

New Study Claims Specific Traits Associated With Longer Life

SCIENTISTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH LOOKED AT 25 POPULATION STUDIES AND ANALYZED GENETIC DATA FROM MORE THAN 600,000 MEN AND WOMEN FROM NORTH AMERICA, EUROPE, AND AUSTRALIA, AND COMPARED THE RESULTS TO THEIR PARENTS’ LIFESPAN. large study of the genetic basis of human longevity highlights the influence of DNA on lifestyle choices and how these influences, in turn, are related to longevity. These correlates of longevity, published in the issue of the journal Nature Communications, included the following: Getting smart. Every year of education you have beyond high school could add 11 months to your expected lifespan. Other studies have also found increased longevity among those with at least one year of college and although there is not a direct cause and effect, researchers suspect that people with more education are more likely to live a healthier lifestyle and less likely to engage in dangerous and unhealthy activities. Not smoking (and quitting if you do). In this study, smoking and other traits SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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associated with lung cancer were most strongly linked to a shorter life. When you quit smoking, your expected lifespan returns, over time, to that of a nonsmoker. Being open-minded. The researchers found that those who were curious and tended to explore new experiences were more likely to live longer than those who were more cautious. Increased HDL cholesterol. HDL is the “healthy” or protective form of

The researchers also homed in on the factors most likely to shorten your life. These include susceptibility to coronary artery disease, cigarette smoking, lung cancer, insulin resistance, and excess body fat.

cholesterol that travels through your bloodstream and carries fat away from your heart. In this study, researchers identified genetic differences in people that affect blood cholesterol levels. Three things you can do to increase your HDL levels are to lose weight, get more exercise, and quit smoking, if necessary. Diets rich in omega- fatty acids from oily fish, walnuts, flaxseed products, and fortified foods have also been found to raise HDL. The researchers also homed in on the factors most likely to shorten your life. These include susceptibility to coronary artery disease, cigarette smoking, lung cancer, insulin resistance, and excess body fat. For example, they estimate that a lifetime of smoking can knock seven years off your life and that every increase in body mass unit can reduce your lifespan by seven months. For every two pounds of excess body weight lost, you can increase your lifespan by two months. Additionally, the researchers found correlations between some of the longevity traits and factors that lengthen or shorten your life. For instance, higher education is linked to quitting smoking, and increased body mass is correlated with coronary artery disease. SM

WELLNESS

STRESSED OUT? YOU MAY GAUGE DANGERS SLOWER THAN BEFORE

A NEW STUDY LED BY NEW YORK UNIVERSITY NEUROSCIENTISTS REVEALS THAT BEING UNDER ACUTE STRESS DIMINISHES OUR ABILITY TO PAY ATTENTION TO CHANGES AROUND US THAT MIGHT BE THREATENING. THAT DELAY IN RECOGNITION MAY PUT US AT RISK OF NOT RESPONDING APPROPRIATELY TO NEW DANGERS.

tress comes in different forms—pain, hunger, fear, psychological upset. When we’re under stress, it’s often assumed that we are on heightened alert. If something hurts us, we imagine that an internal security system clicks on, scanning for other signs of danger. To understand the new study, it helps to understand stress. The body’s resting state is known as homeostasis. In that condition, heart rate, breathing, and all other systems tick along normally and relatively peacefully. Stress represents a physiological change that knocks you out of homeostasis. A part of the nervous system known as the HPA axis (a chain reaction involving the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands) kicks into action, releasing cortisol and other hormones to try to calm the body back down and return it to homeostasis. This means that when your body is under stress, it is aroused. That is not always a bad thing. Think of your stress response as an upside-down U-shaped curve. Too little stress and you are under-aroused, too much and you are over-aroused. But there’s a point at the curve of the U where just the right amount of arousal can enhance performance. That fact contributes to the general sense that stress makes us more alert and responsive, and it

explains why some people think they do best under pressure. Previous research, however, has already identified some of the ways that stress disrupts our ability to think and learn, our cognitive function. The new study, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, is part of a body of work investigating more deeply how acute stress affects our emotional control and flexibility. In this context, flexibility means our ability to learn from our environment and update our responses according to what we encounter. To test this, cognitive neuroscientist Candace Raio, the study’s lead author, and her colleagues at New York University and Peking University brought participants into the laboratory on two consecutive days. On the first day, everyone viewed images on a computer screen. Some of the images were coupled with a mild, electric wristshock (a “threat cue”). Other images were never paired with a shock (a “safe cue.”) This experiment is a much-used form of threat conditioning. Once conditioned, the body responds to threat cues by releasing stress hormones and it doesn’t show any physiological changes in response to safe cues. On the second day of the study, everyone returned to the lab. Half of the participants had to plunge one arm

into an ice-water bath for three minutes (a standard procedure that elevates two stress hormones, cortisol, and alphaamylase). The other half of the group was spared the ice bath. Then, everyone repeated the threat conditioning in which they viewed computer images and had their wrists shocked. This time, however, the threat and safe cues were reversed. “The thing that was previously safe is now threatening, and the thing that was previously threatening is now safe,” explains Raio, who did the study in the NYU laboratory of Elizabeth Phelps but is now a post-doctoral fellow at NYU’s Center of Neural Science. To respond accurately to threats, the people in the study had to update what they’d learned about sources of danger and sources of safety. When the scientists measured each participant’s physiological responses to the differing cues, including changes in cortisol and alpha-amylase, they found that the stress group, who had suffered the ice-water bath, were much slower to recognize that the cues had shifted. “Everyone needs a little time to learn the new [cues],” says Raio, even those who hadn’t been stressed. But the stressed group took longer to learn that what had been safe was now threatening. They did respond appropriately in the end, but needed to be exposed to the new threat many more times than the group who hadn’t been stressed. “It takes you longer to get there,” says Raio. Although laboratory studies like this one don’t always generalize to daily life, these results suggest that under stress, “we need many more encounters with a threat that was previously safe in order to learn that it is actually dangerous,” says Raio. The study is a reminder of a basic point that is worth repeating. While there are plenty of sources of stress that we cannot prevent a skateboarder careening toward us on the sidewalk, for example it’s important to reduce stress where we can by getting enough sleep, eating right and taking breaks from work. Such mental and physical caretaking better prepare the nervous system to meet the unexpected and changing challenges of daily life. In other words, control what you can so you can respond better to what you can’t. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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RELATIONSHIPS

HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN TO FORGIVE?

Being able to forgive a partner is crucial to maintaining a healthy relationship because no matter how compatible two people are, there will be times when one partner acts in ways that go against the other’s wishes

ife without intimacy would be dreary. Our intimate relationships provide us with companionship, love, and social support. And the people we’re closest to expand our horizons by exposing us to new ideas, activities, and adventures. Close relationships are essential to living a meaningful life. Yet, maintaining a close relationship is no easy task. Close relationships work best when two individuals can meet each other’s expectations while not losing sight of their individual needs and goals. Relationships require constant negotiation, tons of empathy, and the willingness to forgive a partner when inevitable disappointments come to light. For example, a couple may agree to save money for a down payment on a condo, while a partner also splurges on a new outfit. Or two friends may plan a vacation together, only to have one person back out at the last minute. It’s not realistic for two people to always be on the same page and never let the other down. Unfortunately, when a partner or a close friend violates one’s expectations, it results in a relational transgression— a breach of trust. This loss of trust can pose a serious threat to the relationship. When couples experience a breach of trust and struggle to repair the damage done, many relationships start a downward spiral of increased negativity and disengagement, which often leads to their demise. Because betrayals are unavoidable, being able to work through such problems is the key to maintaining a healthy relationship. Essential forgiveness involves letting go of hurt feelings, not holding onto a grudge, and SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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taking steps to re-establish a sense of intimacy and closeness.

outsized role in the process of forgiveness.

Given the central role that forgiveness plays in our close relationships, it should come as no surprise that scholars have spent decades studying the issue. The research shows that being able to forgive a partner depends on a host of factors: the severity of the betrayal, the degree to which the betrayal was intentional, the remorsefulness of the offender, the sincerity of the apology offered, and the willingness of the harmed partner to understand the reasons why the betrayal occurred.

Essentially, people who still view their partner as being caring, dependable, and predictable were more likely to grant forgiveness. The enduring perception of trust was more important than all of the other considerations examined, such as the severity of the betrayal or the type of apology offered.

New research on the topic of forgiveness in close relationships highlights an often overlooked, but critical, factor in determining if a relationship can be saved. Across three studies, researchers examined the relative importance of a host of factors known to be related to forgiveness. The key finding? Across all three studies, the level of trust a person has in a partner after the transgression played an

If you’ve been betrayed and are struggling with forgiveness, it may help to consider the extent to which you think your partner cares about you and is someone you still see as being dependable and predictable. So, even after a partner may have splurged on a new outfit or bailed on a planned vacation, do you still view him or her as someone who cares about you and is likely to do the right thing? Focusing on the level of trust that exists post-transgression can provide a quick, reliable assessment of how easy it will be to resolve the issue and how much work it will take to repair the damage done. SM

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GOVERNANCE

AMIT SHAH, SON JAY SHAH FLOUT SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES AT CRICKET BODY Despite the Lodha Committee norms clearly saying both must quit, the Shah dynasty rules the Gujarat Cricket Association. t has been over a year since the Lodha committee recommen dations were given legal backing by the Supreme Court but Gujarat Cricket Association president Amit Shah and joint secretary Jay Amit Shah, among others, continue to stay in office despite falling foul of norms that are meant to cleanse cricketing bodies of the powerful cliques that have run them for years.

Hon’ble (sic) Supreme Court where the judicial decisions are yet to be taken. It is, therefore, absolutely inappropriate to discuss, debate or deliberate upon the issues raised.” He added: “However, I will contact and consult my legal advisor tomorrow and he will send an appropriate reply/response to you on my behalf. You are, therefore, requested to wait for a reply/response of my advocate.”

The Supreme Court’s July 2016 order clearly states that all office-bearers must vacate their position for a three year “cooling off” period after completing a three-year term.

The Wire‘s questions to Amit Shah have not yet been answered.

Amit Shah has been an office-bearer since 2009 (2009-14, vice president; 2014-now, president) while his son was elevated to the post of joint secretary in 2013. Elections were supposed to be held at the GCA last year but have been put on hold following the Supreme Court order. If due electoral process had been followed in 2016, Amit Shah and Jay Amit Shah would not have been eligible for the posts they now occupy.

It is certainly not the case that the issue

In the case of Amit Shah, an additional disqualification might just have kicked in when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha in August, since MPs come under the definition of ‘public servants’ – a category of individual that the Supreme Court had barred from being involved in cricket administration. Asked why he continues to be in office despite his ineligibility to hold the post of joint secretary at the GCA, Jay Shah told The Wire on Sunday around midnight, “that the subject matter of your questions is sub judice before the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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Landmark judgment

of whether those who have completed a three-year term can continue has been varied by the Supreme Court; indeed, its order remains effective. In a landmark judgment last year, the Supreme Court legally validated most of the Lodha committee’s recommendations to revamp the administration of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The three-member committee had been appointed by the apex court following allegations of corruption, betting and match-fixing. In January 2016, the committee released its report which recommended an overhaul of the BCCI’s administrative structure. While the BCCI contested the reforms, the Supreme Court viewed them as

necessary to professionalise an organisation which had resisted change for too long. The objective was to establish a system which ran cricket transparently and fairly, rather than the sport being at the mercy of powerful individuals who merely sought to expand their sphere of influence. On July 18 last year, the BCCI was directed to accept a majority of the Lodha committee’s recommendations. In the face of the cricket board’s continuing objections to some of the recommendations – especially ‘one state, one vote’, the age limit of 70 years and cooling periods, to name a few – the Supreme Court moved to remove the incumbent administration. In its place, a four-member committee of administrators (CoA) was installed to oversee the BCCI’s transition to a new constitution. While there have been hiccups along the way and the board continues to resist the Supreme Court order, the apex court has steadfastly stuck to its guns.

Ordered to quit Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ordered all ineligible office-bearers at the board and state associations to leave their office. This brought a string of resignations, with many prominent politicians vacating their posts. Sharad Pawar (Mumbai Cricket Association), Rajiv Shukla (Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association), Ranjib Biswal (Odisha Cricket Association) were among the members of parliament who had to resign. However, Amit Shah is still in office. So is Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Parimal Nathwani, who is the vice president at the GCA and has been an office-bearer since 2010. It is worth noting, though, that three office-bearers at the GCA had resigned following the Supreme Court order this January. Dhiraj Jogani (treasurer), K.L. Contractor (vice president) and Rajesh Patel (secretary) stepped down to fall in line with the Lodha committee recommendations.

But Amit Shah, Jay Amit Shah and Parimal Nathwani chose not to.

Court order, with no inkling that its stance is set to change soon.

After the resignation of the three officebearers, Nathwani told the media that it was a “harsh” step by the Supreme Court and termed it “unfortunate for the game of cricket.” Until his resignation, Jogani who has spent close to two decades at the GCA was holding the joint offices of treasurer and CEO. He continues to be the CEO at GCA.

In addition to his ineligibility on account of the cooling-off period rule, Amit Shah’s position could also be under threat on another count.

Gujarat in clear defiance Such obduracy is by no means novel or exceptional. Even now, in the associations where ineligible officebearers have resigned, observers maintain that proxy individuals continue to represent their interests. For example, despite Scindia’s resignation earlier this year, elections have not been called at MPCA while the offices of the president, the chairman and the six vice-presidents lie vacant. The Congress MP from Guna, in spite of his ineligibility, continues to sit on the BCCI finance committee which will cease to exist once the new constitution is set in place. However, the GCA situation is rather extraordinary. The body’s top brass remains in clear defiance of the Supreme

In the July 2016 judgment, the Supreme Court had explicitly stated that, “The lack of any qualifications or disqualifications also ensures that those with full time occupations superficially involve themselves, thereby compromising their commitment to the association and the game of cricket. Several public servants hold lead positions in State Associations which take a substantial toll on both sets of their respective obligations to the public.” Following from that statement, the apex court asserted that it saw “no compelling reason for us to reject the recommendation which disqualifies ministers and public servants from holding offices in the State Associations or BCCI.” While some interpretations have assumed this to mean that only ministers and bureaucrats will be covered under this rule, legal opinion sought by the CoA was of the view that MPs would be covered under this too. Since Amit Shah was only president of the BJP and not an MP when the matter was last discussed in the CoA, sources say, the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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matter was not pursued further. But the situation has changed in August when Shah was elected to the upper house of parliament. The case for this contention is made stronger by the recognition that a position at the BCCI is an office of profit. It is worth recalling that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave up the GCA presidentship after leading the BJP to victory in the 2014 general elections.

Rise of Jay Shah Interestingly, Jay Shah has also ridden the wave of his father’s dominance. His elevation to the post of joint secretary in 2013 was smooth, with the incumbent Ashok Saheba asked to step down. The decision remained unchallenged and the younger Shah was smoothly inducted. In recent years, he has also seen his standing grow within the BCCI. This June, Jay Shah was inducted into a seven-member BCCI panel that was asked to analyse the issues which the board finds contentious in the Lodha Committee report. The panel was formed nearly a year after the Supreme Court made it clear that the recommendations will have to be accepted by the BCCI. Jay Shah’s place in the panel is a result of the Shah dynasty’s dominance in the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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Gujarat cricket scene. A former GCA official told The Wire that Amit Shah and his supporters have turned the association into their own personal fiefdom. With national politics taking the bulk of the older Shah’s time, his son essentially controls the association. The Shahs derive their political strength at the GCA from their control of two-third votes at the Central Board of Cricket Ahmedabad (CBCA), the strongest district affiliate of the state body. In fact, Amit Shah’s rise in the GCA was built on the back of an electoral win in the 2009 CBCA polls and his preeminence on his ability to win over detractors. Months after former GCA president and arch-rival Narhari Amin switched parties from Congress to BJP, he became a part of the association’s executive committee in 2013.

World’s biggest cricket stadium In Shah’s time as president, the GCA has

In fact, Amit Shah’s rise in the GCA was built on the back of an electoral win in the 2009 CBCA polls and his pre-eminence on his ability to win over detractors.

undertaken a Rs. 700-crore project to redevelop the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. Once the work is completed, the venue is expected to be the biggest cricket stadium in the world with a capacity of 110,000. Observers maintain that Shah and Nathwani’s presence has attracted funds to the project; it would seem that the fascination with massive sporting arenas runs deep among BJP politicians in Gujarat. Last year, Modi inaugurated a multi-sport venue worth Rs. 550 crore in his former assembly constituency, Maninagar in Ahmedabad. The construction was the result of a public private partnership struck during his time as the state’s chief minister. The last few years, though, have brought a world of success to Gujarat on the cricket field. The state team has won domestic honours in every format while skipper Parthiv Patel has spoken glowingly of the support provided by the GCA. This represents a remarkable turnaround for Gujarat as the state has not been a contender for trophies in the past. However, at a time when the country’s cricket administration is being revamped and professionalised, the GCA’s refusal to follow the Supreme Court order is holding the sport back in Gujarat. SM

Source : The Wire. By Priyansh, sports journalist and writer

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PSYCHOLOGY

IS THERE REALLY A ‘LITTLE MAN’ INSIDE OUR HEADS, BEYOND OUR CONTROL?

IF WE’RE SUPPOSED TO TAKE THE FACT THAT WE CAN’T OBSERVE SOMETHING AS EVIDENCE THAT IT ACTUALLY EXISTS, THEN THAT THING IS ESSENTIALLY OUTSIDE THE REALM OF SCIENCE.

DOES THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND REALLY EXIST? IT’S ONE OF THE OLDEST IDEAS IN PSYCHOLOGY. WE ARE SAID TO HAVE AN UNCONSCIOUS MIND THAT, DESPITE OUR BEST CONSCIOUS INTENTIONS, IS THE REAL CONTROLLING FORCE IN OUR LIVES. t leads us to sabotage ourselves, make poor decisions, or be drawn to people who aren’t good for us. More optimistically, it uses dreams to send us helpful messages or needed warnings. And it does all of this without our ever knowing. To answer this question, we need to consider what is meant by “unconscious.” The classical perspective on the unconscious mind was developed more than a century ago by Sigmund Freud. According to his theory, we are under the sway of three powerful forces: The animalistic part of us, called the “id,” prods us to take action to satisfy our base needs, usually sexual or aggressive. Given that we can’t indiscriminately have sex or attack others, our moral sense, known as the “superego,” opposes these animalistic urges, setting up a conflict. Caught between these extreme actors, our logical self, which Freud called the “ego,” attempts to find a compromise, satisfying a little of what both the id and superego want. According to Freud, such conflicts happen hundreds or even thousands of times a day in our minds. We don’t know about most of them, because they occur in a part of the mind Freud dubbed the unconscious. Though later theorists eliminated some of Freud’s more sordid details, they nonetheless kept the basic idea of the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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unconscious intact: It’s a part of our mind that is thinking, feeling, and scheming behind the scenes. We literally have another mind within our mind. This other mind influences our actions even though — and this is the really important part — we have no direct access to it. This is why psychologists are infamous for indirectly interpreting things. If you dream about riding a horse in a highstakes race, this could really mean your

Most automatic behaviors result from something called overlearning doing them so many times that they become a habit.

unconscious mind is stressed out by the pace of your daily life. If you habitually have a cigar in your mouth, this could really mean you unconsciously want oral sex. Because we can’t directly peer into the unconscious, such indirect interpretations are the best we can do. The biggest problem with this view is that it’s impossible to scientifically test. As a general rule, scientists consider something true only when it can be meaningfully observed or measured. The unconscious mind, by definition, can’t be. After all, its central feature is that it’s completely inaccessible. I once observed a lecture by a psychoanalyst who endorsed this classical view of the unconscious mind. Over the course of an hour, he explained that almost everyone harbors unconscious resentment toward their parents. When one of the students asserted that he

personally didn’t harbor any such unconscious negative feeling toward his parents, the psychoanalyst replied, “See, that proves it’s unconscious!” If we’re supposed to take the fact that we can’t observe something as evidence that it actually exists, then that thing is essentially outside the realm of science. But even if science has little to say about the unconscious mind, we can still ask whether the concept is logical. The unconscious is one version of what philosophers refer to as a “homunculus,” Latin for “little man.” The basic idea is that we have a little person inside of us. We’re not actually doing the thinking; the little person is. The problem with explanations that involve a homunculus, is that they don’t actually explain anything. They just beg the question: If our mind works by having another little mind within it, then how does that little mind work? And if that little mind works by having yet another homunculus within it, how does that one work? Such arguments pretty quickly retreat into absurdity. On logical grounds, therefore, it seems unlikely that the classical unconscious exists. But another, more modern view of the unconscious seems much more likely to be true. It’s widely agreed that we do all kinds of things unconsciously. If you drive to work every morning, you’ve probably had the experience of remembering both leaving home and arriving at work, but not recalling much about the drive in between. It’s common for people to tune out during the journey, making many left and right turns, stopping at lights, and even parking the car without really thinking about it. Researchers tend to refer to this behavior as “automatic” rather than unconscious. Most automatic behaviors result from something called overlearning — doing them so many times that they become a habit. The first 10 times a pianist plays a particular sonata, he or she must think carefully and consciously about what each finger is doing. Eventually, however, playing the piece becomes automatic. It’s the way we all learned to ride a bike, or even walk, for that matter. When we find ourselves automatically

How we think about ourselves can also be automatic. I had a college-aged psychotherapy client who noticed that every time she took a test, she would feel depressed for days, despite getting very good grades. driving to work, however, this doesn’t mean we’ve allowed a homunculus to take over our bodies. It simply means we’re not dedicating attention to the task. According to pioneering research by Nobel prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, our brain has a limited pool of the cognitive resource known as attention. Not all tasks require equal amounts of this resource. Doing physics homework or repairing a watch require lots of attention. If we don’t bring all of our conscious focus to these tasks, we’ll make big mistakes. It doesn’t require nearly as much attention, however, to drive a well-practiced route to work or do other well-learned behaviors. This leaves a large pool of attention left over that we can use to ponder our day, worry about our work, or just daydream. Of course, we shouldn’t let our minds wonder too dramatically, or our driving will suffer. That’s why talking on the phone while we drive isn’t a good idea — it uses too much of our pool of attentional resources. How we think about ourselves can also be automatic. I had a college-aged psychotherapy client who noticed that every time she took a test, she would feel depressed for days, despite getting very good grades. When I asked her to pay close attention to the thoughts she was having about herself during the test, she made an important discovery: She was repeatedly telling herself how much of a “loser” and a “disappointment” she was. These thoughts just popped into her mind, as if from nowhere. Psychiatrist Aaron T. Beck called this phenomenon automatic thinking. Like my client, people frequently aren’t

initially aware of their automatic thoughts, even though these thoughts cause painful emotions. In this sense, such thoughts are “unconscious.” But automatic thoughts are not the musings of a self-sabotaging inner-homunculus. They almost always consist of statements that an individual heard so many times from a critical parent, teacher, or significant other that they became overlearned and automatic. They’re habitual, just like riding a bike, playing a piano sonata, or driving to work. A key difference between the classical unconscious and this more modern perspective is the degree to which automatic processes are accessible and therefore changeable. In Freud’s view, not only was the unconscious impossible to directly observe, we were utterly at its mercy. Automatic thoughts and behaviors, on the other hand, are much easier to access. We can consciously tune into our daily commute simply by wanting to. We can even choose to take a different route. Likewise, my client was able to access her negative automatic thinking just by paying attention to it, even though initially she wasn’t fully aware it was there. That’s one of the reasons that psychologists are increasingly teaching mindfulness meditation — among many other advantages of such practices, they can help clients tune into thoughts they previously weren’t noticing. Of course, changing our automatic thoughts isn’t nearly as easy as tuning into them. Just as playing a sonata or riding a bike takes conscious repetitive practice to become automatic, changing our ingrained thinking patterns requires similar dedication and practice. Whether the unconscious mind exists turns out to be a question of what one means by “unconscious.” While it’s clear that many of the things we do and think are automatic, this doesn’t mean we’re at the mercy of a conniving mind-withina-mind. With intentional practice, my client was able to substitute many of her habitual negative thoughts with more realistic alternatives. This didn’t solve all of her problems, but it’s comforting to know that, in many ways, our unconscious mind is at the mercy of our conscious choices, and not the other way around. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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INNOVATION odern-day inventors even those in the league of Steve Jobs will have a tough time measuring up to the productivity of the Thomas Edisons of the past. That’s because big ideas are getting harder and harder to find, and innovations have become increasingly massive and costly endeavors, according to new research from economists at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. As a result, tremendous continual increases in research and development will be needed to sustain even today’s low rate of economic growth. SIEPR senior fellow Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford GSB professor of economics by courtesy and co-author of a paper released this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research, contends that so many game-changing inventions have appeared since World War II that it’s become increasingly difficult to come up with the next big idea. “The thought now of somebody inventing something as revolutionary as the locomotive on their own is inconceivable,” Bloom says.

Economic growth comes from people creating ideas. This simple concept has become more difficult to apply in today’s world with falling research productivity. In a study conducted by economists from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, it has been argued that ‘big’ ideas played a huge role in boosting growth in the past, while current trends seem to suggest that there is only a greater investment in R&D without a corresponding increase in unique research topics.

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“It’s certainly true if you go back one or two hundred years, like when Edison invented the light bulb,” he says. “It’s a massive piece of technology and one guy basically invented it. But while we think of Steve Jobs and the iPhone, it was a team of dozens of people who created the iPhone.” To better understand the nation’s sluggish economic growth, Bloom and his three co-authors–SIEPR senior fellow and Stanford GSB professor Chad Jones, Stanford doctoral candidate Michael Webb, and MIT professor John Van Reenen–examined research productivity at an aggregate national level as well as within three swaths of industry: technology, medical research and agriculture. For another measure, they also analyzed research efforts at publicly traded firms. Their paper follows a common economic concept that economic growth comes from people creating ideas. In other words, when you have

more researchers producing more ideas, you get more economic growth.

roughly maintain growth is to throw more and more scientists at it.

But Bloom and his team find a not-sorosy imbalance. While research efforts are rising substantially, research productivity or the ideas being produced per researcher is declining sharply. So the reason the US economy has even grown at all is because steep increases in research and development have more than offset the decline in research productivity, the study found.

A year ago, Bloom recalls, “I thought we were recovering from a huge global recession and we’re about to turn around.” Now, his perspective takes into account new insights that research productivity one of the underlying components of economic growth has been clearly dropping for decades. “This paper says productivity growth is slowing down because ideas are getting harder to find,” Bloom says.

Specifically, the number of Americans engaged in R&D has jumped more than twentyfold since 1930 while their collective productivity has dropped by a factor of 41. “It’s getting harder and harder to make new ideas, and the economy is more or less compensating for that,” Bloom says. “The only way we’ve been able to roughly maintain growth is to throw more and more scientists at it.”

While the study builds on the earlier work of Jones and others on R&D, the new paper also weaves a tight connection between empirical data on what’s happening in the real world and growth models.

The paper spelled it out bluntly in numbers: “The economy has to double its research efforts every 13 years just to maintain the same overall rate of economic growth.”

The robust finding of declining idea productivity has implications for future economic research, the paper concluded. The standard assumption in growth models has historically been a constant rate of productivity, and “we believe the empirical work we’ve presented speaks clearly against this assumption,” it states.

New data, new perspective

Moore’s Law and beyond

Bloom initiated this research a year ago, inspired to dig deeper after speaking on a panel at the SIEPR economic summit that discussed “Is the Productivity Slowdown for Real?” He admits the paper–and its somewhat pessimistic analysis–has dampened his previous, more optimistic stance.

Everywhere they looked, the researchers say they found clear evidence of how exponential investments in R&D have masked the decline in productivity. The tech industry’s signature guidepost, Moore’s Law, which marked its 52nd year in April, is a prime example.

“I’ve changed my mind,” Bloom says. “Pretty much all mainstream economists have become rather depressed about productivity growth.”

Introduced in 1965 by Gordon Moore, the co-founder of computer chip giant Intel, the theorem postulates that the density of transistors on an integrated circuit would double roughly every two years, doubling computing power.

At the 2016 SIEPR Summit, Bloom was more positive about the nation’s productivity, saying its declining rate was only a temporary effect of the financial crisis of 2008. He even caricatured ways of looking at US productivity levels and contended the up-and-down swings between 1950 and 2010 did not necessarily signal a long-running trend of slow productivity growth. It’s getting harder and harder to make new ideas, and the economy is more or less compensating for that. The only way we’ve been able to

Moore’s Law has certainly played out– the computing power on a chip today is remarkable compared to even a decade ago–but the study found that the research effort behind the chip innovations rose by a factor of 78 since 1971. Put another way, the number of researchers required today to maintain that innovative pace is more than 75 times larger than the number that was required in the early 1970s. “The constant exponential growth

implied by Moore’s Law has been achieved only by a staggering increase in the amount of resources devoted to pushing the frontier forward,” the paper states. Other industries also exhibited falloffs in idea productivity. For instance, to measure productivity in agriculture, the study’s co-authors used crop yields of corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton and compared them against research expenditures directed at improving yields, including crossbreeding, bioengineering, crop protection, and maintenance. The average yields across all four crops roughly doubled between 1960 and 2015. But to achieve those gains, the amount of research expended during that period rose “tremendously” anywhere from a threefold to a morethan-25-fold increase, depending on the crop and specific research measure. On average, research productivity in agriculture fell by about 4% to 6% per year, the study found. A similar pattern of greater input but less output followed in medical research. The study’s authors analyzed R&D spending on new, federally approved drugs against life expectancy rates as a gauge of productivity. They also examined decreases in mortality rates of cancer patients against medical research publications and clinical trials. The empirical findings on breast and heart cancer suggest that at least in some areas, “it may get easier to find new ideas at first before getting harder,” the paper states. Turning its focus to publicly traded companies, the study found a fraction of firms where research productivity– as measured by growth in sales, market capitalization, employment and revenue-per-worker productivity–grew decade-over-decade since 1980. But overall, more than 85% of the firms showed steady, rapid declines in productivity while their spending in R&D rose. The analysis found research productivity for firms fell, on average, about 10% per year. It would take 15 times more researchers today than it did 30 years ago to produce the same rate SM of economic growth. SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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FOLLOW-ON GLORY? PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK FPO

IS PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK, ONE OF THE LARGEST PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS IN THE COUNTRY EMERGING THROUGH A ‘U’ SHAPED RECOVERY IN FORTUNES? WHILE THE TURNAROUND SEEN IN FY’17 HAS HELD ITS GROUND IN RECENT Q1 NUMBERS, RBI’S RECENT RATECUT AFTER ALMOST A YEAR IS A POSITIVE FACTOR, AND THE BANK IS GETTING READY WITH A SIGNIFICANT EQUITY RAISE OF RS. 3000 CRORES THROUGH A FOLLOW-ON PUBLIC OFFER (FPO), QUALIFIED INSTITUTIONAL PLACEMENT (QIP), OR RIGHTS ISSUE.

fiscal 2016 was the year in which Punjab National Bank cleaned up its books due to the unprecedented NPA crisis in the banking system, FY’17 has gone down in its history as the year in which PNB effected an emphatic turnaround, bouncing back to profits. Now with results for Q1 of FY’18 coming in, PNB has effectively silenced anyone wondering whether the turnaround would be sustainable. The public sector bank has seen a rise in net profit of 12% on year-on-year basis, while on quarter-on-quarter basis, bottomline has surged by 31%, signalling that the turnaround seen in FY’17 is strengthening. The core lending business, signified by Net Interest Income (NII) has risen by SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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over 4% on both YoY and sequential basis, at a time when corporate credit growth in the country is at near standstill. Driving the performance was slightly better asset quality. PNB has been one of the most affected banks in the on-going NPA crisis since 2009. In Q1, Gross NPAs in percentage terms were at 13.66% compared to 13.75% in Q1FY17. Provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) saw decline of 19.14% to Rs 2,559.71 crore in Q1 as against Rs 3,165.67 crore in the similar period of the previous year. Provision coverage ratio as on June 30, 2017 stands at 58.23%. PNB is a large sized bank in the country with total deposits reaching Rs 6,25,616.11 crore in Q1, up 12.93% from Rs 5,53,952.20 crore in Q1FY17. Advances increased by 2.08% at Rs

Sunil Mehta Non-Executive Chairman

Sunil Mehta Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer

3,99,749.84 crore in Q1, compared to Rs 3,91,574.24 crore a year ago same period. Clearly, the bank is cautiously getting back to a growth mode, hinging on its newfound flair in retail business. The stock has already run ahead of the performance, with investors sitting on two-yearly gain of over 100%. However, much more needs to be done by the PNB management to bring back the bank to its past glory, when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stock traded at 43% higher than current level, back in 2010. Now, the Board of Directors of Punjab National Bank has recently given its approval for a capital raise of up to Rs. 3000 crores, through suitable instruments like a Follow-on Public Offer (FPO), Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), Rights Issue, or a combination of all three. Boosting employee motivation, PNB is also mulling an ESOP program. The plan to raise equity wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have come at

a more appropriate time for multiple reasons. Firstly, Indian markets have been hitting fresh all-time highs, with Sensex breaching the 32,000 mark and the Nifty the 10,000 level. Secondly, RBI has reduced interest rate by 0.25% to 6% in its August 2nd review, which is a reduction after almost a year. PNB is also in secure hands now, with two veteran bankers, interestingly sharing the same name, at the helm. Non Executive Chairman Sunil Mehta is a Fellow Chartered Accountant and an alumni of the Wharton School of Management, USA, having 33 years of experience in Citibank and AIG. MD & CEO Sunil Mehta is a Post Graduate in Agriculture, MBA in Finance, and a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB). He is a seasoned banker with over 35 years of experience in various public sector banks including Allahabad Bank, and Corporation Bank where he was Executive Director. SM SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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NEWS-IN-FOCUS

Good For You. Good For Women. Good for India. Women of India Organic Festival 2017 Culminates With Record Sales of Rs. 1.84 Crores and Footfalls of 2.35 Lakhs he 15-day “Women of India Organic Festival 2017” organized by the Ministry of Women & Child Development culminated on the night of Sunday, October 15th. New Delhi's Dilli Haat was this Diwali season the foremost hub of India's largest and most varied offerings of organic products ranging from food, kitchen products, pure fabrics to wellness, personal care and solar products. Organized and sponsored by the Union Ministry of Women & Child Development as an annual affair, the Women of India Organic Festival 2017 celebrates and promotes women farmers and entrepreneurs from across India. The total sales by the women farmers and entrepreneurs who came from 25 States was over Rs. 1.84 crores. The success of the Festival meaningfully added to the joy of the women farmers from the remotest corners of the country like, Ladakh, Manipur, Sikkim, Puducherry, Fazalka, Jhajhar among others. The participants had the opportunity to travel and stay in Delhi free of cost for the entire duration of the Festival while enjoying the experience of selling their wholesome goods to fascinated Delhiites. The Women of India Organic Festival 2017 was inaugurated at Dilli Haat, INA by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi and Minister of State, Dr. Virender Kumar. Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi in fact set the ball rolling by doing her Diwali gifts shopping from the Organic Festival. Her example was followed by hundreds of people who rushed to Dilli Haat to make their Diwali gifts unique. The Festival from 1st-15th October had people coming in droves on all days thereby giving immense encouragement to the sincere efforts of all participants. The main aim of the SEASONAL MAGAZINE

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Festival was to support and encourage women and women-led groups that promote organic farming, thus supporting their local community’s economy, creating jobs and keeping farmers thriving, in addition of course to spreading proper awareness about the benefits of organic products. According to Ms. Damyanti Devi, a farmer from Uttarakhand, “We are so happy that the Ministry has given us the opportunity to sell our merchandise in Delhi. We had to procure merchandise twice over as we sold our initial goods in less than a week. This monetary benefit would certainly help in my daughter’s further education.”

According to Ms. Thokcham Sonalika Devi, a farmer from Manipur, “We would like to thank the Ministry of Women and Child Development for organizing the Women of India Organic Festival and also giving us the chance to display our Chakhao black rice of Manipur, which was a total novelty for the people of Delhi. We also got many bulk orders for our products and hope to participate in many such festivals organized by the Ministry in the future too.” The participants of Women of India Organic Festival 2017 also enrolled themselves in Mahila E-Haat, another initiative of the Ministry of Women & Child Development to meet the aspirations and needs of women entrepreneurs. This unique e-platform exponentially strengthens the socioeconomic empowerment of women beyond the Festival. SM