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Showing posts from May, 2018

Privatisation to destroy India’s public banks' role in financial inclusion

By Moin Qazi* The world’s great philanthropist and investment leader, Warren Buffett, once said, “It’s only when the tide goes out that you realise who has been swimming naked”. When the banking system hit the rocks and the tide turned, the naked were caught disrobed. Similarly, sometimes it takes a pitch-black economy to reveal who and what in the financial firmament really shines. It is only when darkness falls that one can see the stars twinkle. The moonlight coming from the otherwise bleak sky of the financial world, has been made possible thanks to honest taxpayers, who are transfusing precious blood to the currently bleeding banks. The current crisis in the Indian banking sector led to calls for privatisation of public sector banks (PSB). However, the private sector is no paragon of great virtue. The huge crowds that throng public banks and put up with various inconveniences indicate the enormous faith that the public has in these banks. The challenge today doesn’t involve provid

A model NGO for skill development and livelihood generation

By Moin Qazi* Historians will tell you that a burst of creativity occurs when we start believing that the search for solutions to complex problems has come to an end. This explosion is fate’s way of reminding us that there is always something just over the curve of innovation. As the country continues to face mounting challenges, social entrepreneurs are pairing their ingenuity and knowledge with their passion for bringing lasting solutions to society to create a sustainable and more equitable world. Unemployment rates in India continue to rise, with youth unemployment registering the greatest increase. The unemployment rate among youth is almost 13% (4.9% overall), making unemployment one of the most challenging issues. Several civil society players are supplementing their efforts to address the problem, including an enterprising couple from Mumbai, Kishor Kher and his wife Mrinalini, founders of Yuva Parivartan. The couple is working with school and college dropouts, in both villages

Partisan journalism continues to rule with an untrammeled pen

By Moin Qazi* The Supreme Court’s latest observation on the media has to be viewed in the right spirit by the journalists’ fraternity. A bench of CJI Misra, Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said, “We are sorry to say some journalists think as if they are sitting in the pulpit and can write anything. That is not journalistic independence or culture. They think they can get away with anything. That is not journalists’ right to freedom of speech and expression.” A free press is certainly lifeblood of our democracy and its presence is a constraint on an irresponsible government: it forms a critical part of a three-legged stool: the rule of law, enforced by an independent judiciary, and regular and fair elections are the other two. Remove one, and the other two collapses. by looking critically at elected officials’ actions (or inaction), the journalists are supposed to ensure that those who govern remain accountable to those who put them there we need the press to protect us ag