Preventing bank frauds:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Parliament that the RBI is taking measures to strengthen its regulatory capacity. She also expressed hope that it will ensure RBI's capacity to deal with the financial crisis in the future.
She informed that RBI is preparing itself to deal with any unforeseen scenarios. And, the government is also engaging with RBI in this process.
India has seen several financial crises in recent times. It has exposed the loopholes in the financial system. Smaller investors have lost their savings due to fraudulent activities and they need to be protected.
In this context, RBI needs to stay ahead in its game. It will have to keep filling the loopholes to prevent fraudsters from taking undue advantage of the system.
Vaccine nationalism:
Adar Poonawalla, CEO of the Serum Institute of India has taken a jibe against the countries holding up the stock of vaccines. He warned against vaccine nationalism in countries including the U.S. and India. He also warned that such practice is derailing the efforts to deliver 2 billion doses to poorer and middle-income nations by the end of the year.
He urged the US to stop restricting the supply of critical raw material. The US has recently invoked the Defense Production Act to limit the supplies of key ingredients to support its manufacturing. Even India has opted to administer doses in a calculated manner rather than opening it up for its entire population.
With governments stockpiling the doses, the poor population is being deprived of getting vaccinated. And, the vaccination program is losing its cause. Hence, there is an alternate view, demanding free-market practices to be applied here. It is advocating governments to allow private participation and have minimum interference.
Reaching $5 trillion milestone, the 'Aditya Puri' way:
Aditya Puri, former CEO of HDFC Bank believes that recent initiatives in the infrastructure and agriculture sectors are the great enablers to make India a USD 5 trillion economy.
He also believes that the realignment of global equations post-Covid-19 is great for India. It is important to note that India is trying to emerge as a manufacturing hub. It offers a great alternative as the world is looking to reduce its dependency on China.
In Mr Puri's words, in order to be a $5-trillion economy, India must focus on the upliftment of its rural population. India needs to create a new middle class in semi-urban and rural areas. It also needs to make sure that credit penetration increases in the country. And, rural households receive enough credit from the banking system.
