BIZGEIST The Business Café | Volume 1 Issue 3 BizGeist by The Business Café

EDITORS’COLUMN

Dear Readers,

“Time has this signature of giving history it’s shades and shadows of creating pages that leaves all the rites of time.” And, this issue of BizGeist is one such edition. Suggesting its leitmotif, the release has been christened as “BigWigs”. This picturesque edition delineates a glimpse of plethora of people who have made it to the headlines, especially in the business, economic and financial world. From Dr. Urjit Patel’s resignation to the extradition of fugitive Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, we have tried to cover all the spicy snippets of reader’s delight. The two contrasting sides of Ambani family, Dr. Rajan’s comment on Loan Waivers, and the new startups of Flipkart founders, we’ve covered it all for you. “we’ve got it all. The news pieces and pictures are knit together to serve a treat to your eyes.”Hope you like this edition! Kindly Share your views at [email protected].

Happy Reading! GOPAL BATRA Editor-in-chief CONTENTS vv

Dr. Urjit Patel Dr. Gita Gopinath

Mr. Nilanjan Roy Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi

Singh Brothers Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan

Dr. G20

Mr. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Mr. Satya Nadella

Mr. Anil Ambani Mr. Sachin Bansal

Mr. Vijay Mallya Mr. Binny Bansal

Dr. Mr. Byju Raveendran

Mr. Nitin Gadkari Dr.

Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian CA Suresh Prabhu

Mrs. Kiran Mazumdarshaw Mr. Rajesh Subramaniam

Mrs. Roshni Nadar Malhotra Mr. P. Chidambaram Mr. Uday Shankar URJIT RAVINDRA PATEL

Dr. Urjit R. Patel is an Indian Economist, who served as the 24th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He has held various key positions since 1990 at the national and international level. After an alleged dispute between the RBI and over transfer of excess funds citing “personal reasons”, Dr. Patel resigned from the post of RBI Governor effective immediately on December 10, 2018 at 17:15 hrs IST. Patel is fifth RBI Governor in free India to resign.

01 | BizGeist by The Business Café 02 | BizGeist by The Business Café ‘Resigned’ to his fate RBI Governor Dr. Urjit Patel resigns amidst the financial fuss between RBI and the Govt. of India.

What began as an internal tussle between the head “I believe resignation of Urjit Patel is matter of great of the biggest monetary regulation framework of concern. Resignation by govt servant is a note of India and the policymakers evolved into a fierce protest, when faced with circumstances they cannot battle of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) vs. deal with.” He further added “Government must take Government of India (GoI). This shocking extreme care in its relationship further with the RBI. episodic was for the entire country to witness and Need to understand what prompted this act by Urjit decide for itself as to how would world’s largest democracy function if every democratic Patel.” Global rating agencies like Moody’s, Fitch institution had to undergo through the government Solutions and S&P Global showed concerns over this scanner and its functionalities interfered with for resignation and remarked that any pressure on the the convenience of those in power. autonomy of the central bank should be viewed as a credit negative Within 24 hours of Patel’s resignation, government appointed Mr. S h a k t i k a n t a D a s , f o r m e r Hurdled Past economic affairs secretary and a While Urjit Patel had received had tightened the noose around seasoned Indian Administrative much flak for the disastrous move credit granting rules due to Services (IAS) officer, as the of demonetisation carried out by unfavourable situations in the 25th Governor of RBI. Though the NDA- led government in banking sector. The brewing several controversies have mired November, 2016; he has been quite tension between the two was his selection, with veteran strategic in subverting the blame to brought into spotlight after RBI’s politicos considering his the government for implementing Deputy Governor, Dr. Viral instrumental role in effectuating this fallacious policy and has Acharya warned the government a demonetisation earning him this optimistically braved the criticism week after invocation of Section 7, position and some who have hurled at him for being a party to of a consequential financial wrath gone to the extent of referring this move. While appearing before for the country if government him as “corrupt” during several the 31-member Parliamentary denied the central bank its requisite instances, it will be interesting to Standing Committee on Finance in autonomy. These major issues watch as to how does he justify November, 2018, Mr. Patel steered coupled with disagreements on his credentials for the new past controversial questions classification of Non-Performing position. Furthermore, a lot has pertaining to invoking of Section 7 Assets (NPAs), easing of Prompt been expected out of him in of the RBI Act wherein the Corrective Action (PCA) norms, terms of reposing the dwindling government demanded alleviation setting up of a payments regulator faith of the countrymen in of penalties on default in independent of RBI; added insult to autonomous and efficacious repayment of credit by the injury. working of the Reserve Bank of enterprises while the central bank I n d i a a n d r e s t o r a t i o n o f democracy that the Central Bank ought to work with. What lies ahead?

Though Mr. Patel, the first RBI Governor to resign in 40 years, stepped down citing “personal reasons”, we all (With inputs from CNBCTV18, The Week and are well aware of the bitter battle that enraged through Economic Times) 2018 between the government and the RBI that exhorted him to take this bold step. This resignation seems to have not gone down too well with numerous intellectuals as well as the global rating agencies. Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan, former RBI Governor, reacted on it by saying, 03 | BizGeist by The Business Café

“Markets abhor uncertainty. The swift appointment “The New RBI Governor Das’s educational of a new Governor, is therefore a welcome qualification is MA (History ) . Hope and Pray he move.Even more welcome is the choice of doesn’t make RBI also a History .May God Bless the @DasShaktikanta I’ve interacted with him since his New Arrival !! (Sic),” days in TamilNadu & his clarity of thought & BJP Leader and Former Minister of Gujarat decisiveness will serve him well in this critical Cabinet Jay Narayan Vyas role” Anand Mahindra, Chairman (Mahindra Group)

“The (BJP) government does not like people who speak the truth, but wants only those who ‘nod their " being appointed as RBI Governor head in agreement’. If this is the intention behind Das’ is wrong, he has worked closely in corrupt activities appointment, it signals the beginning of a ‘financial with P Chidambaram and even tried to save him in terror’ regime,” court cases. I don't know why this was done, I have BJP Ally Shiv Sena in its newspaper, Saamna written a letter to PM against this decision," Indian Economist and BJP MP Subramaniam Swamy told news agency ANI. “He [Mr. Das] has a lot of experience in economic affairs, and, therefore, he should make a good governor. He has been in the government for a long “Bureaucrats, too, have been successful governors time. This is not the first time that a person from the in the past. The new governor’s cordial relations administrative service has been appointed as RBI with the government will likely help policy Governor. It has happened in the past. Once he takes negotiations. This in turn will help in stabilising over as the Governor, he should stick to the traditions short-term investor sentiment.” of RBI. He should work towards ensuring the Ashish Vaidya, Head of Markets for India at autonomy, credibility and independence of RBI,” Singapore's DBS Bank. Dr. Chakravarthi Rangarajan, Former RBI Governor

“Shaktikanta Das' Appointment May Lead to 'Frightening' Governance Outcomes.” "Institutions exist, partly to give us forbearance, to say that 'even OPINIONS if I want it, I can't do it, my hands are tied.' We should tie our hands a bit more. But this is too THAT much untying,” Dr. Abhijit Banerjee, Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) MATTER

SHAKTIKANTA DAS Mr. Shaktikanta Das was appointed as 25th Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on December 11, 2018. He is a retired 1980 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Tamil Nadu cadre. He had previously served in various capacities for Indian and Tamil Nadu governments. He obtained his bachelor's (BA) and master's degrees (MA) in History from the St. Stephen's College at the University of Delhi.

04 | BizGeist by The Business Café NILANJAN ROY

Mr. Nilanjan Roy, a Chartered Accountant (CA) and a commerce graduate from the University of Delhi has been appointed as the CFO of Infosys with effect from March 1, 2019. He was formerly with Airtel for 13 years as its global CFO.

05 | BizGeist by The Business Café SINGH BROTHERS Erstwhile billionaire Malvinder Singh released a video alleging he was physically assaulted by his brother and fellow businessman Shivinder Singh on December 6. However, Shivinder Singh said, “The allegations are false and a shameless attempt to cast doubts on his integrity. He added, “The latest incident closes all options for any possible solution to work together.”

06 | BizGeist by The Business Café MANMOHAN SINGH Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh launched a five volume book on his public life. The series has been titled as “Changing India”. The first volume is titled 'India's Export Trends and the Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth', and the second volume 'Thoughts on Trade and Development'. The third volume is dedicated to 'The International Economic Order and the Quest for Equity in Development'. The fourth volume focuses on 'Economic Reforms: 1991 and Beyond'. The final part of the book has been split into two volumes and is as titled 'The Prime Minister Speaks'.

07 | BizGeist by The Business Café RAKESH KUMAR RADHEYSHAM JHUNJHUNWALA

“The Pied Piper of Indian Bourses” and Indian billionaire investor CA Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, expects the market to be volatile till the next general elections and bets his money on the return of incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.

08 | BizGeist by The Business Café ANIL DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

Anil D/ Ambani is an Indian business magnate and the chairman of Reliance Group (also referred to Reliance ADA Group). His net worth is currently estimated around $2.2 billion as against $13.7 billion in March 2010.

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‘The Ambanis’ is a name big enough to make everybody start visualizing flashy cars, kilos of jewelry adorning the Ambani women, the recent big-Fat-Indian wedding, Bollywood stars What went dancing at the extravagant functions and so on. In short the name of Ambanis can be equated to all that glitters and all that wrong? is gold! In the shadow of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, there is another Ambani who is struggling to even meet the The Department of Telecom (DoT) refused to basic requirements of running a business. The younger allow the spectrum sale by the elder brother over Ambani, younger in age and smaller in stature, Anil Ambani, is the dues RCom had to pay. As a result, RCom a name which is less known to the people. While his elder and DoT are now facing each other in the court brother is the brightest star in the business firmament of Asia, of law. The DoT has agreed to give a nod to the Dhirubhai Ambani’s younger offspring is facing heavy debts. spectrum sale after due diligence on the Anil Ambani could’ve made his way out of the messy and corporate guarantee. A corporate guarantee of nasty vicious circle of debt. His elder brother being the Rs.1400 crores, provided by Reliance Realty generous and big hearted man that he is, would’ve helped him and a plot of land, were provided as security out. When everything was in place, what went so wrong that against the spectrum related dues. Mr. Anil is still not debt-free? The Ambani Might Misery

A look at their plan Current position of RCom & Anil Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm tried to buy all the assets of Reliance communications (RCom), which would give Reliance Communications total debts stand at Rs. Anil Ambani sufficient money to pay off his debt which would 46,000 crores. It has recently missed a deadline of in turn keep the younger one and his company out of paying Rs.550 crores to Ericsson. The insolvency bankruptcy proceedings. proceedings are on the cards if any further delay is made in paying off the debts. Anil Ambani might While the DoT was making up its mind on approving the sale, also face charges of contempt of court. With his last a letter from the elder brother added to the mess. In the letter, hope being snatched from him, Anil Ambani might Jio sought the government’s assurance that it will not be liable soon be bankrupt and RCom will soon be officially for RCom’s past dues relating to airwaves. The government’s called insolvent. The fame and prestige of the spectrum trading norms make the buyer liable for all the dues Ambani family hasn’t been able to light a lamp of that haven’t been recovered from the seller. Now since the hope for Anil in the dark times he is facing. The elder Ambani does not want to be liable for the previous dues, world has witnessed the rise of one brother and the it leaves Anil in a tight spot. The Department of Telecom downfall of the other. therefore, did not approve the spectrum sale.

VIJAY MALLYA

Vijay Mallya, a well-known 63 years old businessman, who is wanted in India for an alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs. 9,000 crores have recently been served an extradition order by the Westminster Magistrates' Court Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot.

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ARVIND SUBRAMANIAN

Dr. Arvind Subramanian is an Indian economist and the 16th Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (CEA). He earned his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and M.Phil and D.Phil degrees from the University of Oxford on an Inlaks Scholarship. He recently launched his new book, ‘Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley economy’. He termed demonetisation a massive, draconian, monetary shock in the book.

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“Demonetisation a massive, draconian, monetary shock” “I don’t want to visit the rights and wrongs of what “We must no longer delay action” happened in the past, but as an economist and analyst, , I want to learn from what happened on “We cannot afford to open the spigots, we cannot demonetisation. I pose a puzzle; on the one hand, if relax, whatever the RBI was doing on the weaker banks. I think in the last 12 months, some notable you take 86% of the cash, it is not soothing or gentle progress was made, really instilling a culture that but it is extreme, severe, and we call it a large enough is enough. Also in the last few month, RBI has shock. The point of saying draconian was to contrast to its credit, that they were able to address the the action with the puzzle as to why the impact on problems with the private banks. So going forward, I think that attitude has to prevail.” GDP was so mute or so moderated. You talk to any economist in the world, everyone said that this will lead to a massive recession because 86% is a huge amount.” “Demonetization along with GST imposed severe “I firmly believe that whenever the time hardships” comes, the govt. Must reconsider the Banks “It imposed severe hardships on the same group- the Nationalisation act” small, informal traders. There was a large impact on the people who were in the cash economy.” “I’ve had enough of people saying that the governance of so and so banks have to be improved. I do not believe that governance of “GST design could have been much better” public sector banks can be improved without “To judge GST by what the budget demands of the changing ownership structure, at least for many GST, is unreasonable. I will say it frankly; the of them.” budget has made unreasonable demands on GST. It has asked for 16-17 per cent (increase)" “Agrarian distress is a fact of life and we need to take action against it” “If you do a technical analysis, I think there are “I think loan waiver is a very inefficient and excess reserves with RBI” almost a perverse way of achieving that I would say two things very carefully. One, it should legitimate objective of raising farm incomes. I only be used to recapitalise the banks, or to retire the say that because first, there’s the whole physical government debt only if the associative reforms of side. When states do this, because they have an the public sector banks are undertaken. Two, it must overall limit which the center can enforce, they be done cooperatively and not adversely. These are would have to cut something else. They can’t the absolutely stringent conditions attached to my give out loan waivers and do other things as technical analysis and I stand by them absolutely there is a set limit. Also, who benefits from the today. I would be absolutely against using the loan waiver? The poor farmer who cannot reserves to finance the deficit or for any other borrow from the formal system, he borrows general expenditure. I would be aghast if that were from the informal system, he gets nothing to happen. These reserves are like savings, you don’t because it’s not his loan we’ve waived. The use your savings to finance your current farmer who borrows and repays, he gets expenditures. You use is for long term investments. nothing. So it is so perver, that you benefit the And today in India, the best long term investments is farmers in the middle who borrow and do not to get the financial system back in order. repay.” NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI Nitin Gadkari is an industrialist and politician. He currently serves as the Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation in the Government of India. An eminent politician with commerce and law background, Gadkari is also known for the works during his tenure as a Public Works Department Minister in the state of Maharashtra when he constructed a series of roads, highways and flyovers across the state including the -Pune Expressway, India's first six-lane concrete, high-speed, access controlled tolled expressway.

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Mallya, Money and Minister

Union Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari created a buzz for his comments on fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya at an economic summit organised by the Times Group. He opined that it is unfair to tag a one-time loan defaulter ‘Vijay Mallyaji’ as a “chor” (thief), adding that the embattled businessman has a four-decade-long track record of timely debt servicing. He remarked “For 40 years Mallya was regularly paying interest on loans. After entering the aviation sector, he started facing problems, and suddenly he became a thief? If a person repays the interest for 50 years, and if he defaults once, then suddenly everything is fraud? This mind set is not correct” However he quickly added that he has no business dealing with Mallya, who faces extradition from the UK for alleged bank fraud and money laundering amounting to an estimated Rs 9,000 crore. He said, “There are risks in the business, be it banking or insurance, there are ups and downs. But, if the mistakes are bona fide, because of global or internal factors in the economy like a recession, then that person who is facing difficulties must be given support,” “If Nirav Modi or Vijay Mallyaji has committed (financial) fraud then send them to jail, but whoever comes in distress, and if we label them as fraudster then our economy will not progress,” he added. However, his comments drew a lot of criticism and he had to issue a clarification for the same. “I had said that if Vijay Mallyaji has done any wrong and an investigation is underway on him, then the investigation is right and suitable,” he told news agency ANI the next day. He added, “I had also said that his (Mallya) account was a prime account for 40 years. It went for a toss on the 41st year. Ups and downs are bound to happen in business. Both my statements have been taken out of context.”

India’s Ethan Hunt faces just One Problem.

Billionaire Business Scion Anand Mahindra recently referred Union Minister Mr. Nitin Gadkari as India's 'Ethan Hunt'. He tweeted, "India’s Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible) is @nitin_gadkari Years ago, a small recording device must have appeared & told him: "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to transform India’s infrastructural landscape" Since then, he’s overcome every obstacle in his mission’s way." Gadkari’s ministry is one of the best performing ministry. However, this doesn’t mean his path is free from obstacles. The minister remarked at the ET Awards for Corporate Excellence, "The only problem presently I am facing is - We have at least 150 projects with cost involvement of Rs 2 lakh crore. The financial closures in the banks is becoming a very tough thing for the investor.” He added, “It is the appropriate time for the Reserve Bank to support infrastructure in the country as far as growth rate is concerned. But many times the circulars issued by the Reserve Bank are creating more complications,” 20 | BizGeist by The Business Café

Oyo rooms The startup story

Today, whenever we feel the need to book a hotel in which he claimed to be a bestseller, though only over any city for our stay, we do not have to worry much thousand copies were sold. Moreover, Oyo Rooms about it as we simply use the online medium to book has also been in headlines for trying to steal the hotels. This has become possible only because we talent from its rivals. Besides, an Oyo employee has are provided with satisfactory services online and also been accused of raping a foreign guest. they are able to win our trust. The premier venture in this industry is Oyo rooms which was founded by an Nonetheless, its solid and systematic way of astute teenager Ritesh Agarwal in 2012 under the operations have successfully cleared the hurdles that name 'Oravel Stays'. What looks like a perfectly came in its way. In order to be a part of Oyo network, smooth and elegant business model is a result of every property is thoroughly audited and it is made colossal hard work and tackling of various sure that they adhere to a required checklist. It troublesome situations. focuses on providing a seamless customer experience right from its online application to customer's actual The journey of Oyo Rooms is full of ups and downs. experience of stay by providing certain standard At the mere age of 17, Ritesh Agarwal travelled facilities which includes access to free Wi-Fi, extensively across India in search of a good business Television, complimentary breakfast, hygienic idea and stayed in various hotels. He observed that washrooms and 24-hour customer service. As a result substandard services were offered in most of the of its efforts, it is currently present in more than 165 hotels and that customers were not getting the reward Indian cities with 40000 rooms in 4000 hotels. Its for their pay. These instances led to an idea of presence is not only restricted to India but is present providing a medium through which people can get in foreign countries like Malaysia, United Arab standardised hotel experiences which are both Emirates, China, Nepal, and Indonesia as well. affordable and accessible to them. In order to pursue Effectively establishing itself in China is still a big his dream of launching a start-up, he dropped out task for Oyo as it faces extreme competition there from his college, Indian School of Business and especially from Jin Jiang, which is the world's fifth Finance, and began to focus on his idea. He launched largest hospitality company. Still, as of now, it has 'Oravel Stays', a website designed to enable listing done fairly well in the Chinese markets. and booking of budget accommodations which was inspired by Airbnb, but later pivoted Oravel to Oyo Currently, Oyo Rooms has performed steadily well in 2013 given the lack of serviceable homes and and dominates the market in India. Its app ranks apartments in India. Just after the launch of Oravel among the best rated apps on Google Play Store Stays, he was nominated for the Thiel fellowship which adds another feather in its cap. Ritesh under which he received $100000 for his project. He Agarwal dreams of making OYO Rooms the de-facto is the only Indian who has been able to avail this option for anyone who needs a place to stay when opportunity. However, the initial success lasted only away from home. It will be interesting to see how for a short period of time. Just after two years, an OYO Rooms performs in the coming time and where article appeared in Mint newspaper which critically will its CEO, Ritesh Aggarwal, be able to take it after wrote about his unethical dealings at Oravel Stays. It good initial years. also publicised his fallout with a former co-founder, and exposed his lies regarding his book, The Encyclopaedia of Indian Engineering Colleges,

KRISHNAMURTHY SUBRAMNIAN

Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian is an Indian Economist who was appointed as the 17th Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India (CEA) on December 7, 2018. He was earlier a professor at the Indian School of Business (ISB). Dr. Subramanian did his PhD under former CEA and RBI Governor Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan. He was also named ISB’s inaugural Alumni Endowment Research Fellow in 2014 because of his work in shaping the Indian banking sector.

19 | BizGeist by The Business Café KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is an Indian billionaire and the founder and Chair of Biocon Limited, the country's largest biopharmaceutical firm. She is India's richest self-made woman with a net worth of over $3.4 billion. She was ranked 60th on Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women list in 2018.

20 | BizGeist by The Business Café ROSHNI NADAR

Roshni Nadar Malhotra is the Executive Director and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indian multinational company HCL Enterprise, which was founded by his father and Indian billionaire businessman Shiv Nadar. She was ranked 51st on Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women list in 2018.

21 | BizGeist by The Business Café UDAY SHANKAR Mr. Uday Shankar was recently elected as the Vice President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry. Shankar is the first Indian media and entertainment industry executive to assume a leadership position in a national industry chamber like FICCI. He is currently President, 21st Century Fox, Asia, and Chairman and CEO of Star India. Last week, he was appointed Chairman, Star and Disney India, and President, The Walt Disney Co. Asia Pacific as part of a leadership reorganization strategy by the company.

22 | BizGeist by The Business Café GITA GOPINATH

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Economist- in Dr. Gita Gopinath was previously a professor at Harvard University. After former RBI Governor Raghuram G. Rajan, Gopinath is the second Indian and the first woman to hold the position. She has served in various capacities at the international level. She was also the advisor to Chief Minister of Kerala.

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Gopinath’s Research on Demonetisation Sets Fire

The economy transitioning policy of the Modi government to demonetize Indian currency has had some serious adverse affects on the nation’s GDP. Dr. Gita Gopinath, along with three other economists, has released a research paper on the same. There was a decline of 3 percentage points in economic activity and employment in Nov-Dec 2016, which leads to a decline in the quarterly growth rate of 2 percentage points or more, as concluded by the economists. So practically framing, if demonetization hadn’t taken place, the GDP would be 2% higher, which is a drastic leap. With this, there is also limited information about the informal sector’s GDP. The study also identified the 'economically sharp and statistically significant contractions in areas experiencing more severe demonetization shocks. The effects on real economic activity peak in the period immediately following the announcement and dissipate over the next few months as new currency arrives.' People managed the shortage of cash by switching to alternative modes of payment. Researchers said: 'Payments using both Paytm and POS increased more in districts experiencing sharper declines in money following demonetization. Thus, while these areas experienced declines in overall economic activity and ATM usage, they had faster growth of alternative payments mechanisms'. They add: 'The effect on deposits appears short-lived while the effect on credit may be more persistent. Because banks have access to internal credit markets and banks in more-demonetized districts experienced faster deposit growth, we can interpret the contraction in lending in those districts as due to lower borrower demand for credit'. In short, this policy had short-term advantages but as far as long-term pros are concerned, this policy was a bummer. RAJIV MEHRISHI

Comptroller and Auditor General of India Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi has become the Vice-Chair of the United Nations Panel of Auditors. He is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of 1978 batch belonging to cadre. He also serves as the Chairman of United Nations Board of Auditors.

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“JOURNALIST SHUJAAT BHUKARI WAS SHOT DEAD OUTSIDE HIS OFFICE IN SRINAGAR ON 14 JUNE 2018”

India makes its way up to the top 5 of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists.

The Constitution of India guarantees certain fundamental rights to the citizens of India. The most important amongst these is the ‘right to freedom of speech’. Media, which is considered to be the fourth pillar of any democracy, strongly advocates the right to freedom of speech. But what if their advocacy is overthrown by the powerful men of the nation? Media will no longer be able to serve the people of that nation properly; which will push the general population into a state that is all made up, since no truth telling would exist.

The Reporters Without Borders conducted a study, which revealed that Afghanistan is the worst country for journalists. Near about 15 journalists were killed in Afghanistan in 2018 alone. In India, 6 journalists have been killed in 2018 and several others arrested. India shares its spot with the new entrant, the United States of America. The journalists are sometimes tortured, assaulted and threatened. The next deadliest place is Syria, where 11 journalists have been killed, 9 in Mexico and 8 in Yemen. India thus holds, the dubious distinction of being in the fifth spot in the list of deadliest countries for journalists. This study is ringing alarm bells for all the academicians, law makers, intellectuals and the educated masses. It is certainly not a happy spot to be in.

It is the duty of every journalist to impart true knowledge to the general public, about the happenings in the nation and the world. This duty also brings with it the responsibility of catering to the public’s demands within the lawful limits. Where these limits are crossed, yes, there must be a punishment. But, on performing their daily duty such harsh punishments should not be imposed. It is difficult to say with surety, in public, who is behind all such killings each time; but, at the same time it is easy for anyone to connect the dots and know who the real killer is. The dilemma that the public faces is, whether they should raise their voices against the killings of truth bearers, or just be silent spectators. 27 | BizGeist by The Business Café Rajan Speaks…

“We have a Real Job Problem” “Farmer's loan waiver shouldn't be part of poll promises” Lack of jobs is a very serious issue. This reflects the problems that even at 7% growth, it is not producing the I have said forever, even written a letter to the jobs. 25 million people applying for 90,000 railway jobs Election Commissioner saying they should be taken is "a reflection of the fact that we have a real job off the table. I mean, certainly there is reason to problem”. think about farm distress. But, the question of -In an interview with NDTV. whether the flows to farmers is best affected by waiving loans, after all, there is only a subset of farmers who get those loans. So, it often goes to the “Excess reserve transfer may hit RBI credit rating” best connected rather than those most poorly off. Second, it obviously creates enormous problems for “We are ‘Baa’ country. We are barely investment grade. the fiscal of the state once those waivers are done. Sometime, we need to undertake international And I think, unfortunately, it inhibits investment transactions which require really high credit rating. For down the line," he said here while releasing a example, swap we did in 2013. So, for that we need report titled 'An Economic Strategy for India'. unimpeachable balance sheet. Why don’t we keep the RBI as an unimpeachable balance sheet with AAA credit rating that requires certain amount of equity,” Asked if “A sensible government knows when to back off” the transfer of excess reserve by the RBI to the government could lead to downgrade of the rating, There is a trend across countries of populism where Rajan said: “It could...it depends on how much. It may politicians think they are empowered by the people not be an issue now...may be an issue at some point of and therefore have a mandate to do whatever they time. That’s one concern”. This is something both the want. As a result, the existing institutions that government and RBI should discuss before reaching constrain them are up for questioning. Institutions some conclusion, he told NDTV news channel in an need to respond to people, but some of the limits on interview. political intervention were set up precisely because the popular incentive is to do the wrong thing…The tussles in Turkey where the president is telling the "All Indians Should Be Concerned," central bank not to raise rates—or similar tussles in India or in the US—are to some extent just a more "I think his (Dr. Urjit Patel) statement should be extreme version of natural tussles that happen. The respected. We should go into the details on why there sensible government knows when to back off. was an impasse which forced him to take this ultimate -In an interview with the American weekly decision. I think this is something all Indians should be newspaper Barron’s last week concerned about because strength of our institution is really important both for growth and sustainable growth in equity and the economy," “Demonetisation slowed India’s growth when - In an interview with ET NOW channel. world economy was growing: ”

RAGHURAM GOVIND RAJAN

Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan is an Indian economist who has served as the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund, Vice-Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements, the Chief Economic Advisor to Government of India. He is currently the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

28 | BizGeist by The Business Café G-20 At the recent G-20 summit member nation meeting, based on International trade, International financial and tax systems, Prime Minister Narendra D. Modi presented a 9-point agenda calling for strong and active accord against transient economic offenders. "It's India's 75th Independence Day in 2022, and we had requested Italy if we can get '22 instead of '21 (for hosting G20 summit). They accepted our request, others accepted it too. I'm grateful and I invite leadership from across the world to come to India in 2022," news agency ANI quoted PM Modi as saying in Argentina at the G-20 summit.

29 | BizGeist by The Business Café

SATYA NADELLA

Indo-American business executive Mr. Satya Narayana Nadella is the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Microsoft. He was recently named as the best CEO in 2018 in USA in the ‘Large Companies’ category by rating agency Comparably. The rankings are based on anonymous employee ratings on Comparably.

31 | BizGeist by The Business Café SUNDAR PICHAI

Pichai Sundararajan, also known as Sundar Pichai is an Indian-American business executive. He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Google LLC. He was recently named as the third best CEO in 2018 in USA in the ‘Large Companies category’ by rating agency Comparably after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and The Home Depot CEO Craig Menear. The rankings are based on anonymous employee ratings on Comparably.

32 | BizGeist by The Business Café SACHIN BANSAL Flipkart Co-founder Sachin Bansal along with former investment banker and IIT batch mate Ankit Agarwal, has registered a non-government private company - BAC Acquisitions Private Limited on December 10, according to data from the Registrar of Companies as per media agency Inc42.

33 | BizGeist by The Business Café BINNY BANSAL

Flipkart Co-founder Binny Bansal started a new venture called Xto10X Technologies with his college friend and former McKinsey consultant Saikiran Krishnamurthy. Xto10X will offer technology tools, learning and consulting services to growth-stage startups. As per media agency Inc42, He stepped down from his group CEO and chairman roles at Flipkart in November, after a probe was conducted on charges of “personal misconduct”, although Walmart said those charges were not found to be true.

34 | BizGeist by The Business Café BYJU RAVEENDRAN Byju Raveendran is the founder of BYJU’s. He founded Byju's classes in 2011. As per media agency Livemint, Byju’s raised $400 million in a new round of funding which values it at nearly $4 billion, making the company the fourth most valuable start- up in India, after digital payments firm Paytm (One97 Communications Pvt. Ltd), cab-hailing service Ola, and budget hotel chain Oyo Rooms.

35 | BizGeist by The Business Café Dr. BIMAL JALAN Dr. Bimal Jalan is a former Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He was a nominated member the Rajya Sabha during 2003– 2009. He has held various key positions before serving as the 20th Governor of RBI including Finance Secretary, Chief Economic Advisor to GoI, etc. Dr. Jalan will lead a committee constituted by the RBI in consultation with the government to look into its Economic Capital Framework. The panel would review the status, need and justification of various provisions, reserves and buffers held by the apex bank.

36 | BizGeist by The Business Café SURESH PRABHU

A Chartered Accountant by profession, Mr. Suresh P. Prabhu is currently serving as the Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation under the Government of India. He was conferred with the Skoch Golden Jubilee Challenger Award at the 55th Skoch Summit for his contribution to reforms, particularly in the power sector reforms. The Skoch Challenger Awards are the highest independently instituted civilian honours.

37 | BizGeist by The Business Café RAJESH SUBRAMANIAM

Indian-American business executive Rajesh Subramaniam has been named as the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FedEx Corporation, an American multinational company. Mr Subramaniam is an IIT-Bombay graduate. He hails from Thiruvananthapuram and has served the multi-billionaire courier delivery services company for more than 27 years in various capacities.

38 | BizGeist by The Business Café P. CHIDAMBARAM Harvard Alumnus and a corporate lawyer by profession, Mr. Palaniappan Chidambaram has served as the Finance Minister and Home Minister in the Government of India. One of the most vocal and important leader of Indian Politics, he is never shy of expressing his views. "Until yesterday capping GST at 18 per cent was impracticable. Since yesterday, the Congress party's original demand of an 18 per cent cap is the declared goal of the government," he said in a series of tweets attacking Centre over change in stance on Goods and Services Tax. (GST)

39 | BizGeist by The Business Café