Title: Merging associate banks with the SBI
(On the State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill of 2017)
In August 2017, the Lok Sabha passed the State Banks (Repeal and Amendment) Bill of 2017 to amend the State Bank of India (SBI) Act of 1955 to remove references related to subsidiary banks.
After the acquisition of subsidiary banks by the SBI, subsidiary banks have ceased to exist. Therefore, the government found it necessary to repeal the SBI (Subsidiary Banks) Act of 1959 and the State Bank of Hyderabad Act of 1956.
The government has also found it unnecessary to retain certain provisions in the SBI Act, 1955, which apply to subsidiary banks. These subsidiary banks — State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala, and State Bank of Travancore — were constituted under the SBI (Subsidiary Banks) Act of 1959.
The State Bank of Hyderabad was originally constituted as Hyderabad State Bank under the Hyderabad State Bank Act and renamed as the State Bank of Hyderabad under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the State Bank of Hyderabad Act of 1956.
To rationalise resources, reduce costs, improve profits, for lower cost of funds leading to better rate of interest for the public, and to improve productivity and customer service, the SBI, with the sanction of the Central government and in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), entered into negotiations with the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, the State Bank of Mysore, the State Bank of Patiala, the State Bank of Travancore and the State Bank of Hyderabad for acquiring their business, including assets and liabilities.
Accordingly, the Central government issued the following orders, sanctioning the scheme of acquisition:
(a) The Acquisition of State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur Order, 2017
(b) The Acquisition of State Bank of Mysore Order, 2017
(c) The Acquisition of State Bank of Patiala Order, 2017
(d) The Acquisition of State Bank of Travancore Order, 2017
(e) The Acquisition of State Bank of Hyderabad Order, 2017
As per these, the business of these subsidiary banks is to be carried out by the SBI in accordance with the SBI Act, 1955, with effect from April 1, 2017.
Title: Anatomy of a reset
(There is now a mutual recognition in both India and China that a posture of hostility has undermined their interests)
The India-China relationship has always been too complex to classify under a single theme. Competition-cooperation-discord is an often-evoked term typology that reflects the contradictory nature of this relationship.
Last year witnessed all these facets play out: India’s trenchant critique of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), India’s entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the dramatic crisis in Doklam on the northern frontiers, the acceleration of multilateral cooperation in the BRICS format, and attempts to foster economic engagement.
Build-up of negativity
What led to this tailspin in India-China relations?
For India, China’s attempt to raise its economic and political profile in the subcontinent was seen as an encroachment on, and an affront to, Indian authority in the neighbourhood.
For China, India’s pursuit of deeper military engagement with the former’s main strategic rivals — the U.S. and Japan — was viewed as a serious challenge to its future security.
India tilted closer to the U.S., China towards Pakistan.
On a range of issues – the Nuclear Suppliers Group membership, Pakistan-sponsored terror and hydrological cooperation being the most prominent- India failed to receive any give from China.
India’s boycott of the BRI, China too found itself confronting not only the only major holdout against its flagship international initiative but also its most suspicious and non-cooperative neighbour in Asia.
Sensibly, both leaderships have drawn the correct lessons and are reciprocating each other’s moves towards a reset. The traditional template, where India-China differences were handled in an overall framework of a politically stable and mature relationship, is being restored.
Course correction
The Modi government’s decision to resuscitate the China relationship has aroused scepticism from the doubters in the strategic community who think the pendulum will shift towards appeasement after a period of doggedly standing up to China.
More than common sense
Since 2014, India’s discourse on China’s rise has swung back and forth from paranoia and deep suspicion to calmer assessments of its implications for Asia and the world economy.
Fortunately, there is now a shared belief in both capitals that a posture of hostility has undermined Indian and Chinese interests. But an India-China détente will have to be built on more than just common sense. Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi have their task cut out for them.
Title: Nutritional politics
(After more than a decade of discussions, there is no agreement on what to feed children in anganwadis)
Many children have died of malnutrition in India and yet Women and Child Development Ministers over the years haven’t decided what food to give children in anganwadis. This is worrying. How many more children must suffer from stunted growth before the Minister in charge of their welfare decides on whether to serve them hot-cooked nutritious meals or packaged/processed fortified mixes?
If you put together the years of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government and the Bharatiya Janata Party government, no solution is in sight after more than a decade of discussions. The Minister of Women and Child Development, Maneka Gandhi, and her predecessor, Renuka Chowdhury, have always exercised the easy option: dense, fortified food for malnourished children, courtesy the manufacturers.
Final words:-
Under the UPA government, the Minister in charge wondered aloud in 2007 about who would keep a watch on the quality of meals served. She asked what would happen if something fell into the food being cooked. “Can we keep a close watch? Why not serve packaged food?”
ü This is a valid point of concern, but is it impossible to work out a solution? Or is there no solution because children cannot be quantified as vote banks?
Vocabulary words:
Repeal (verb) = Revoke, cancel (निरस्त करना)
Rationalize (verb) = Attempt to explain or justify
Acquisition (noun) = An asset or object bought or obtained (अधिग्रहण)
Confer (verb) = Provide, grant (प्रदान करना)
Malnutrition (noun) = Lack of proper nutrition (कुपोषण)
Stunt (verb) = Prevent from growing or developing properly (वृद्धि को रोक)
Courtesy (noun) =Politeness, civility (शिष्टाचार)
Anatomy (noun) = A study of the structure or internal working of something
Hostility (noun) = Unfriendliness, bitterness (शत्रुता)
Undermine (verb) = Lessen the effectiveness (नष्ट करना)
Evoke (verb) = Bring or recall the memory or images
Tailspin (verb) = Become increasingly chaotic and out of control
Encroachment (noun) =Invasion (अतिक्रमण)
Bilateral (adj) = Having or relating to two sides (द्विपक्षीय)
Prominent (adj) = Important, famous
Resuscitate (verb) = Restore, revive (पुनर्जीवित)
Scepticism (noun) = Doubt as the truth of something (संदेहवाद)
Appeasement (noun) = The action of appeasing (शांति)
Doggedly (adv) = In a manner that shows tenacity and persistence (दढ़ता से)
