ESSAY WRITING -- SBI PO IBPS PO
Expected Essay Topics for SBI PO Descriptive Paper 2017
1.
Impact of Consolidation and merger in Banking Sector-
Merger of SBI Associate and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with SBI
2.
Future of Banking Industry
3.
What is the impact of Reliance Jio to other telecom operators?
4.
What is Bharat QR Code?
5.
Demonetization and its impact on Indian Economy
6.
Reason behind increasing NPA in PSU Banks while private sector banks
making profit
7.
What is Cyber Swachhta Kendra?
8.
What is Mobile Wallet/e-wallet- like PayTM, Jio Money,
Airtel Money PayUMoney & its impact on society?
9.
GST and its impact on Indian Economy
10. Goods and Services Tax
11. Sanitation and Cleanliness
in India
12. Pros and cons of allowing 10
year old children to open bank accounts
13. Demonetization of old 500
& 1000 rupees notes – Is it a good move?
14. Wanna Cry Ransomware
15. China’s One Belt One Road
(OBOR) Project
16. Present Education System in
India
17. Women Empowerment in India
18. SBI merger with associate
banks – Good or Bad?
19. Loan waiver for farmers –
Good or Bad?
20. Impact of Demonetization on
Indian Economy
21. Union Budget 2017-18 – Is it
beneficial for the common man?
22. Is India ready to be a
Cashless Economy?
23. Is it really worth to become
a cashless economy?
24. How can we deal with
increasing Cyber Crimes?
25. India’s fight against ‘Black
Money’
26. Alcohol Ban in India – Pros
and Cons
27. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan – How
far was it successful?
28. Is Technology rising
Unemployment rates?
29. Is a relook needed in the
caste reservation system?
30. Women's safety in workplace
31. Women Entrepreneurs in India
32. Media and Public Opinion in
Contemporary World
33. Online Education in India
34. Special Economic Zones: Boon
or Bane
35. Unemployment – A Major Issue
in India
36. Technology is killing human
imagination!
37. Tax havens – should they be
ousted?
38. Should WhatsApp be banned in
India?
39. ` Impact of Brexit on UK and
the world!
40. Role of Technology In
Banking sector
41. BASEL - III - It's aftermath
and effects
42. Water Crisis and the Monsoon
Factor in India
43. Water Crisis and the Monsoon
Factor in India, Discuss the necessary measures
44. BASEL - III - It's aftermath
and effects
45. Water Crisis and the Monsoon
Factor in India, Discuss the necessary measures
46. Agricultural Techniques in
India and the condition of farmers
47. Does Globalisation Benefit
Developing Countries More than The Developed Ones?
48. Education at all level should
Ade free for women in India
49. Women Education
50. Sanitation and Cleanliness
in India
1. Impact of Consolidation and merger in
Banking Sector- Merger of SBI Associate and Bharatiya Mahila Bank with SBI
The
five associate banks that will merge with SBI are: SBBJ (State Bank of Bikaner
and Jaipur), SBM (State Bank of Mysore), SBT (State Bank of Travancore), SBP
(State Bank of Patiala) and SBH (State Bank of Hyderabad). SBI is India's
largest bank with assets of Rs 30.72 lakh crore and figures at No. 64 in the
global ranking of banks (as of December 2015; December 2016 ranking is still
awaited). Post-merger, with assets of approximately Rs 40 lakh crore, it will
be among the top 50 banks in the world.
The
five associate banks became a part of SBI from April 1, but the various merger
processes will start only after April 24, once the balance sheets of the five
entities are audited and added.
There
are currently 550 SBI offices while its associate banks have 259. The target
for the number of controlling offices after the merger is 687 -- a reduction of
122 offices. Employees directly affected by these shutdowns -- estimated at
1,107 -- will be redeployed, mostly in customer-interface operations. The
benefits of merger of State Bank of India with its five associates will not be
felt by the bank but its borrowers as well. The bank is gearing up to offer
lower interest rates on home, car and personal loans to thousands of customers
migrating from the associate banks to the parent SBI.
“As
a result of the merger the borrowers can expect to get lower rates of interest
at the time of renewal or at the time of origination as SBIs rates are
obviously the best in the market. Indian Government has decided to merge the
PSU banks under SBI. Well this decision is more extroversive because it has
both Pros and Cons. Firstly after the amalgamation it can withstand the strong
competition from private sector banks and can accumulate more resources to
channelize trained manpower across its branches. Secondly in terms of cost
cutting, instead of setting up new branches, it can utilize the already
existing branches of its child banks.But if you look at the other side it might
not be beneficiary for the employees because factors like experience,
promotions, and hikes come into picture. Now currently SBI is dwelled with lots
of debts in terms of non-performing asserts whereas banks like SBH, SBP are in
profits. So, there will be an extra burden on these child banks.
Advantages:
•
Despite having second largest population country, no
Indian bank is in the list of top 50 world's largest bank. With this merger SBI
will become 44th largest bank in the world by assets
•
the bigger the bank, the better is the diversification of its assets portfolio
and lesser chances
that the bank will fail in
the system.
•
The merged entity will be able to tap into cheaper
funds more easily and it will also be able to rationalize the branches all over
the country, to cut down the operation costs.
•
As of now SBI alone has employee strength of more than
2 lakhs, combining with all these banks it will cross 3 lakh base and that is
huge terms of employment.
•
with this merger SBI will be able to finance more and
more mammoth projects that will lead to economic development of the country.
•
SBI 's reach and network will multiply, efficiency will
likely to increase with the rationalisation of branches.
•
Adoption of development of technologies in associate
banks will be faster and the combined entity will have network of over 24000
branches with ATM serving 50 crore customers.
2. Future of
Banking Industry
The
banking sector has witnessed an unprecedented growth along with outstanding
improvement in its quality of assets and efficiency. Banks have gradually
transformed themselves and have gone worldwide. ATMs, Internet banking, mobile
banking and social banking have made "anytime anywhere banking" the
benchmark now.
What
is shaping the future of banking industry is the increasing use of mobile
wallets. With the advent of technology and increasing use of smartphones and
tablet based devices, the use of mobile banking functionality would enable
customers to connect across the entire world faster than before. The attempt of
the banks to go digital has been to reduce the cost of operations. ATMS, which
have been offering a wide range of services, reduces the cost. Internet
operations reduce it further.
Many
Banks have been offering banking services through social networking sites like
the twitter and Facebook and have launched Pockets, a digital bank with a
mobile interface. It is a wallet, a virtual place to store money. It can be
used to book tickets, pay bills, check bank accounts, open FD, credit cards and
make fund transfers, view credit card statements, transfer money to linked
accounts.
The
future of retail banking will be dominated by mobile computing and technology.
Banks offer online banking and mobile apps that can do most banking functions.
Digital currencies and payment networks like Bitcoin may prove to be the true
future of mobile banking as the underlying technology gains mass acceptance.
3. What is the impact of Reliance Jio to other telecom
operators?
It
has been exactly eight months since Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman
Mukesh Ambani announced the launch of the company’s 4G enabled telecom network
Jio.Jio seems to have made a dent, with even rivals like Airtel acknowledging
that the newest kid on the
block
is here to stay. Here is how Jio has impacted the Indian telecom market, till
now, and what may be in store for the future.
Jio has grown at a scorching pace: A month after
its launch, RIL claimed that the network
had 16 million subscribers, which, it said was an all time record. Analysts
believe, that the network, which has been adding 1-1.2 million subscribers a
day, will likely have 25 million 4G customers. This compares with Airtel, which
has 35 million 3G and 4G users, and Vodafone and Idea, which together have 25
million. Mumbai-based financial consultancy Edelweiss said in a report released
in October that in the next three years Jio could have 100 million subscribers.
This, if it happens, will be more than 2.5 times the number of subscribers Jio
will require to breakeven. In a September report, brokerage Religare had said
that to breakeven at the EBITDA level, the network will need to have at least
40 million subscribers.
Jio has sent demand for VoLTE enabled
handsets soaring: As a Techcircle report noted on 1 November, demand for Voice over LTE
(VoLTE) phones in the country had surged since Jio was launched in September.
VoLTE technology allows voice calls to be transmitted as data, while a 4G
network is being used. Citing market research firm Counterpoint Technology, the
report said that 80% of LTE compatible smartphones shipped during the
July-September quarter (Q3) were VoLTE enabled, as compared to 63% in Q2 and
30% in Q1. It further said that 90% of all LTE (4G) enabled phones to be
shipped into India by the first half of 2017 will use VoLTE technology.
According to Counterpoint, Samsung, Lyf, Lenovo and Xiaomi are among the
leading brands in the VoLTE category. This effectively means that going
forward, VoLTE will become the default basic minimum smartphone technology in
the country.
Jio has set off a fierce mobile tariff war in the
country: At its launch, Ambani said that Jio will offer the lowest data tariffs in the country, and will also
let users make voice calls for free not just on its network but also from Jio
to other networks. And, it gave its customers a free four-month trial period.
Anticipating this, just a couple of days before Jio announced its data plans,
Airtel slashed its prepaid tariffs by 80%, and the other operators followed
suit. A closer analysis showed that although Jio’s offering was certainly the
cheapest, it wasn’t cheaper by much. Yet, it had disrupted the data market
unlike any other operator had done in the past.
Jio is hurting the balance sheets of other telecom
companies: Airtel saw a 4.9% decline in its Q2 profit following the operator slashing data tariffs. Even
with a decline in profit, Airtel bettered analysts’ expectations, with a 24%
increase in data revenue, but its rival Idea wasn’t so lucky and actually saw
its data revenue decline by more than 19%. Some unconfirmed news reports say
that although the existing operators do not want to make
their
voice calls totally free, they could make calls made over the VoLTE networks
they will roll out in future free. This could hurt their margins further.
Jio is forcing the other players to join forces: The telecom
industry has begun consolidating.
Little less than a fortnight after Jio’s launch, Ambani’s younger brother Anil
Ambani announced his company Reliance Communications’ (RCom) merger with rival
Aircel. The long-awaited move led to the creation of a Rs 65,000 crore entity,
which is also reportedly in talks with Russia’s Sistema, which already holds
10% in RCom. This, even as Jio itself shares RCom’s network, fibre, spectrum,
and towers. Analysts say that as Jio spreads its wings and Airtel, Vodafone,
and Idea fight to hold on to their respective market shares, India’s telecom
industry could see a further round of consolidation involving smaller players
who may find it hard to survive.
Jio could impact the online content market in India: Cheap
and fast data means only one thing:
people will gorge on more and more audio-visual content online. Jio has
launched at a time when video streaming service Netflix is struggling to get a
foothold into the price conscious Indian market, where rivals like Hotstar are
already jostling for space. This, even as Amazon is waiting in the wings to launch
its video streaming service in India. The Jio suite offers more than 300 live
streaming TV channels and hundreds of music albums and movies. Although this
will be available free till the end of 2017, Jio hopes to cash in on this after
that. This will force other incumbents to up their game in the online video
streaming space, and we could see significantly more original online content,
and significantly higher ad spends, especially around tournaments like the
Indian Premier League
4. What is Bharat QR Code?
RBI's
Deputy Governor R Gandhi on 20 February 2017 launched BharatQR code in Mumbai,
an interoperable and low cost payment acceptance solution, developed by
National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), MasterCard, and Visa. With
BharatQR, the consumers will not need to scan different quick response (QR)
codes at the same merchant provided by the different payment networks. The
merchants will only need to display one QR code at the storefront or through
the acquiring bank's mobile application. The interoperable payment acceptance
solution works with MasterCard, RuPay, and Visa accounts.
This
UPI app supports all Indian banks which use that platform, which is built over
the Immediate Payment Service infrastructure and allows the user to instantly
transfer money between the bank accounts of any two parties. It can be used on
all mobile devices. To use the BHIM app, the user need to have an internet
enabled smartphone and UPI compatible bank account. The BHIM app works on UPI
protocols and thus require mobile number linked to the bank account to make
transaction. With the help of BHIM app, the user can manage
multiple
bank account that support UPI services in one single app. The app also enables
other features – user can check bank balance, switch accounts and send money to
non-UPI supported banks with the help of IFSC code, account number. The app
also supports fund transfers to Aadhar registered bank accounts.
Benefits:
•
BHIM allow users to send or receive money to other UPI
payment addresses or scanning QR code or account number with IFSC code or MMID
(Mobile Money Identifier) Code to users who do not have a UPI-based bank
account.
•
BHIM allows users to check current balance in their
bank accounts and to choose which bank account to use for conducting
transactions, although only one can be active at any time.
•
Users can create their own QR code for a fixed amount
of money, which is helpful in merchant — seller — buyer transactions. They can
also have more than one payment address.
•
If the 12-digit Aadhaar is listed as a payment ID on
the BHIM app will not require any biometric authentication or prior
registration with the bank or Unified Payment Interface (UPI).
•
Version 1.3 allows the user to use mobile numbers from
their contact book to send money and also save payment addresses for future use
without needing to type the address again. User can also check the Previous
Transaction History by Tapping Transaction Box. Here only the transaction through
BHIM shown.
•
At present, the upper limit per UPI transaction is Rs. 1 Lakh.
5.
Demonetization and its impact on Indian Economy
On
November 8, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a historic decision by
announcing that the high-denomination notes (Rs 500 and Rs 1,000) then in
circulation would cease to be legal tender.With demonetization effort 86% of
India’s currency was nullified that aimed to wash the stock of ‘black market's
cash supply’ and counterfeit notes out of the economy and convert it into the
licit, banked and taxable, part of the economy. To reduce the impact of sudden
commercial collapse, a 50 day period ensued where the population could
(ideally) exchange their canceled cash for newly designed 500 and 2,000 rupee
notes or deposit them into bank accounts. Irrespective of the widespread
anguish and household disturbances, an optimistic sentiment shown in favour of
the decision.
Cash
is the preferred mode of transaction in India and only less than half the
population uses banking system for monetary transactions. An immediate public
anger appeared against the
mismanaged
and unprepared banking system. The banks didn’t have enough of the newly
designed banknotes (Rs 500 and Rs 2000) to distribute in exchange for the
canceled notes. The move has also led to a shortage of lower denomination notes
such as Rs 100 and Rs 50 that are still legal tender, as people have taken to
conserving whatever cash they have in hand. The demonization initiative has
caused a sudden breakdown in India’s commerce and the unbanked and informal
economy is hard hit. Trade across all aspects of the economy has interrupted,
and sectors like agriculture, fishing, and the huge informal market were almost
shut down during the initial days of announcement. The informal sector in India
employs more than a majority of the workers and most transactions are in cash.
Disruption to this system could endanger the employment and livelihood of
weaker sections of society. The change disturbed the lives of ordinary people,
led to widespread need and major job losses for the poor.
Nevertheless,
although India’s demonetization move was apparently mismanaged in the
beginning, the effects at micro level look advantageous. For instance, all
sorts of illegal activities, like terrorist financing, etc. have been
completely hit after the announcement. The demonetization process has also
repaired India's counterfeiting problem for the near to mid-term. The
cash-centric black market for the most part ceased to function with the
nullification of the bulk of its currency. It has also been reported that the
new 500 and 2,000 rupee notes are less vulnerable to counterfeiting, having
advanced security features. It is also thought that the drive will wipe out a
measure of corruption and tax evasion in India’s real estate market. Growth in
cash-intensive sectors such as real estate, construction and FMCG is likely to
take a hit in the short term as consumers are deferring purchases. The real-estate
market is likely to come to a standstill with property prices likely to fall
and the possible tax inquiries following demonetization will affect both
consumption and investment in the formal and informal sectors. However, there
is a positive side to the story, over the medium term, there would be benefits
through higher government spending and greater financial inclusion. Also, the
movement of household savings from physical to financial will help boost
growth, according to Yes Bank report.
With
exchange of the old currency notes coming to an end, many people are forced to
open accounts to save their money. It is estimated that banks have opened about
30 lakh (and still counting) new accounts since the demonetization drive began
on November 8. India's largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI), with its 17,097
branches -- half of which are in the rural and semi-urban areas – is opening
50,000 accounts a day. The leading consumer internet companies in India
(Flipkart, Snapdeal, Shopclues, CCAvenues, Ola and Oyo Rooms) have applauded
the move, saying it will pave the way for digital payments, aid the process of
financial inclusion and the overall transformation in the economy will
translate into long-term benefits for the industry. Payments companies Paytm and
Freecharge saw a surge in adoption of their digital wallets. According to
market experts, the growth of digital payments and wallets is the first phase
of the
impact
and will give big boost to lending and credit as the digital records of
merchants will expand and create more demand in the second phase.
Even
though demonetization move created adverse short-term policy impact the real
impact of must be assessed in the medium/long term. The reduction in overall
investments, both in the formal and informal sectors, would certainly reduce
economic growth potential. However, the move need to be followed up with
ensuing actions to remain effective. These actions relate primarily to
structural changes to make the system more lawful, reducing too much
bureaucracy, make the tax system simple and transparent. In addition, a greater
effort is required to include the informal sector and ensure effectiveness and
the illegal activities such as generation of black money and corruption should
not be channeled back into the economy.
Following are the main impacts.
•
Demonetization is not a big disaster like global
banking sector crisis of 2007; but at the same time, it will act as a liquidity
shock that disturbs economic activities.
•
Liquidity crunch (short term effect): liquidity shock
means people are not able to get sufficient volume of popular denomination
especially Rs 500. This currency unit is the favourable denomination in daily
life. It constituted to nearly 49% of the previous currency supply in terms of
value. Higher the time required to resupply Rs 500 notes, higher will be the
duration of the liquidity crunch. Current reports indicate that all security
printing press can print only 2000 million units of RS 500 notes by the end of
this year. Nearly 16000 mn Rs 500 notes were in circulation as on end March
2016. Some portion of this were filled by the new Rs 2000 notes. Towards end of
March approximately 10000 mn units will be printed and replaced. All these indicate
that currency crunch will be in our economy for the next four months.
•
Welfare loss for the currency using population: Most
active segments of the population who constitute the ‘base of the pyramid’ uses
currency to meet their transactions. The daily wage earners, other labourers,
small traders etc. who reside out of the formal economy uses cash frequently.
These sections will lose income in the absence of liquid cash. Cash stringency
will compel firms to reduce labour cost and thus reduces income to the poor
working class.
•
There will be a trickle up effect of the liquidity chaos to the higher
income people with time.
•
Consumption will be hit: When liquidity shortage
strikes, it is consumption that is going to be adversely affected first.
•
Consumption ↓→ Production ↓→ Employment ↓→ Growth ↓→ Tax revenue ↓
•
Most Important Topics For Descriptive Paper
•
Loss of Growth momentum- India risks its position of being the fastest
growing largest
economy:
reduced consumption, income, investment etc. may reduce India’s GDP growth as
the liquidity impact itself may last three -four months.
•
Impact on bank deposits and interest rate: Deposit in the short term
may rise, but in the long
term,
its effect will come down. The savings with the banks are actually liquid cash
people stored. It is difficult to assume that such ready cash once stored in
their hands will be put into savings for a long term. They saved this money
into banks just to convert the old notes into new notes. These are not
voluntary savings aimed to get interest. It will be converted into active
liquidity by the savers when full-fledged new currency supply take place. This
means that new savings with banks is only transitory or short-term deposit. It
may be encashed by the savers at the appropriate time. It is not necessary that
demonetization will produce big savings in the banking system in the medium
term. Most of the savings are obtained by biggie public sector banks like the
SBI. They may reduce interest rate in the short/medium term. But they can't
follow it in the long term.
•
Impact on black money: Only a small portion of black
money is actually stored in the form of cash. Usually, black income is kept in
the form of physical assets like gold, land, buildings etc. Hence the amount of
black money countered by demonetization depend upon the amount of black money
held in the form of cash and it will be smaller than expected. But more than
anything else, demonetization has a big propaganda effect. People are now much
convinced about the need to fight black income. Such a nationwide awareness and
urge will encourage government to come out with even strong measures.
•
Impact on counterfeit currency: the real impact will be
on counterfeit/fake currency as its circulation will be checked after this
exercise.
Demonetization
as a cleaning exercise may produce several good things in the economy. At the
same time, it creates unavoidable income and welfare losses to the poor
sections of the society who gets income based on their daily work and those who
doesn’t have the digital transaction culture. Overall economic activies will be
dampened in the short term. But the unmeasurable benefits of having more
transparency and reduced volume of black money activities can be pointed as
long term benefits.
6. Reason behind increasing NPA in PSU Banks
while private sector banks making profit
The
banking sector has been facing the severe problems of the rising NPAs. But the
problem of NPAs is more in public sector banks when compared to private sector
banks and foreign banks, the NPAs in PSB are increasing due to external as well
as internal factors.
1. External Factors
a. Ineffective recovery tribunal
The
Govt. has set of numbers of recovery tribunals, which works for recovery of
loans and advances, due to their carelessness and ineffectiveness in their work
the bank suffers the consequence of non-recover, their by reducing their
profitability and liquidity.
b.
Willful Defaults
There are
borrowers who are competent to pay back loans but are intentionally withdrawing
it. These groups of people should be recognized and proper measures should be
taken in order to get back the money extended to them as advances and loans.
c. Natural calamities
This is the measure factor, which
is creating alarming increase in NPAs of the PSBs. every now and then India is
hit by major natural calamities thus making the borrowers unable to pay back
there loans. Thus the bank has to make large amount of provisions in order to
pay damages those loans, hence end up the fiscal with a reduced profit.
Basically ours farmers depends on rain fall for cropping.
Due to
irregularities of rain fall the farmers are not to attain the production level
thus they are not repaying the loans.
d.
Industrial sickness
Inappropriate
project handling , ineffective management , lack of adequate resources , lack
of advance technology , day to day changing govt. Policies produce industrial
sickness. Therefore the banks that finance those industries ultimately end up
with a low recovery of their loans reducing their profit and liquidity.
e. Lack of demand
Entrepreneurs
in India could not predict their product demand and starts production which
ultimately piles up their product thus making them unable to pay back the money
they borrow to operate these activities. The banks recover the amount by
selling of their assets, which covers a smallest label. Therefore the banks
record the non recovered part as NPAs and has to make provision for it.
f. Change on Govt. policies
With every
new govt. banking sector gets new policies for its operation, so it has to cope
with the changing principles and policies for the regulation of the rising of
NPAs. For example, the fallout of handloom sector is continuing as most of the
weavers Co-operative societies have become defunct largely due to withdrawal of
state patronage. The rehabilitation plan worked out by the Central government
to renew the handloom sector has not yet been implemented, so the over dues due
to the handloom sectors are becoming NPAs.
2. Internal Factors
a.
Defective Lending process
There are
three cardinal principles of bank lending that have been followed by the
commercial banks, that is, Principles of safety, Principle of liquidity,
Principles of profitability. Principles of safety mean that the borrower is in
a position to pay back the loan, including both principal and interest. The
refund of loan depends upon the borrowers, Capacity to pay and Willingness to
pay.
Capacity to
pay depends upon, Tangible assets, Success in business. Willingness to pay
depends on, Character, Honest, Reputation of borrower. The banker should,
therefore take utmost care in ensuring that the enterprise or business for
which a loan is sought is a sound one and the borrower is competent of carrying
it out successfully, he should be a person of integrity and good character.
b. Inappropriate technology
Due to
improper technology and management information system, market driven decisions
on real time basis can not be taken. Proper MIS and financial accounting system
is not implemented in the banks, which leads to poor credit collection, so NPA,
therefore all the branches of the bank should be computerized.
c. Improper SWOT analysis
The
inappropriate strength, weakness, opportunity and threat analysis is another
reason for increase in NPAs. While providing unsecured advances the banks
depend more on the honesty, integrity, and financial soundness and credit
worthiness of the borrower, so, banks should consider the borrowers own capital
investment and bank should collect credit information of the borrowers from, a.
Bankers b. Enquiry from market/segment of trade, industry, business. c. From
external credit rating agencies.
Banker
should examine the balance sheet which shows the true picture of business will
be revealed on analysis of profit/loss a/c and balance sheet. When bankers give
loan, he should examine the purpose of the loan. To make sure safety and
liquidity, banks should grant loan for productive purpose only. Bank should
examine the profitability, viability, long term acceptability of the project
while financing.
d. Poor credit appraisal system
Deprived
credit appraisal is an additional factor for the increase in NPAs, due to poor
credit appraisal the bank gives advances to those who are not able to repay it
back. They should use better credit appraisal to reduce the NPAs.
e. Managerial deficiencies
The banker
should always select the borrower very cautiously and should take tangible
assets as security to safe guard its interests. When accepting securities,
banks should consider, the Marketability, Acceptability, Safety, Transferability
etc. The banker should follow the principle of diversification of risk based on
the famous maxim “do not keep all the eggs in one basket”, which means that the
banker should not grant advances to a few big farms only or to concentrate them
in few industries or in a few cities. If a latest big customer meets misfortune
or certain traders or industries affected adversely, the overall position of
the bank will not be affected.
f. Absence of regular
industrial visit
The
irregularities in spot visit also increases the NPAs, absence of regularly
visit of bank officials to the customer point decreases the collection of
interest and principals on the loan. So the NPAs can be collected by regular
visits.
The growth
and proliferation in the activities of the bank has led to ever- increasing
non-performing assets that have mounted to a huge amount during the last decade
or so. The quantum of NPAs has been calculated and put at different figures
mainly due to absence of correct statistics and the method on the basis adopted
for calculating the percentage of NPAs in relation to either the total assets
of the bank or the quantity of loan portfolio or on the basis of the number of
the accounts or the size of the outstanding advances.
For a large
number of years, the banks have been taking credit in its books, on basis of
accrued interest income, even for the sum of periodic interest that was not
really paid by the borrower. This was done by raising debit in suspense account
and crediting amount equivalent to the periodic interest in the loan account of
the borrower.
After
objections from the auditors and income tax authority the banks altered
strategy and started giving extra loans to the defaulting borrowers for the
purpose of making payments to the bank for adjustment of the over dues, in many
cases the due dates of payments were postponed and even the entire period of
the loan was extended further again and again. As if to attach fire to the
fuel, ambitious programme for branch progress and extension of banking services
led to new recruitments, transfers, relocation and unhealthy competition
amongst offices of the same bank, but at the same time adequate facilities
available for training of the staff were not expanded.
In the anxiety to attain
business targets the rules and procedures for prudent banking were
conveniently
forgotten. Even the senior management setup conveniently relaxed the rules for
proper appraisal of the loan proposals, the provisions of standard bank
sanction letter, errors in execution of the loan agreements, deeds of
hypothecation and mortgages were more often overlooked for compliance in the
hurry for disbursement and attainment of targets for purposes of building up
record of achievements and reporting.
7. What is Cyber Swachhta Kendra?
With an aim
to strengthen its cyber space, the Indian government on 21 February 2017
announced the launch of Cyber Swachhata Kendra, a Botnet cleaning and malware
analysis centre. The centre, with an investment of Rs.100 crore, will offer
free tools for users to clear malicious infections from their systems and will
work closely with internet service providers and banks to ensure a clean and
safe internet ecosystem. The "Cyber Swachhta Kendra" (Botnet Cleaning
and Malware Analysis Centre) is a part of the Indian Computer Emergency
Response Team (CERT-In). It has been set up for analyzing BOTs/malware
characteristics and providing information and enabling citizens for removal of
BOTs/malware. In addition, "Cyber Swachhta Kendra" will strive to
create awareness among citizens to secure their data, computers, mobile phones
and devices such as home routers.
The
"Cyber Swachhta Kendra" collaborates with industry and academia to
detect systems infected by bots. It also collaborates with the Internet Service
Providers to notify the end users regarding infection of their system and
providing them assistance to clean their systems. The center will also enhance
awareness of common users regarding botnet, malware infections and measures to
be taken to prevent malware infections and secure their computers / systems /
devices.
The "
Cyber Swachhta Kendra " (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre) is a
part of the Government of India's Digital India initiative under the Ministry
of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to create a secure cyber
space by detecting botnet infections in India and to notify, enable cleaning
and securing systems of end users so as to prevent further infections. The
" Cyber Swachhta Kendra " (Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis
Centre) is set up in accordance with the objectives of the "National Cyber
Security Policy", which envisages creating a secure cyber eco system in
the country. This centre operates in close coordination and collaboration with
Internet Service Providers and Product/Antivirus companies. This website
provides information and tools to users to secure their systems/devices. This
centre is being operated by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)
under provisions of Section 70B of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Whenever an
infection is detected, the Botnet centre will send alerts on the infected IP
addresses to the internet service providers, who will inform the end- user. It
will work in close collaboration with the banks to detect malware infections in
their banking network and enable remedial actions. The Cyber
Swachhata
Kendra was first announced in 2015. More than 3,500 users have currently
downloaded and tried the free bot removal tools till date.
The users
can log on to the Cyber Swachhata Kendra portal and clean their systems using
the free cleaning tools. Among the various tools, some include USB Pratirodh, a
desktop security solution, which protects from USB mass storage device threats,
AppSamvid,a desktop solution that protects systems by allowing installation of
genuine applications through white listing and M-Kavach, an indigenously
developed solution to address the security threats in mobiles. In 2016, there
were about 50,300 cybersecurity incidents observed such as phishing, website
intrusions and defacements, virus and denial of service attacks. “As per the
information reported to and tracked by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team
(CERT-In), a total number of 44,679, 49,455 and 50,362 cyber security incidents
were observed during the years 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively,”.
Mission: To enhance the cyber security of Digital India's IT
infrastructure by providing information on
botnet/malware threats and suggesting remedial measures
8. What is Mobile Wallet/e-wallet- like
PayTM, Jio Money, Airtel Money PayUMoney & its impact on society?
With
advancement in technology, things around us have changed drastically. Technology
caters to man’s comfort and convenience. With the help of your smartphone, you
can do everything. Be it ordering food or groceries, booking a cab or movie
tickets, etc.
With the
introduction of Mobile Wallet, it has become extremely convenient for a person
to make cashless transactions. And although a number of companies have cropped
up in India, offering consumers this product called ‘mobile wallet’, there is
still a lack of awareness among people about the concept and its utility.
What is a mobile wallet?
Mobile
wallet is the digital equivalent to the physical wallet in which we carry
money. It is an online platform which allows a user to keep money in it, just
like a bank account.
A user needs
to make an account with a mobile wallet provider. After which money is added to
the ‘mobile wallet’ account using a debit, credit, online transaction from bank
account or via cash (a recharge kiosk).
The main difference between
a mobile wallet and online transactions via bank account is that,
unlike banks
mobile wallet does not charge any amount of money on every transaction and
saves the customer from the hassle of entering card details and pin number for
each and every transaction.
It is easy and
convenient as the user just needs to sign in the account and make the payment.
Some of the
mobile wallet providers are Paytm, Citrus, Oxigen, Freecharge, Mobikwik,
Zaakpay, ItzCash etc.
Mobile
wallets, today are as mainstream as debit or credit cards. Cash is still the
king of payments, and that is a hurdle that UPI has to overcome in order to
drive mobile payments into mainstream consciousness. The ease of payments
through cash is what makes it such a popular means for transaction. Cash is
ubiquitous, requires no form of electronic equipment or technical know-how to
transact with, and is equally popular in urban and rural areas.
The benefits
of using a mobile wallet are multi-fold. One does not have to haggle for
change, nor worry about a trip to a nearby ATM to withdraw cash. It is a
secure, convenient and efficient way to pay for things without having to carry
multiple credit or debit cards or even wads of cash and coins.
Mobile
wallet adoption in India has risen significantly in the last couple of years as
smartphones and mobile internet have become an inseparable part of our daily
lives. With better phones and faster data connections, transacting through a
mobile wallet is an easy affair.
9. GST and its
impact on Indian Economy
The Goods and Services Tax (GST),
the biggest reform in India’s indirect tax structure since the economy began to
be opened up 25 years ago, at last looks set to become reality. The
Constitution (122nd) Amendment Bill comes up in Rajya Sabha today, on the back
of a broad political consensus and boosted by the ‘good wishes’ of the
Congress, which holds the crucial cards on its passage. Here’s how GST differs
from the current regimes, how it will work, and what will happen if Parliament
clears the Bill.
What is the GST?
It's a
blanket indirect tax that will subsume several indirect state and federal taxes
such as value added tax (VAT) and excise duty, and different state taxes,
central surcharges, entertainment tax, luxury tax and a slew of related levies
by local bodies.
The GST is likely be at 18
per cent, and is widely expected to be implemented next year in April.
GST is a 'destination-based'
tax, which means it's charged where goods are consumed, as
opposed to where
they are produced. Because it shifts the power that several Indian states have
had in imposing indirect taxes on the production and movement, a centralised
GST Council has been set up that will decide which taxes will fall in the
purview of states and which can be subsumed into the GST. A dispute resolution
mechanism will also be established to resolve any GST-related disputes.
What will become cheaper?
Expect many
goods and purchases to become cheaper with the exception of fuel, liquor and
tobacco. While several industries are expected to be beneficiaries, the
entertainment industry may be a big winner as it will significantly bring down
the 27 per cent entertainment tax. Here's how going to the movies will become
cheaper: the central and state taxes come to about Rs.66 on a Rs.300 movie
ticket. The tax could come down to about Rs.46. Stocks of PVR cinema have shot
up in recent weeks. Another beneficiary is the construction and building
materials industry, which means the housing sector may also be a big winner.
The GST Bill
was passed by the Lok Sabha in May 2015, but got stuck in the Rajya Sabha where
BJP does not have a majority. The bill needs a nod from the two- thirds in both
Houses of Parliament and will have to later ratified by 50 per cent of state
legislatures.
The
government had to address several concerns and agree to key amendments demanded
from the opposing political parties on the key proposed provisions of the GST
bill. One such amendment has been the scrapping of an additional one per cent
tax, which was proposed earlier as a way to compensate states on any revenue
losses. This would have resulted in a cascading tax and defeated the intent of
a "destination-based" tax that is GST. The Modi government has also
agreed to grant more powers to states for providing them full compensation for
a period of five years, for revenue losses.
The
opposition demand for the setting up of a dispute resolution mechanism as part
of the GST council has also been agreed upon by the government.
What happens next?
However,
with the impending passage of the GST Bill, the government will have to put up
a mad scramble to put together all the mechanisms and state approvals in place
to implement the GST by its rollout date of July 1, 2017. Additionally, companies
and tax collectors will have to be prepared on the necessary changes. Some
companies may even have to overhaul their business processes to make way for
the new tax change.
Why is it a big deal?
The GST is
expected to add two per cent to the country's GDP, besides making the movement
of goods easier across states. Because so far taxes have varied across states,
often commercial trucks have had to go through multiple checkpoints to obtain
the necessary permits and pay several taxes to the states they pass on their
routes, which causes delays and encourages bribery. A uniform tax will make
that movement of commercial products smoother.
GST's history and politics:
The
GST has been in the making for more than a decade. Congress originally mooted
GST in 2006 and a constitution amendment bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in
March 2011 but it lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
10. Goods and
Services Tax
The Goods and
Services Tax (GST) is a value added tax that will replace all indirect taxes
levied on goods and services by the Government, both Central and States, once
it is implemented.
The GST is a
consolidated tax based on a uniform rate of tax fixed for both goods and
services. All goods and services, leaving aside a few (alcohol, tobacco,
petroleum products), will be brought into the GST and there will be no
difference between goods and services. The GST rate is expected to be around
14-16 per cent.
Introduction of a
GST is very much essential in the emerging environment of the Indian economy.
In the GST system, when all the taxes are integrated, it would make possible
the taxation burden to be split equitably between manufacturing and services.
It will also help to build a transparent and corruption-free tax
administration. There are certain bottlenecks which need to be taken care of
before that: What preparations are needed at the level of Central and State
Governments for implementing the GST? Whether the Government machinery is
efficient enough for such an enormous change? Whether the tax-payers are ready
for such a change?
According
to a study by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), full
implementation of the GST could expand India’s growth of gross domestic product
by 0.9-1.7 percentage points. By implementing the GST, India will gain $15
billion a year. It will promote more exports, create more employment
opportunities and boost growth.
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