Topic Of The Day:-“Privatisation no answer”
Many analysts within and outside government have responded to these scams by pointing the finger at public sector banks, claiming that they are more vulnerable to influence peddling and crony capitalism. The current mess has also become an excuse to demand the privatisation of state-held banks. This completely misses the point since privatisation would actually make things much worse for Indian banking. The key issue is one of poor regulation, and not ownership. Indeed, the reason why the current scam has not led to a widespread run on the PNB and other banks is precisely because of the sovereign guarantee that, despite everything, still generates trust in the public banking system. Poorly regulated private banks are even more prone to scams and failure as the financial sector is rife with information asymmetries and market imperfections. Private profit orientation generates incentives for managements to exploit loopholes in the rules and engage in risky behaviour, as examples by U.S. and European bank behaviour leading to the great financial crisis of 2008-09 show. The bailouts they then require tend to be even more expensive for the public exchequer because bank runs have to be prevented. In India, in the decade before the nationalisation of banks in 1969, there was an average of more than 35 private bank failures every year. After the liberalising reforms of the 1990s, the collapse of the private Global Trust Bank and Centurion Bank (among others) resulted in mergers, with the losses being borne by public sector banks. Private banks such as Axis and ICICI also face large NPAs, often with the same companies that are defaulting on public banks. Kotak Mahindra Bank and several others have been found guilty of providing unsecured loans and ever-greening, practices that the PNB is now accused of. In fact, because of the opacity of banking practices, public banks are actually easier to regulate. So why has banking regulation in India failed to this extent? It is not only mala fide intent and corruption but also an overall approach to economic policy. The RBI may have been too occupied in counting old currency notes and dealing with the other damaging consequences of demonetisation to pay enough attention to its real job — of bank regulation. But more significantly, this government, like the previous one, has created incentives for all banks to privilege large high-profile corporate borrowers and be relatively lax on their repayment in the mistaken belief that this would encourage sustained income growth. This context makes it easy for some players to game the system. Recovering from this will require stricter adherence to sound banking rules and more transparency and accountability from both public and private players. But most of all, these would apply to the regulators themselves and the government that frames all this.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Shepherded
Meaning: Guide or direct in a particular direction.
Example: “I shepherded them through the door”
Synonyms: Guide, Conduct
2) Penultimate
Meaning: Last but one in a series of things; second last.
Example: “the penultimate chapter of the book”
3) Delegation
Meaning: The action or process of delegating or being delegated.
Example: “the delegation of power to the district councils”
Synonyms: Assignment, Devolution
4) Extremist
Meaning: A person who holds extreme political or religious views, especially one who advocates illegal, violent, or other extreme action.
Example: “right-wing extremists”
Synonyms: Fanatic, Radical
Antonyms: Moderate
5) Adamant
Meaning: Refusing to be persuaded or to change one’s mind.
Example: “he is adamant that he is not going to resign”
Synonyms: Immovable, Inflexible
Antonyms: Unsure
6) Deafness
Meaning: The state of being unwilling or unable to hear or pay attention to something.
Example: “the deafness shown by political leaders”
7) Discreetly
Meaning: in a careful and prudent manner, especially in order to keep something confidential or to avoid embarrassment.
Example: “he discreetly inquired whether the position was still available”
8) Effusively
Meaning: Expressing welcome, approval, or pleasure in a way that shows very strong feeling.
Example: They gave us such an effusive welcome it was quite embarrassing.
Synonyms: Excited, Interested
9) Icy
Meaning: Very unfriendly; hostile.
Example: “her voice was icy”
Synonyms: Unfriendly, Unwelcoming
Antonyms: Friendly
10) Reception
Meaning: The way in which a person or group of people reacts to someone or something.
Example: “the election budget got a stony reception in the City”
Synonyms: Response, Reaction
11) Entourage
Meaning: A group of people attending or surrounding an important person.
Example: “an entourage of loyal courtiers”
Synonyms: Retinue, Escort
12) Scrambling
Meaning: Move hurriedly or clumsily from or into a particular place or position.
Example: “she scrambled out of the car”
Synonyms: Struggle, Scurry
13) Frosty
Meaning: Cold and unfriendly in manner.
Example: “Sebastian gave her a frosty look”
Synonyms: Unfriendly, Unwelcoming
14) Diaspora
Meaning: People who have spread or been dispersed from their homeland.
Example: “the Ukrainian Diaspora flocked back to Kiev”
15) Rupture
Meaning: A breach of a harmonious relationship.
Example: “the rupture with his father would never be healed”
Synonyms: Rift, Estrangement
16) Reeling
Meaning: Lose one’s balance and stagger or lurch violently.
Example: “he punched Connolly in the ear, sending him reeling”
Synonyms: Lurch, Stumble
17) Written-off
Meaning: To accept that an amount of money has been lost or that a debt will not be paid.
Example: The World Bank is being urged to write off debts from developing countries.
Synonyms: Borrowing, Lending
18) Disbursal
Meaning: Pay out (money from a fund).
Example: “$67 million of the pledged aid had already been disbursed”
Synonyms: Spend, Expend
Antonyms: Claim
19) Tip of the iceberg
Meaning: A small, noticeable part of a problem, the total size of which is really much greater.
Example: These small local protests are just the tip of the iceberg.
Synonyms: Difficult things
20) Fraudulent
Meaning: Unjustifiably claiming or being credited with particular accomplishments or qualities.
Example: “fraudulent psychics”
Synonyms: Dishonest, Corrupt
Antonyms: Honest
21) Diligence
Meaning: Careful and persistent work or effort.
Example: “few party members challenge his diligence as an MP”
Synonyms: Assiduity, Rigour
Antonyms: Laziness, Carelessness
22) Loot
Meaning: Stolen money or valuables.
Example: “the gang escaped with their loot”
Synonyms: Booty, Plunder
23) Scams
Meaning: A dishonest scheme; a fraud.
Example: “an insurance scam”
Synonyms: Fraud, Swindle
24) Handful
Meaning: A small number or amount.
Example: “only a handful of people were in the pub”
Synonyms: Small, Some
25) Implicated
Meaning: Show (someone) to be involved in a crime.
Example: “he implicated his government in the murders of three judges”
Synonyms: Incriminate, Compromise
Antonyms: Absolve
26) Opacity
Meaning: The quality of being obscure in meaning.
Example: “the difficulty and opacity in Barthes’ texts”
Synonyms: Obscurity, Density
Antonyms: Clarity
27) Festering
Meaning: (of a wound or sore) become septic; suppurate.
Example: “a festering abscess”
Synonyms: Suppurate, Discharge
28) Underwriting
Meaning: Undertake to finance or otherwise support or guarantee (something).
Example: “they were willing to underwrite, in part, the construction of a ship”
Synonyms: Support, Insure
29) Contingent
Meaning: Occurring or existing only if (certain circumstances) are the case; dependent on.
Example: “his fees were contingent on the success of his search”
Synonyms: Dependent, Conditional
30) Siphoned off
Meaning: To dishonestly take money from an organization or other supply, and use it for a purpose for which it was not intended.
Example: He lost his job when it was discovered that he had been siphoning off money from the company for his own use.
31) Skewed
Meaning: Make biased or distorted in a way that is regarded as inaccurate, unfair, or misleading.
Example: “the curriculum is skewed towards the practical subjects”
32) Overwhelming
Meaning: Very great in amount.
Example: “his party won overwhelming support”
Synonyms: Profuse, Enormous
Antonyms: Small
33) Concessions
Meaning: The action of conceding or granting something.
Example: “this strict rule was relaxed by concession”
Synonyms: Admission, Acceptance
Antonyms: Denial, Retention
34) Throwaway
Meaning: Denoting or relating to products that are intended to be discarded after being used once or a few times.
Example: “a throwaway camera”
Synonyms: Disposable, Careless
35) Peddling
Meaning: Promote (an idea or view) persistently or widely.
Example: “the giant con that has been peddled in the Conservative press”
Synonyms: Advocate, Suggest
36) Crony
Meaning: A close friend or companion.
Example: “he went gambling with his cronies”
37) Asymmetries
Meaning: Lack of equality or equivalence between parts or aspects of something; lack of symmetry.
Example: “there was an asymmetry between the right and left ears”
38) Loopholes
Meaning: An ambiguity or inadequacy in the law or a set of rules.
Example: “they exploited tax loopholes”
Synonyms: Escape, Ambiguity
39) Borne
Meaning: Take responsibility for.
Example: “no one likes to bear the responsibility for such decisions”
Synonyms: Sustain, Carry
40) Privilege
Meaning: Grant a privilege or privileges to.
Example: “English inheritance law privileged the eldest son”
