Editorial

In  a surprise move, RBI Governor Dr Urjit Patel resigned from office on Monday citing personal reasons. Needless to say, this comes as a huge surprise not only because of the gravity of the event but also owing to a view that a somewhat cordial way forward had been agreed upon at the last board meeting with respect to major points of difference between the central bank and the government. We highlight here first thoughts on implications.

First on August 9 this year and now recently on November 29-30, 2018, peasant organisations held massive demonstrations in the national capital. Earlier, there was a kisan march in Mumbai as well. Issues for the farmers include waiver of loans, subsidy for crops and a mandatory procurement of crops by government, and an acceptance of the MSP-C2+50 percent equation for assessing the minimum price of crops, with C2 being the sum of paid out costs, imputed value of family labour, interest on the value of owned capital assets, rent paid for leased-in land and the rental value of owned land.

The emasculation of individuals and institutions continues with a degree of brazenness hitherto not seen, with the political class riding roughshod when faced with a difficult adversary not willing to bend. Many would reckon that it is akin to a brain fade, but kerfuffles normally end with the verdict in favour of those in authority. A trust deficit, an erosion of confidence in your own man on Mint Street and a cavalier attitude towards those who don't fall in line seem to be the headlines emerging from this latest vile and obnoxious joust.

COMPANIES  today have to engage with multiple vendors, franchise partners and clients in the course of their business. In such dealings, there is the probability of a dispute concerning payments, fees, violation of agreements, market development funds spend, information leakage while executing the work, use of publicly available sources to transport information, etc. And when both parties fail to mutually settle, the disputes end up in lawsuits and the matters become sub-judice with neither party agreeing to forego their claims.

For some of us, our li­v­es are spent in the que­st of the perfect partn­er, while for others it’s in fin­d­ing the most ideal and fulfilling career. In the balance scale of life, we are constantly at a tug of war to reach eq­u­ilibrium, especially amidst a new world order of endless opportunity that is only a few clicks away. For young graduates who are accustomed to having easy access to just about everything, from favo­u­r­ite foods, to booking a mo­vie or class or holiday, to even finding the right partner, their next job should then be just moments away.

As the government is aggressively promoting digital transactions the use of digital space has enhanced exponentially. E-commerce, e-wallets, e-governance, etc, has become the need of the hour. But privacy of the digital platform has always remained a cause of concern in India.

The 3 states of Hindi heartla­nd Chhattisga­rh, MP and Rajasthan along wi­th Telangana and Mizoram are in the pr­o­c­e­ss of electing new governm­ents. These are mere assembly polls and in general sh­ould not have much impact on the national politics. But when these polls are looked at in the context of 2019 general election, it gets significance at the national level.

There has been a growing hue and cry out there in the streets with many saying that the verdict handed out by the Supreme Court (SC) bench on the constitutional validity of Aadhaar spells troubles, if not doom, for the fledgling fintech industry. Much before the ink dried on the judgment, some even foresaw the end of the road for these disruptive players who have seen an exponential surge in business growth due to the single-point, digital, Know Your Client (KYC) verification system.

In recent weeks, serious weather related events have occurred. Some examples are the unprecedented floods in Kerala, the severe cyclone Gaja in Tamil Nadu, the serious cyclone in Odisha and the drought and high temperature in California. It is clear that if we continue to ignore the consequences of human induced climate change, there will be increasing hardship particularly to the economically and ecologically underprivileged sections of our society. The conditions in California were so severe that even the President of the United Stated had to undertake a visit to the affected areas.

The G-20 Summit 2018 will be rememb­ered for large number of bil­a­teral and trilateral meetings. High-profile bilateral meetings betw­een the US and China, and the US and Russia (scheduling of which has seen many flip-flops) are significant in the context of trade war or the Ukraine crisis. The two trilateral meetings, involving US, Japan and India; and China, Russia and India, are significant because of centrality of the Indian position at both.