Imagine not paying transaction fee for an online purchase. Or transfering money across thousands of kilometers in no time, and for no charge. A currency free of government. Virtual currencies offer all this – and much more. In America and Eu
To boost financial inclusion, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed minors over ten years of age to independently open their savings bank accounts and run it without tagging themselves in joint accounts with a parent or guardian.
With banks facing problems in making credit card swipe machines and ATMs capable of biometric authentication, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, for the time, suspended implementation of the mandate on all future banking transaction machines.
A whopping Rs 70,300 crore has accumulated on the account of top 406 bad bank loans even as there has been a four-fold rise in such loans in the past four years. With a bad loan of Rs 2,673 crore, the now grounded Kingfisher Airlines tops
The media has reported the latest judgment of the Supreme Court (Constitution bench of 5 judges) striking down a provision of the law that governs the functioning of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), regarding the procedure for inquiring
As the Modi-Mamata war of words heats up in West Bengal – elsewhere it`s still Modi versus Priyanka Gandhi – it emerges the BJP`s prime ministerial candidate might not have much to smile about so far as Bengal goes. Though the BJP`s vo
Suddenly Lalu Prasad has started getting peppery towards journalists; his arch-rival Nitish Kumar, on the other hand, is heard quoting the statement of the great socialist thinker late Ram Manohar Lohia: “Politics is a short-term religion wh
With the publication of ‘Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas’ in 1961, Romila Thapar emerged as one of the foremost historians of ancient India. Even after 53 years, this book remains the most authoritative interpretation of the grea
About the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the news from Australia is that a group of Indian-origin Punjabi taxi drivers in Adelaide raised funds to the tune of Rs 1.6 lakh in support of the fledgling party’s candidates’ electioneering in Punjab
If there is one area for which it is difficult to predict how a Modi government will work, it is internal security – beyond an aggressive approach of a Hindu nationalist. Also, if there is one area which can turn up a Waterloo for Modi, it i
When I first got a call on my mobile from the block education officer (BEO), it got me worried. I decided not to take the call and respond after 15-30 minutes. Was it about the inspection of the school or was it about my transfer, I wondered? It c
Congress`s prospects in Haryana are riddled with a slew of controversial land deals and strong anti-incumbency of the party’s 10-year rule under chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The Indian National Lok Dal opposition, on the other hand,
A day before Narendra Modi was to file his nomination in Varanasi, I called up my young friend Shahid, who is from the weaver community. “How can we meet, as the entire city is expected to come to a halt tomorrow?” I asked. I was aware
The Chinese have a curse which goes thus: May you live in interesting times! In the uncertain world of international affairs, the next prime minister of India can rest assured of exciting and challenging times. Exciting, because major geopolitical
An encounter with auto-rickshaw drivers in Chennai mostly leaves commuters drained and exasperated. They drive recklessly, for most of them traffic rules are meant to be broken, and they argue over fares, despite the fact that metres are installed
The National Waqf development Corporation (NAWADCO), a three-month-old public sector firm set up by the UPA government to develop 6 lakh acres of Waqf land, is set to launch its IPO by the end of the year, according to a newspaper report.
Having a PM (or a PM candidate) from the state is not a first-time event for Gujarat. The twice-caretaker PM, Gulzarilal Nanda, used to be elected to the Lok Sabha from Sabarkantha in north Gujarat. Morarjibhai Desai, though largely Mumbai-based i
With a view to relieve themselves from the mounting pressure of the bad loan pile, a number of public sector banks (PSBs) is hoping to sell about Rs 2,000 crore of these loans to asset reconstruction companies. According to media reports,
We are in the last leg of the elections—the world’s largest such exercise, and looking to formulate a new government. Whatever be the result, the job of this column is not to speculate on the same–there is little doubt that India
The Gujarat model has come in for criticism on two counts: for not doing enough in social sector, and for not doing anything at all for environment. Indeed, an aggressively pro-industry policy has only added to the environmental disaster in the st
