✌✌✌✌ THE HINDU ✌✌✌✌
✌✌ Secularising the election ✌✌
The Supreme Court has grappled with the question whether a provision in electoral law that makes it a corrupt practice to use religion, race, caste or language as a ground for canvassing votes in an election is a bar limited to the groups to which candidates or their rivals belong, or whether it is a general prohibition on sectarian appeals. Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, as amended in 1961, gave rise to this doubt. By a four-three majority, a seven-member Bench has ruled that it is a general prohibition on the use of religion or any other communal or sectarian value in the electoral arena. The minority favoured limiting the ambit of the sub-section to cover only candidates who sought votes on such grounds, or the rivals they wanted the voters not to back on similar grounds. That secularism is the bedrock of our democracy is undisputed. That the electoral process ought not to permit appeals to the electorate on these narrow grounds is equally beyond doubt. Against this backdrop, it is only logical that the Supreme Court should decide that it is a “corrupt practice” for candidates to use any caste or communal parameters to canvass for votes or to discredit a rival, regardless of whether the candidates themselves belong to such religious, communal or linguistic groups.
It is interesting that the dispute turned on a single pronoun, ‘his’, that was introduced in the 1961 amendment. The majority opinion favours a ‘purposive interpretation’, holding that it covered the candidates as well as the voter. It finds support in legislative history and our constitutional ethos. The purpose of the amendment was to widen the scope of the particular corrupt practice. Given that secularism is a basic feature of the Constitution, it has been interpreted in the light of Parliament’s intention to prohibit any religious or sectarian appeal for votes. There is a justifiable worry that a wider interpretation may lead to eliminating from the poll discourse political issues that turn on religion, caste or language. After all, this is a country in which sections of society suffer deprivation and historical injustices based on religious or caste identity. But the overall message is clear. It is left to the wisdom of judges dealing with election cases to draw the line between what is permissible and what is not, and look at the context in which some statements are made before deciding whether they constitute a corrupt practice. The majority verdict will find resonance with all those who swear by the primacy of secularism in the public domain. The minority view nuances this with a reminder that legal issues need to be seen in their social context.
✌✌ A nudge to borrowers ✌✌
The State Bank of India’s decision to cut its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 90 basis points is a timely nudge to borrowers, especially given the sharp slowdown in credit growth in the current fiscal year. The timing of the cut is not surprising, given that the country’s largest commercial lender is awash with funds held in current and savings account (CASA) deposits following the Centre’s decision to withdraw high-value banknotes and impose withdrawal curbs on account-holders. With demand across sectors having taken a knock in the wake of the resultant cash crunch, the SBI’s decision to reduce borrowing costs is likely to spur some credit-fuelled buying including in sectors such as automobiles. Latest data from the Reserve Bank of India show that growth in bank credit decelerated to 1.2 per cent in the April 1-December 9, 2016 period, compared with the 6.2 per cent pace witnessed in the comparable period in 2015. Deposit growth, on the other hand, almost doubled in pace, accelerating from 7.1 per cent in the same period in 2015 to 13.6 per cent in 2016. Banks have thus found themselves in an unenviable situation where their liabilities (the money they owe depositors) have jumped sharply, while their assets (the loans they give) have instead almost stagnated. This has added to their woes at a time when mounting bad loans have pushed most public sector banks to post record quarterly losses. The demonetisation decision has willy-nilly ended up providing banks with the windfall of low-cost deposits that could potentially serve as the launch pad to a credit-backed demand stimulus in the economy.
Other banks have also cut lending rates, and lenders are now vying with each other to innovatively structure credit products, including home loans, in a bid to capitalise on what they hope will be an enduring revival in the appetite for borrowing. Still, the constraint of needing to fund the substantially higher interest commitments on deposits that have swelled the bank’s liabilities have also forced the SBI to raise the spread it applies on home loans — the additional markup interest it charges over the benchmark one-year MCLR — to a minimum of 50 basis points from 25 basis points earlier. The question is whether this reduction in borrowing costs will be enough to restore consumer confidence. With the Union budget less than a month away, the coming weeks could well serve to provide clear signals on the potential need for a fiscal stimulus to reinvigorate flagging economic growth, especially if a revival in credit growth is going to be slower than anticipated.
✌✌✌✌ THE ECONOMIC TIMES ✌✌✌✌
✌✌ Indian male must reboot to 21st century ✌✌
On New Year’s Eve, an incident that can be only described as mass groping, took place in upmarket areas of Bengaluru. Though there were 1,500 policemen deployed in the vicinity, they apparently did little to dissuade the miscreants. Karnataka’s home minister G Parameshwara, while condemning it, has bizarrely laid some of the onus on “youngsters who are almost like westerners, copying not only western mindsets but also their dress”. This is tantamount to blaming the victim for the crime that was committed on her. The least Parameshwara can do is apologise, profusely, for his comment. Otherwise he should resign.
It is easy to blame the minister and the police, and the likes of Samajwadi Party’s Abu Azmi, but wink at a deep inequality in social mores for men and women. Centuries of social hierarchy to which patriarchy is integral has conditioned male minds to accept only certain conservative patterns of behaviour and dress for women. Anyone who deviates, dresses differently or goes partying, say, is considered fair game. Politics such as that of rightwing outfit Sri Ram Sena that goes around attacking women at pubs and the conservative ideologies, whether of Hindutva or of puritanical Islam that seek to control female sexuality and validate vandalism of the Sena kind, must be recognised as contributing to the nastiness in Bengaluru on New Year’s eve.
Bengaluru, home to a large cosmopolitan population, is the heart of India’s IT sector. It also hosts large multinational companies like GE. The state’s administrators cannot afford to risk Bengaluru’s reputation as a city safe for women to work, live and commute in. Policing and administration have to be beefed up, but what is more important is a fundamental change in people’s attitudes, opinion and ideas.
✌✌ Secularising the election ✌✌
The Supreme Court has grappled with the question whether a provision in electoral law that makes it a corrupt practice to use religion, race, caste or language as a ground for canvassing votes in an election is a bar limited to the groups to which candidates or their rivals belong, or whether it is a general prohibition on sectarian appeals. Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, as amended in 1961, gave rise to this doubt. By a four-three majority, a seven-member Bench has ruled that it is a general prohibition on the use of religion or any other communal or sectarian value in the electoral arena. The minority favoured limiting the ambit of the sub-section to cover only candidates who sought votes on such grounds, or the rivals they wanted the voters not to back on similar grounds. That secularism is the bedrock of our democracy is undisputed. That the electoral process ought not to permit appeals to the electorate on these narrow grounds is equally beyond doubt. Against this backdrop, it is only logical that the Supreme Court should decide that it is a “corrupt practice” for candidates to use any caste or communal parameters to canvass for votes or to discredit a rival, regardless of whether the candidates themselves belong to such religious, communal or linguistic groups.
It is interesting that the dispute turned on a single pronoun, ‘his’, that was introduced in the 1961 amendment. The majority opinion favours a ‘purposive interpretation’, holding that it covered the candidates as well as the voter. It finds support in legislative history and our constitutional ethos. The purpose of the amendment was to widen the scope of the particular corrupt practice. Given that secularism is a basic feature of the Constitution, it has been interpreted in the light of Parliament’s intention to prohibit any religious or sectarian appeal for votes. There is a justifiable worry that a wider interpretation may lead to eliminating from the poll discourse political issues that turn on religion, caste or language. After all, this is a country in which sections of society suffer deprivation and historical injustices based on religious or caste identity. But the overall message is clear. It is left to the wisdom of judges dealing with election cases to draw the line between what is permissible and what is not, and look at the context in which some statements are made before deciding whether they constitute a corrupt practice. The majority verdict will find resonance with all those who swear by the primacy of secularism in the public domain. The minority view nuances this with a reminder that legal issues need to be seen in their social context.
✌✌ A nudge to borrowers ✌✌
The State Bank of India’s decision to cut its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 90 basis points is a timely nudge to borrowers, especially given the sharp slowdown in credit growth in the current fiscal year. The timing of the cut is not surprising, given that the country’s largest commercial lender is awash with funds held in current and savings account (CASA) deposits following the Centre’s decision to withdraw high-value banknotes and impose withdrawal curbs on account-holders. With demand across sectors having taken a knock in the wake of the resultant cash crunch, the SBI’s decision to reduce borrowing costs is likely to spur some credit-fuelled buying including in sectors such as automobiles. Latest data from the Reserve Bank of India show that growth in bank credit decelerated to 1.2 per cent in the April 1-December 9, 2016 period, compared with the 6.2 per cent pace witnessed in the comparable period in 2015. Deposit growth, on the other hand, almost doubled in pace, accelerating from 7.1 per cent in the same period in 2015 to 13.6 per cent in 2016. Banks have thus found themselves in an unenviable situation where their liabilities (the money they owe depositors) have jumped sharply, while their assets (the loans they give) have instead almost stagnated. This has added to their woes at a time when mounting bad loans have pushed most public sector banks to post record quarterly losses. The demonetisation decision has willy-nilly ended up providing banks with the windfall of low-cost deposits that could potentially serve as the launch pad to a credit-backed demand stimulus in the economy.
Other banks have also cut lending rates, and lenders are now vying with each other to innovatively structure credit products, including home loans, in a bid to capitalise on what they hope will be an enduring revival in the appetite for borrowing. Still, the constraint of needing to fund the substantially higher interest commitments on deposits that have swelled the bank’s liabilities have also forced the SBI to raise the spread it applies on home loans — the additional markup interest it charges over the benchmark one-year MCLR — to a minimum of 50 basis points from 25 basis points earlier. The question is whether this reduction in borrowing costs will be enough to restore consumer confidence. With the Union budget less than a month away, the coming weeks could well serve to provide clear signals on the potential need for a fiscal stimulus to reinvigorate flagging economic growth, especially if a revival in credit growth is going to be slower than anticipated.
✌✌✌✌ THE ECONOMIC TIMES ✌✌✌✌
✌✌ Indian male must reboot to 21st century ✌✌
On New Year’s Eve, an incident that can be only described as mass groping, took place in upmarket areas of Bengaluru. Though there were 1,500 policemen deployed in the vicinity, they apparently did little to dissuade the miscreants. Karnataka’s home minister G Parameshwara, while condemning it, has bizarrely laid some of the onus on “youngsters who are almost like westerners, copying not only western mindsets but also their dress”. This is tantamount to blaming the victim for the crime that was committed on her. The least Parameshwara can do is apologise, profusely, for his comment. Otherwise he should resign.
It is easy to blame the minister and the police, and the likes of Samajwadi Party’s Abu Azmi, but wink at a deep inequality in social mores for men and women. Centuries of social hierarchy to which patriarchy is integral has conditioned male minds to accept only certain conservative patterns of behaviour and dress for women. Anyone who deviates, dresses differently or goes partying, say, is considered fair game. Politics such as that of rightwing outfit Sri Ram Sena that goes around attacking women at pubs and the conservative ideologies, whether of Hindutva or of puritanical Islam that seek to control female sexuality and validate vandalism of the Sena kind, must be recognised as contributing to the nastiness in Bengaluru on New Year’s eve.
Bengaluru, home to a large cosmopolitan population, is the heart of India’s IT sector. It also hosts large multinational companies like GE. The state’s administrators cannot afford to risk Bengaluru’s reputation as a city safe for women to work, live and commute in. Policing and administration have to be beefed up, but what is more important is a fundamental change in people’s attitudes, opinion and ideas.
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