Bulletin Issue 15 - 29

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29/08/2015
Staff Training College | admin
Saturday, August 03, 2013

Bank of India Staff Training College, Chennai Issue No.15/29
Phone: 044-28132731, 28130896, 28133815 e- mail Id: stcchennai@bankofindia.co.in (For Private Circulation Only)
Banking Bulletin
Issue AN E-C OMPILATION
(For Private OF
Circulation only) BANKING
No.15/29 ARTICLES
Index
BANKING & FINANCE.................................................................................................................................... 3
RBI ASKS GOVT TO SPEED UP REFORMS IN BANKING SYSTEM.......................................................................................3
STATE-RUN BANKS IN TROUBLE AS CURRENT & SAVINGS ACCOUNTS TAKE A DIP...............................................................5
ECONOMY & POLICY..................................................................................................................................... 7
WHERE IS THE RUPEE HEADED?............................................................................................................................ 7
INDIA SHOULD TURN CRISIS IN GLOBAL TRADE INTO OPPORTUNITY..............................................................................10
MISCELLANEOUS........................................................................................................................................ 13
‘MISSING MIDDLE’: HR CHALLENGE PLAGUES PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS...........................................................................13
Saturday, August 29, 2015 Page 2 of 32
INVESTMENT TIP: DO NOT LEAVE TAX PLANNING FOR THE LAST MOMENT.....................................................................17

SBI TAKES HARVARD LESSONS FOR STAFF APPRAISAL............................................................................................... 20
BANDHAN SET TO RISE IN THE EASTERN REGION...................................................................................................... 22
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY..................................................................................................................... 25
MOBILE PHONE TO EVOLVE INTO VIRTUAL ATM, BANK BRANCH.................................................................................25
HEALTH...................................................................................................................................................... 27
MEDITATING ISN’T JUST FOR MONKS AND HIPPIES................................................................................................... 27
LET US LEARN……........................................................................................................................................ 31
BANKING & FINANCE
RBI asks Govt to speed up reforms in banking system
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday warned the Government that
any delay in reform of the banking system in the country would lead to
greater risk in the economy. “The current stress in the banking system
suggests that the real economy will not wait for the banking system, and a
slow pace of reform could lead to greater, rather than lower risk residing
in the banking system,” wrote RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan in his
overview of the central bank’s annual report 2014-15.

“Financial sector reforms need to move on many fronts,” said Dr. Rajan,
adding, “for a country as big and populous as India, reforms cannot be
shots in the dark, subjecting the economy to great uncertainty and risk.”
“Wherever possible, we have to move steadily but firmly, ever expanding
the scope of reforms while always limiting the uncertainty they create.
The Chinese term this ‘Crossing the river by feeling the stones’. It is an
appropriate metaphor to guide our own reforms,” he added.
While talking on financial sector, Dr. Rajan said that “we need to increase
efficiency through greater entry and competition.”
The most appropriate institutions will prevail when the competitive arena
is level, so we have to remove regulatory privileges as well as impediments
wherever possible, especially those that are biased towards some form of
ownership or some particular institutional form.
Dr. Rajan also stressed the need for more participation in the country’s
financial markets to increase their size, depth, and liquidity.
“Participation is best enhanced not through subventions and subsidies but
by creating supporting frameworks that improve transparency, contract
enforcement, and protections for market participants against abusive
practices,” he added. According to RBI Governor, technology can be very
helpful in reducing the costs of supportive frameworks, and can bring
hitherto excluded populations into the financial fold. “It is these ideas
that guide our medium-term reform strategy.”
Source: The Hindu

State-run banks in trouble as current & savings accounts take

a dip
Profitability of banks does not only depend on what interest rates they
charge on loans, but more importantly, on how much they pay their
depositors. The competitiveness of any bank depends on how low it is able
to keep cost of funds. The most important component of this is the so-
called CASA, where CA stands for current account and SA, for
savings account.
These deposits are called low-cost since banks do not pay any interest on
current account deposits. On savings accounts, most banks barring Yes

Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank pay 4% interest. A recent study by Nomura
shows that state-run banks are not only plagued by bad loans, but also
slidingCASA.
Current accounts have grown at a slower pace with depositors reluctant to
park surplus funds. In savings account, individuals have contributed the
most with 77% share followed by SME and trusts. A report by Nomura
says CASA growth has moderated from 20% onCAGR in fiscal 2008.
Although savings account growth is keeping pace with overall deposit
expansion at 14% CAGR, the current account growth continues to dip.
Changes in incremental current account and savings account share are the
most notable. Over the past two years, private banks accounted for 60%
of incremental current account deposits with just 20% of total deposit
share. The incremental savings account share of private banks increased
to 28% in FY13-15 versus 24% in FY11-13.

Source: Economic Times
ECONOMY & POLICY
Where is the rupee headed?

The rupee gave the markets a jolt by slipping sharply. The reaction of the
stock market with the Sensex losing 2 per cent in the last two sessions
highlights the significance of the currency in determining the health of
the economy as well as companies.
It is the rupee that will bear the brunt if the Federal Reserve begins
monetary tightening. There is no doubt that once US interest rates start
moving higher, dollar will move up as money starts moving into US treasury
instruments. Yields on US government securities will also spike on

expectation that the Fed could then start selling the long-term securities
bought as part of the QE program.
This will result in money from global emerging market debt moving to US
bonds, applying pressure on the currency. But the rout this time is not
likely to be as intense as that experienced in 2013 for various reasons.
One, forex reserves are currently at a healthy $353 billion, up from the
low of $275 billion hit in June 2013. The central bank has been buying
dollars continuously in recent times, making use of rupee’s recent strength.
These reserves are enough to finance 10 months of imports. The cover to
debt at 71 per cent, while not too good, is not too much of a worry.
Two, in 2013, India’s current account deficit was spinning out of control.
It stood at 5 per cent of GDP in June 2013 due to increase in gold imports
and high cost of crude imports. But thanks to initial curbs on gold imports
and decline in crude oil prices, CAD has now been reined in at 1.36. India is
one of the few countries with positive real yield above 3.9 per cent. This
makes Indian debt attractive to debt investors compared to other
countries such as China (2 per cent), Indonesia (1.5), and Malaysia (0.9)
and so on.
With India being a net commodity importer, the fall in commodity prices
has been favourable to our country when compared to commodity
exporting nations whose growth for 2016 has been pegged back by the
IMF.

India is, therefore, set to emerge as the country with the highest
economic growth in the next couple of years. This superior growth will
continue to attract long-term portfolio and direct investors into the
country, thus cushioning the currency over the long term.
However, these factors have resulted in the rupee being overvalued with
respect to its trading partners. The 36-country Real Effective Exchange
Rate (REER) is currently at 111.9 implying that the rupee is currently
overvalued by around 12 per cent. Depreciation of this magnitude will help
make the country’s exports more competitive.
On the charts
The rupee is appearing weak, having declined below 65 recently. But the
movement since the fall of 2013 appears to be a long-term consolidation
phase that can make the currency move in the range of 58 and 68.
There is immediate support in the zone between 65 and 66. A halt there
can make the rupee move between 58 and 66 over the next year or two.
If the previous life-time low at 68.8 hit in August 2013 is re-tested in this
turbulence, the range can widen to 58–70.
But it needs to be noted that the retraction from the 68 level was swift in
2013. After hitting the intra-week low of 68.6, the currency closed at
65.2 in the same week.
This low can hold in this correction too. Else, the next support zone is
between 70 and 72.

Source: Business Line
India should turn crisis in global trade into opportunity
Even as China is trying to boost its exports and perk up its slowing
economy by piggybacking on the recently devalued yuan, Department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary Amitabh Kant has said
India should be watchful of instances of dumping from that country with
“huge over-capacities”. Kant, one of the architects of the Make In
India (MII) campaign meant to spur India’s manufacturing, said India must
protect its core industries from a possible surge of cheap items from
China. In an interview to Arun S of FE, he said China should invest in the
MII initiative. He disagreed with RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s
suggestion that MII should largely be for catering to local demand.

Stating that the MII initiative has an export thrust, he said it is about
“making in India for the world”.
Excerpts:
What is your assessment of the troubles faced by the Chinese economy
and its impact on India?
The Chinese economy has huge overcapacities, particularly in core sectors.
China is seeing a major slowdown. It was an export-led economy but its
exports have slowed down. It has to find alternative markets. Their
currency is devalued. Chinese companies will have to find markets such as
India to offload production. However, India must protect its core
industries. India must resort to using measures such as safeguard duty,
anti-dumping duty and (better) standards. The Indian industry will also
have to play a role in doing proper research and informing the government
on instances of dumping.
Won’t such measures affect user industries that may be benefiting from
cheaper imports?
There are challenges, but we have to find the right balance. It is
important to take a long-term perspective. If you allow your main
industries, such as steel, to be killed (by not taking action against
dumping), when they (Chinese exporters) increase prices at a later stage,
the same downstream industries (in India) that are benefiting now, will

suffer severely. So we need to define and protect our core industries, and
make them efficient.
What is your view on the opinion of some experts that perhaps this is not
a conducive time for the MII initiative, given the excess capacity in India
and in other emerging markets such as China, as well as due to constraints
faced by India Inc in doing business and getting crucial inputs?
The question contradicts the ground reality. Since the MII launch, FDI
inflow into India is up by 48% when FDI across the world has fallen by
16%. Indirect tax collection grew 37.6% (April-July) and (July)
manufacturing PMI was at a six-month high. IIP has shown a positive
trend. Monsoon is better than expected. We have seen major investments,
including from Foxconn,Xiaomi, JCB, IKEA, Boeing, GE, Daimler and Ford
as a consequence of the initiative. India is an oasis of growth amid a
barren economic landscape. We are on the right path. We just need to be
optimistic and accelerate our growth. It won’t be as easy as it was for the
Asian economies who took that path before us”.
What is your view on his ‘Make for India’ statement, especially now that
exports are shrinking due to poor external demand?
I have great respect for the governor. He is a fine economist. But nobody
manufactures only for the domestic market. Daimler has put up a plant in
Chennai with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore. They have looked at the

domestic market but are using their production to export across the
world. Volvo is exporting buses to Europe from India. Hyundai, which came
in to cater to the Indian market, is exporting to 123 countries. India’s
share in global merchandise exports is just 1.7%. India should treat this
slowdown in global trade and its poor export performance as a crisis and
turn it into an opportunity to enhance its share in the global market. India
must produce to global size and scale and connect to global markets. India
must realise that if it doesn’t continue to export, it will perish. Export and
manufacturing are closely linked. If exports don’t grow, manufacturing
won’t grow. We must push for exports so manufacturing grows in the long
term, or else it will have repercussions. Therefore the policy cannot be
‘Make In India’ or ‘Make For India’. We have to make in India for the
world.
Source: Financial Express
MISCELLANEOUS
‘Missing middle’: HR challenge plagues public sector banks
Faced with the difficulty of paying competitive salaries, the State Bank of
India is recruiting some employees on contract at the junior level, and
using specialists to fill up critical mid-level vacancies.
“We have some difficulties in giving market-related salaries. What we are
trying to do is to get some people directly from campuses on contract at
the lower levels,” said SBI Chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya at SBI’s
Banking and Economics Conclave held recently.

“Obviously, this obviates their ability to have a career with us and
therefore may not be that attractive. However, we try to explain to them
that even if they had gone to some other bank, their propensity to change
would be quite high. So, even if they get five-six years with SBI or SBI
Caps, it’s actually very good.”
Highlighting the constraints faced by public sector banks (PSBs), she
admitted that they did suffer “a bit of a missing middle, so to speak”.
“We are trying to get specialists, such as legal experts and chartered
accountants. We take them in at a higher level and therefore we are able
to give them a higher salary.
“We are trying to see whether our subsidiaries can recruit people and
depute them to us. So, it’s a mixture of things we are doing but it’s a
major challenge,” she said.
Hiring constraints
PSBs have been facing a human capital challenge for a while now, following
a recruitment freeze in the 1990s, termed as the “retirement decade” by
former RBI Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty.
These banks are staring at the imminent retirement of about a quarter of
the 1.5 lakh mid-level managers. They are due to retire over the next
three years, creating a vast leadership vacuum.
“Promotions have taken place so rapidly because of the retirements at the
top that there are challenges in not only mid-management but even at the

top level, since you are pushing people up too fast,” said Anil Khandelwal,
former chairman of the Bank of Baroda, who also headed a government-
appointed committee that looked into human resource issues at PSBs.
He said the challenges are not merely quantitative but qualitative and can
be met only by skill development, competition and leadership.
“There needs to be rigour in the promotion process and not merely filling
up of vacancies,” he added.
Strategic importance
In July, RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi had also pointed out that PSBs are
increasingly witnessing many young officers at the top.
“While this can bring fresh perspectives on various issues, it is also a fact
that given the strategic importance of leadership at the top, it is
important to understand the training requirements of top management and
fulfil the same,” he observed.
Also, expressing anxiety that new private banks may increase the
competition and poach talent from PSBs, SBI’s Bhattacharya, at the
conclave, requested the RBI Governor to give apt recommendations to the
government.
“More worrisome is that as these new players come in, they have much
‘lower’ models. In the sense, if they operate in a particular State, they
recruit the locals. But for us, to recruit for the North-East, we have an
all-India examination,” she said.

The SBI chief further said that up to scale-3, PSBs are quite competitive
in terms of salaries, but the problem occurs when it comes to scale-4 and
scale-5.
At the higher scales — after scale six (deputy general manager level) —
the salaries tend to stagnate. This makes it easy for private banks to woo
them with higher salaries, she said.
RBI not spared
Echoing the sentiments, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said the banking
regulator itself encounters a similar problem. “The inability to recruit
from campuses of specific talents that we want, are the issues we have to
deal with...”
“I think one question to ask is what will be the cost to increase the
remuneration at higher levels to more of market-like salary? And, could
that be compensated by more efficiency at the lower levels? Are there
ways to do the same activities without increasing the cost?” he sought to
know.
Bhattacharya suggested employee stock option plans (ESOPs) as a way to
make the top management committed to the bank over a longer period.
“It is something that we have already taken up with the government. I
think being a profit making entity, it is possible,” she added.
Source: Business Line

Investment tip: Do not leave tax planning for the last moment

It is that time of the year when people are busy filing their tax returns.
While some would be well-prepared with their investments, there are many
who may not have planned it. Whatever be the case, one must understand
that investments should be made throughout the year.
Plan ahead
For most of us, tax planning comes as an after-thought, but it should not
be that way. If you have paid all your taxes, maintain the momentum and
keep yourself organised next year too. Planning things in advance has its
own advantages, or else it will be the same old story — running around,

trying to salvage tax breaks, investing into plans that may not be fit for
you, nor in line with your financial goals.
Stay true to your plan
There is no secret recipe for success. Understanding your financial
situations, setting goals and devising plans to achieve those goals are
critical to secure a financial future. An extra principal payment every year
on your mortgage could shed 7 years off your 30-year tenure. A Rs 500
accumulated every month over a period of 3 years can compound to 6
months of emergency savings. Once you have a plan in place, stick to it,
monitor it and adapt with changing market conditions.
Review the plan
If you got a good refund last year, you must try adjust your taxes
deducted at source (TDS). TDS is the tax your employer deducts from
your salary. Inform your employer about your financial situations, so that
the employer can deduct only those taxes you are liable for. The money,
thus, saved can be invested to earn compounding returns. One must deploy
all online resources available. There are software that can help plan your
investments to achieve maximum tax breaks. One must also consult the
accounts department in the office at least twice a year to understand
withholdings.

Filing returns can be a tedious task at times. Taxes are summary of your
annual earnings, the house you bought, job you took or new family member.
As you go through these milestones, make sure you are prepared to take
maximum tax benefits at the end of the year. There are a lot of online
tools/apps available that will help you compile a list of documents needed
based on your income situation.
From the current fiscal, income tax department has introduced Electronic
Verification Code (EVC) that will make obsolete the need to send a signed
paper copy of the ITR-V to Bengaluru. One can e-verify submission of
returns via e-filing portal, net-banking or even ATMs.
Pick your choice
There are plenty of options online to e-file returns. If your case is not a
complex one, there is no reason to spend on a chartered accountant. You
can do it yourself, take control and e-file your returns online and without
any hassle. A few things that you need to keep in mind while choosing
service providers include cost, features and incentives. Most online service
providers claim to offer self e-filing for free, which is not true, so make
sure you do your due diligence.
The software must be simple so that one can do it without any external
help. Compare the service providers, send them e-mails if there are

questions, follow them on social media to see what others say about
him, google them to see blogger reviews about these services.
Source: Financial Express
SBI takes Harvard lessons for staff appraisal
State Bank of India, the country's largest lender with 213,000 employees,
has roped in Harvard Business School for performance appraisal of its
middle and senior management. All employees above the deputy general
manager and up to deputy managing director's level now necessarily have
to take 10-20 e-modules linked to their performance appraisal.
An employee can earn up to five points in the overall performance
appraisal, which is of 100 marks, if they clear all the mandated modules.
Training via e-modules has been made mandatory for SBI officers.

Apart from the 40 modules that Harvard prepared, SBI internally has
developed 500 e-modules for its staff, which all employees, including
probationary officers, have to take. "Modules are assigned to the officers
according to their work profile. In a year, an employee gets 10 to 20 e-
modules to clear," said a senior executive with the bank.
The lender has beefed up its training activity in the past couple of years
and closed the training gap, which was as high as 55.45 per cent at the end
of March 2013. The gap narrowed to 2.45 per cent by the end of March
2015. SBI Chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya had recently said that the
bank would use technology extensively to match skills with roles. Talent
management and capacity building have been key areas of the bank's
human resources repositioning initiative.
Staff training is conducted under the supervision of the strategic training
unit, and its training apparatus at present consists of five apex training
institutes and 48 learning centres. The government and the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) have been nudging banks to improve the quality of human
resources.
The government's public sector bank reform initiative - Indradanush -
unveiled by the finance ministry last week, has included skill development
and talent management to measure the performance of public sector
banks.

These are called key performance indicators or KPI. The finance ministry
said human resource management would have five per cent weight in KPI.
Consistent effort on training has resulted in increased growth in business
and profitability for SBI.
The bank's business per employee has increased from Rs 7.04 crore to Rs
12.34 crore between FY11 and FY15. Profit per employee also increased
from Rs 3.85 lakh in FY11 to Rs 6.02 lakh in FY15.
Source: Business Standard
Bandhan set to rise in the eastern region
The eastern region, which has some of the most unbanked areas in the
country, is readying itself to witness the birth of a new bank on August
23, 2015, after a gap of 72 years.
Bandhan Financial Services (BFS), which recently received its universal
banking licence a year after getting a provisional licence from the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) last April, is all set to unfurl its banking operations on
that day and trigger a wave of financial inclusion.
The bank, which plans to open 600 branches initially, will mark its
footprint across 27 States through 501 branches on its launch day. Over a
third of these would be in unbanked areas.

“We are planning to have 35 per cent of our branch network in places
where banking facilities are absent,” Chandra Sekhar Ghosh, the
unassuming Managing Director of the new bank and the Founder of the
Bandhan Financial Services said.
BFS, a micro finance institution (MFI), started its journey in 2001 when
Mr. Ghosh quit his job to set up an institution through which he hoped to
help the poor. He embarked with just three members from a small place
called Bagnan, some 60 km from here in Howrah District. The model
followed was individual lending through formation of self-help groups. In
less than a decade and half, Bandhan branched out through a 2,022-strong
network in 22 States and Union Territories although the east and the
north-east remained its focus areas.
On the way, it picked up awards and accolades and had as its lenders
almost the entire Indian banking industry — public and private as well as
some foreign banks.
“My aim was to not only help build livelihoods...but help foster holistic
development”, says Mr. Ghosh. Thus, the organisation also set up an arm to
run intervention programmes in health and education.
It got IFC and SIDBI as equity investors as an MFI. As a bank, that list
expanded to include a Singapore-based investment company. It has a
capital-base of Rs.3,200 crore now and a client base of 67 lakhs.
Bandhan, which along with IDFC, created ripples when it bagged the
provisional banking licence from RBI pipping many corporate majors

behind, got down to its job in right earnest to launch its banking services.
It appointed Deloitte as its adviser, commenced hiring (and saw IIM
graduates lining up to join the organisation) and appointed its technology
partner. It has also begun training its existing staff, many of whom are
likely to be recruited in the new bank. It will have two divisions — micro
banking and general banking.
A report submitted to Parliament in 2013 had stated that majority of the
companies mopping up public deposits illegally, flourished in the east due to
the regions poor financial inclusion. The Saradha group, which raised only
about Rs.2,500 crore, is only the tip of the iceberg. It was felt that
financial inclusion was the only way to combat this phenomenon. The
industry watchdog the RBI, may have had just this in mind when it
awarded the licences — the first in a decade.
Bandhan aims to address this problem and hopes to carry along with, its
new crop of depositors to become one of the country’s top three banks in
10 years. Its existing client-base, who have already begun collecting bank-
forms are its first customers.
Source: The Hindu

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Mobile phone to evolve into virtual ATM, bank branch
The new payments banks, once become operational, are expected to make
people less dependent on cash and thus going forward mobile phone will
become the virtual automated teller machine (ATM) and small-payments
cheque-book, which will take care most of basic banking needs such as
money transfer, savings and bill payments.
However, mobile financial services technology holds the key to the success
of payments banks as this round of financial inclusion would require a
higher technology push than universal banking.
“In the long run mobile phone will eventually evolve into a full-fledged
virtual bank branch and ATM. When the mobile financial services

ecosystem matures and the economy becomes cash-less, most of the
transactions would take place using mobile wallet,” said Jatinder Ahuja,
Head of India and South West Asia Business, Amdocs which provides
technology and services to mobile operators, banks and financial
institutions to offer mobile banking.
“Why do you need to go to an ATM or bank branch if all your banking
needs are satisfied on your mobile phone?” Mr Ahuja asked.
With a mobile wallet, one can buy things, pay for online and off line
purchases, transfer money, receive wages and government subsidies and
deposit cash and withdraw money.
All these provide the biggest opportunity for mobile banking in anywhere
in the world. “India is not one but two markets — one which is un-banked
or under-banked without access to basic financial services; and the other
which is growing middle class with rising incomes who want convenience and
are increasingly using their mobile phones for payments, accessing banking
services, and other financial transactions,” said Mr.Ahuja.
Despite such huge opportunities, mobile banking is still in a nascent stage
in India. There are multiple challenges in driving the adoption of mobile
banking, most significant being the lack of awareness among people.
The other key challenge is the lack of matured ecosystem and an effective
agent network. The mobile financial Service providers and other
ecosystem partners need to ensure that the agents make money on their
investment, so that there is a sustainable business case for them. Besides

this, consumers are concerned about data security, ease of use and
ubiquity of the services, said Mr.Ahuja.
Source: The Hindu
HEALTH
Meditating isn’t just for monks and hippies
Meditation is one of those words that scares people a little. It evokes
thoughts of chanting (heaven forbid) and conjures images of tree-hugging,
crunchy-granola, hippy-dippy types sitting around cross-legged, swaying in
the breeze (kind of like this picture, right?)!
There is something about the idea, at least in the recent past, that
somehow hasn’t always jived with mainstream, western societies.
But lately, it is almost hard to pick up a newspaper and read a recent
report without reading about the benefits of meditation and
mindfulness. I must admit, while my yoga practice is my own moving
meditation, I don’t carve time out of my day to purposefully meditate. So

being the eternal student that I am, I decided to take a short course on
learning how to meditate.
The course is taught by Wendy Quan at The Calm Monkey, a really
inspiring woman who has now taught thousands of people to meditate over
the last ten years. Her years of teaching and her own research have shown
that meditation can increase ‘personal resiliency’, which she describes as
one’s own ability to bounce back from difficult situations and allow things
to easily bounce off of oneself.
Wendy’s demeanour, needless to say, is calm, collected and soothing – I
suppose only to be expected from a teacher of meditation.
“When you are the most stressed out,” she says, “that’s when you should
be meditating the most.”
Words from the wise.
So for all of you type As out there whose brains are buzzing and you’re
thinking, “I don’t have time to read about meditation,” I know where you
are coming from… because I am one of them. So I will cut to the chase.
Here is the quick and dirty of what I learned about meditation to get
started:
 Mindfulness and meditation are often uttered in the same breath but
they are different from one another, although complementary. While
meditation is about purposefully carving out time to meditate using

various techniques, mindfulness is about practicing being present in the
moment.
 By being mindful, we are able to enjoy the moment and enjoy our life
experiences more fully by not worrying about our future vacation plans
or ruminating over an argument we had yesterday.
 Contrary to popular belief, meditation is not about having an empty or a
‘blank’ mind. Rather, it is about learning to focus the mind, noticing
when our thoughts wander and then coming back to our initial focus.
 When we notice our thoughts wandering, we become more self-aware.
When we are self-aware we are more able to change our thoughts about
something. Remember that time you manufactured that story in your
own mind about how your friends were talking sh*t about you behind
your back the other day? You know what I’m talking about. When we
notice the stories we manufacture in our own minds, we are able to
change them. I particularly like this quote: “Don’t assume motive,
assume positive intention.”
Here is the basics on how to meditate:
 Start by downloading a meditation timing app. Wendy suggested Insight
Timer. This will allow you to set a timer for the duration of your
meditation.
 Find a cushion to sit on and ensure your knees are at the same height
as, or lower than, your hips. If you don’t have a cushion, you can also sit
in a chair, feet flat on the ground.

 If you sit cross-legged, try not to stack your ankles which can cut off
circulation.
 There are countless props you can use, including a meditation bench,
which I think I will try.
 Relax and roll your shoulder blades down your back and close your eyes.
 Start a simple meditation by focusing on your breath, without breathing
differently than you normally would.
Lastly, here are some final meditation tips from Wendy:
 “Attitude is everything.”
 Have no expectations.
 Hold no judgements or negative self-talk.
 Be an observer.
 Bring a beginner’s mind, let go of the ego.
 Don’t expect a ‘blank mind’ but notice the moments when your mind
wanders. Your job is to re-focus gently.
 Be patient, give it time, and allow rather than try.
Here is an example of how NOT to meditate below. This was me, a couple
of years ago, attempting a mystical meditation in Hawaii. Although the
view is alright, my knees are above my hips, and my ankles are stacked!
Source: Economic Times

LET US LEARN……..
Punctuality is not about being on Time,
It’s basically about respecting your own commitments.


Bulletin Issue 15 - 29

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Issue 13 by 31

Saturday, August 03, 2013

INVESTMENT TIP: DO NOT LEAVE TAX PLANNING FOR THE LAST MOMENT.....................................................................17

BANKING & FINANCE

RBI asks Govt to speed up reforms in banking system

in the banking system,” wrote RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan in his

overview of the central bank’s annual report 2014-15.

Saturday, August 29, 2015 Page 3 of 32

adding, “for a country as big and populous as India, reforms cannot be

“Wherever possible, we have to move steadily but firmly, ever expanding

appropriate metaphor to guide our own reforms,” he added.

efficiency through greater entry and competition.”

is level, so we have to remove regulatory privileges as well as impediments

ownership or some particular institutional form.

financial markets to increase their size, depth, and liquidity.

“Participation is best enhanced not through subventions and subsidies but

by creating supporting frameworks that improve transparency, contract

enforcement, and protections for market participants against abusive

practices,” he added. According to RBI Governor, technology can be very

helpful in reducing the costs of supportive frameworks, and can bring

that guide our medium-term reform strategy.”

Source: The Hindu

Saturday, August 29, 2015 Page 4 of 32

State-run banks in trouble as current & savings accounts take

Profitability of banks does not only depend on what interest rates they

depositors. The competitiveness of any bank depends on how low it is able

current account deposits. On savings accounts, most banks barring Yes

Saturday, August 29, 2015 Page 5 of 32

Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank pay 4% interest. A recent study by Nomura

Current accounts have grown at a slower pace with depositors reluctant to

park surplus funds. In savings account, individuals have contributed the

Although savings account growth is keeping pace with overall deposit

expansion at 14% CAGR, the current account growth continues to dip.

of incremental current account deposits with just 20% of total deposit

share. The incremental savings account share of private banks increased

to 28% in FY13-15 versus 24% in FY11-13.

Source: Economic Times

ECONOMY & POLICY

Where is the rupee headed?

highlights the significance of the currency in determining the health of

the economy as well as companies.

monetary tightening. There is no doubt that once US interest rates start

instruments. Yields on US government securities will also spike on

bought as part of the QE program.

likely to be as intense as that experienced in 2013 for various reasons.

dollars continuously in recent times, making use of rupee’s recent strength.

These reserves are enough to finance 10 months of imports. The cover to

makes Indian debt attractive to debt investors compared to other

has been favourable to our country when compared to commodity

Saturday, August 29, 2015 Page 8 of 32

continue to attract long-term portfolio and direct investors into the

country, thus cushioning the currency over the long term.

respect to its trading partners. The 36-country Real Effective Exchange

Rate (REER) is currently at 111.9 implying that the rupee is currently

overvalued by around 12 per cent. Depreciation of this magnitude will help

make the country’s exports more competitive.

movement since the fall of 2013 appears to be a long-term consolidation

turbulence, the range can widen to 58–70.

65.2 in the same week.

between 70 and 72.

Saturday, August 29, 2015 Page 9 of 32

Source: Business Line