Tryst with RBI

1.12.2016

After a gap of 2 years, I got an opportunity to face an interview. This was my first interview after joining a job. So was worried about the nature of questions. After 4 attempts, I finally managed to get an interview call for post of Grade B Manager at Reserve Bank of India. Around 700 people were called for interview to fill up 170 vacancies. I was called for interview on 1^st December at 9 AM.

                I reached the venue around 8.45 AM. Unlike government offices, RBI office is sparkling clean and resembles interiors of a five star hotel. The interviews were being held at top floor of office. I got to know I was slotted at No 12 out of 14 members scheduled to be interviewed that day. After completing biometric registration and certificate verification, I had to wait till 1.15 PM. There were various newspapers available, but I was worried of information overload, so decided not to read much.

                At 1.15 Pm I was called into the interview room.  It was a 5 member interview panel. All seated in sofas and a chair was put in middle for candidate to sit.

Me: Good Afternoon Sirs and Mam

M1: You have speedcubing as hobby. Don’t you get bored solving the same thing again and again. Are you still improving your timing?

Me:  There are various permutations to solve the cube, so it isn’t boring. I can solve in under 2 minutes but world record is less than 10 seconds

M1:  What do you do in volunteering?

Me: I picked it up at college which had an active volunteering cell. Had participated in tsunami rehab

M1: What are you doing now?

Me: I volunteer with an NGO involved in teaching government kids during weekends

M1: Good, what do you teach?

Me: Sir, right now annual day is coming up , so I am helping them in preparing for quiz

M2: How much is India’s Tax to GDP ratio? Do you think it is low? What can be done to improve it?

Me: Sir its around 16%. Its low in comparison to other advanced nations

M2: How much in advanced nations?

Me: Sir it’s above 20%

M2: Ok what can be done to improve it?

Me: Sir there is a need to widen it

M1: This tax:GDP ratio, does it include state taxes as well?

Me: Sir I am not sure about that but it does include direct and indirect taxes

M2: What are non tax sources of revenue?

Me: Sir, it includes disinvestment proceedings, interest from loans lent to states, Grants from international insitutions like world bank

M1: World bank gives grants? I don’t think so

Me: It does for specific projects,

M1: No

Me: Sir.., it lends through credit lines as well

M1 That is different

M3: Do you think India’s tax system has equity in it?

Me: Sir, Direct taxes are progressive

M3: What progressive , a large section is left untaxed , agriculture. Don’t you think they need to be taxed?

Me: Sir agriculture sector has a large number of small and marginal farmers

M3: But there are large ones also, don’t you think this is unequal

Me: Yes sir but that is politically unviable

M1: So you think it is a holy cow?

Me: Yes sir, its seen as anti public friendly(Don’t know why blabbered this)

M3: So why do you think it is not taxed? Under whome does agriculture come

Me: Yes sir, Its under state list, so need to garner public support for such a move

M4: Ok you are from Central excise department. Tell me how GST is going to change your role?

Me: Sir. We are handling a large number of service tax assesses….(M1 Cuts short my answer)

M1: In GST, who would decide on issue of classification of goods?

Me: Sir that’s a tricky issue. Currently it’s still a work in progress. A committee of secretaries has been setup to decide on this.

M1: Are you sure , it has not been resolved?

Me: As far as I know , its not yet resolved

M4: In comparison to your department, how is income tax?

Me: Sir we deal with indirect tax, So our interface with public is less

M4: What do you mean by public?

Me: I mean for income tax an assesse is an individual while for us its an enterprise

M5: This demonetisation , are you fine with the timing?

Me: I feel it is a paradigmatic change. I agree in principle with it, but I feel timing was not right. Especially when a nation which had 80% cash transactions. Now 86% of cash has been taken out

I feel this push for cashless could have been done before

M5: So you feel timing is not right

Me: Yes mam

M5: What other measures have been taken recently?

Me: Mam RBI has put withdrawal limit. Income tax law has been amended to penalise tax evaders. I feel it is a win win situation

M5: What about black money abroad, any measures ?

Me: Yes mam, that’s an important issue as well.

M5: Any agreement with countries?

Me: Yes mam , an agreement has been reached with Switzerland but its implementation will start in 2019

M5: Apart from that what more can be done?

Me: I feel tax compliance burden should be reduced so that people pay tax willingly

M5: What about electoral reforms?

Me: Yes mam, There needs to be transparency in fudning, right now only funds of individuals are kept track of but not party. There is no limit. Also recent step by PM calling for MPs and MLAs to submit their bank accounts for scrutiny is a step in right direction

M1: Ok. You can go

Me: I would like to thank you all for giving me this opportunity

I feel the questions were good but I could have answered better. Many times my answers were cut short, may be I wasn’t to the point or due to time constraint(15 mins) they had to get in as many questions as possible. As of now, fingers crossed. Hope for the best

6th March 2017

Marks are out. This interview fetched 38 out of 50 . Highest marks were 44. So this can be considered an above average interview. On the whole i managed to clear cutoff by 4 marks. Phew, so the journey to RBI was not an easy one . But all's well that end's well.

Debit card data breach:Threat to Digital India?

In past few years, India’s banking system has undergone enormous changes. Banks have embraced the benefits of digital revolution and are harnessing it to improve service delivery. This has benefited not just consumer and banks but even the government has put its hopes on spread of digital banking to realize the dream of Digital India.

                Economic survey highlighted importance of JAM trinity (Jan Dhan, Aadhaar, Mobile) for better targeting of subsidies and thereby improve governance. The Jan Dhan component  is moving swiftly with the growing number of bank accounts. Aadhaar is also fast becoming ubiquitous in India. Mobile revolution has put mobile in hands of common man. However JAM benefit can be harnessed only when mobile banking is utilised by public. This will enable payments and transfers via mobile .It will reduce time and opportunity cost of daily wage earners. For others, it makes transactions convenient and hassle free.

                Mobile banking has spread fast thanks to innovations and supportive regulations. Today there are numerous companies coming out with apps to enable payments and transfers of various kinds. Reserve Bank of India has given in principle approval for setting up of payment banks. This will further penetrate use of digital medium for transactions. All these paint a rosy picture. Some analysts were so excited by these developments that they started dreaming of a cashless Indian economy.

                The dream shattered with revelation of a large scale data theft from several Indians banks in 2016. The incident revealed the loopholes in India’s cyber security regime. Even as more and more Indians are logging on to the cyber world. India has been slow in coming up with security measures to protect its citizens and property. We have seen cyber attacks on various institutions of government. But the recent incident in financial domain is a cause for grave concern.

                India’s growth has been propelled by IT boom. Much of activity in future would be dependent on cyber world. Hence it is imperative that we buck up and strengthen cyber security. India is blessed with surplus engineers by fate or design. Indian government should tap these enormous pool of talent to create a cyber army not just to defend but also to unleash cyber attacks. Deterrence is best form of defence.

                The recent attack reveals the threat to financial sector. Financial sector regulators and participants need to heighten their vigil in cyber world. Digital banking which is still in nascent stage in India can grow only with trust of people. The recent incident has created a trust deficit among public. There has been a decline in online and debit/credit card transactions and a increased demand for currency. This is a setback to digital banking. Banks need to act fast to secure their networks and assure their customers of the safety of their systems. Regulators need to give equal priority to cyber audit as other audits. RBI’s move to setup a IT division is a step in right direction.

                Cyber criminals are evolving new and advanced methods to perpetrate their crimes. To keep these in check, we need to invest in cyber surveillance and research. Our investigative agencies need to be equipped with skills to undertake investigations in cyber world. Laws need to be strengthened in cyber world to instill fear among those who have evil designs in their mind.

                The economic survey called for spread of JAM to alleviate people’s problems. Before spreading JAM it is important to protect it from attacks of ants, only then can we really enjoy the taste of JAM.

Central armed police forces[Assistant commandant] 2013 Interview

Date- 23^rd June 2014

Venue: UPSC, Delhi

My interview was scheduled in morning slot and was asked to report at 9. I reached UPSC bhavan around 8.30 Am. The security said they would allow only at 9. At 9, we were allowed in after checking call letter and ID proof. At reception desk we were allotted table numbers. We were taken into a circular hall with dome shaped roof. There were 7 tables each corresponding to a particular board.

                Document checking too around 2 hours and interviews started only around 11 AM. I was number 4 in my group of 6 people. We got to know that our interview board chairman is Hem Chandra Gupta. My turn came at around 12 PM

                The peon escorted me along a long corridor passing through chambers of various UPSC members to Mr Hem Chandra Gupta’s chamber. After about 10 minutes , I was called in. Please find below a transcript of my interview.

Me: Good afternoon sir.

Chairman[CM]: Please take your seat. [I sat down] So you have studied engineering at amrita school of engineering. Where is it?

Me: Sir, university is located at Coimbatore while I studied at a campus in Bangalore

CM: ok. You completed graduation in 2010, what have you been doing since then?

Me: Sir, I have been preparing for civil services. Apart from that I got a central government job in 2011 but I am still waiting for joining.

CM: Hmm k. So why are you coming for CAPF ?

Me: Sir, I have always wanted to join a challenging and rewarding career option. I feel this job will suit my requirements

CM: You have mentioned volunteering as your hobby. What do you volunteer for?

Me: Sir I am associated with an NGO that works in education sector

CM: Ok ok . Recently an issue has come up with NGOs. What is it about?

Me: Sir, Recently an intelligence report has identified certain NGOs as acting against our national interests. According to report, certain NGOs are stalling development projects deliberately and this is being perceived as actions against national interest

CM: can you name the NGOs listed in report?

Me: Green peace is one of the NGOs sir. I am not able to recollect other NGOs at this point of time

CM passes over to Member 1[M1]

M1: Police to population ratio is very low in India. Can you tell me how much?

Me: Around 110

M1: Some say there are more number of NGOs in India than police personnel. Is it true?

Me: It could be sir as very little investment is involved and registration process is easier

M1: So Bharath, We have made several policies regarding education yet we see large number of illiterates. Can you tell me what are the number of illiterates in India?

Me: Sir its around 25% of population. But a lot many are not functionally literate

M1: Can you give me a number

Me: Sir around 250 million

M1: what was population at time of independence?

Me: I am not sure sir, maybe 500 million

M1: If you see number of people illiterate, it has increased over time . Why do you think so?

Me; Sir I think our education curriculum does not meet needs of people. For example a tribal community may be good at a particular thing but our education system does not recognise that

M1: Ok. But if you see even literates. Many are not able to find jobs, so what use is it to increase literacy rate?

Me: Sir, skill deficit is also an issue. We need to promote vocational courses. A person with skills need not look for a job, he can setup his own venture. This way we can unleash entrepreneurial revolution in the country

M1 passes it over to M2

M2. You have mentioned blogging as a hobby. What do you blog on?

Me: Sir initially I used to write on my personal experiences. Now Its mostly related to my preparation and sharing of notes

M2: Is blogging same as social media?

Me: Blogging is a part of social media. Apart from that micro blogging, facebook and other such sites also constitute social media

M2: Do you know Edward snowden?

Me: Yes sir. He was instrumental in revealing American snooping activities. This has caused cocnerns in different parts of the world

M2: Have you heard of cyber security? How to address it?

Me: Yes sir. Cyber security is a contentious issue now. Internet was initially designed for a small community, but today it has grown into a truly global medium. So we need better structures to govern it. Currently internet is governed by few bodies in USA. This raises security issues. We need a multilateral multi stakeholder mechanism. That’s regarding cyber governance issues. In domain of cyber security issues, lot of progress has been made. Today it is possible to send messaged in encoded format so that even if anyone snoops in they wont be able to identify it.

M2: Do you know NASDAQ? What are its activities?

Me:Yes sir it’s a American stock exchange. I am not aware about its activities

M2: Do you know DAC?

Me: Is it department of atomic commissions

M2 no response, moves on to next question

M2: You are from east Godavari. Can you tell me differences between the two?

Me: Sir both are agriculturally prosperous thanks to dowleswaram barrage which provides water for both districts. West Godavari has more industries. In east Godavari there is lot of scope for development of ports. Kakinada is famous for fertilise factories. Its providing employment to many people

M2: Yes. Two more are being proposed now. A lot is being talked about Godavari basin? What is it about?

Me: Yes sir, a project has been proposed to divert waters from Godavari to Krishna river. Currently about 600 tmcft water is being drained into sea while Krishna is completely dammed. So this project has been proposed. It’s a river inter linkage project. There are concerns about displacement and submergence in certain areas of Orissa and chattisgarh

M2: What about gas?

Me: Yes sir KG basin is present.

M2: what is the issue with it?

Me- Sir a private agency is involved in exploration activity. It has been alleged that the company is gold plating its costs so as to reduce governments share in profit

M2 passes over to M3

M3: Your state has been divided. Why has it been divided? Both speak same language, I don’t think there are many differences. Why do you think it split?

Me: Sir, it has both historical and economic reasons. Historically telangana was under nizam rule while coastal Andhra was under british. British developed ports, transport well while telangana lagged behind

M3. Ok ok. Can you tell me how many states were there at time of independence?

Me: I am not sure.

M3. No problem, guess

Me: I think 18 sir

M3. Today there are 29. Can you tell me how they formed?

Me: Sir initial demand for separate state ironically came from Andhra itself. It was first state to be formed on linguistic basis. Later on a state reorganisation committee was formed which recommended formation of states based on linguistic and administrative basis though it specifically mentioned language should not be the sole criteria

M3: So don’t you think this state split has violated language criteria?

Me: If we see it strictly on language basis, yes sir. Because there is not much difference in language apart from accent

M3. Can you tell me names of states formed not on linguistic basis

Me: chattisgarh, Jharkand

M3. Yes basically all north india states. They all speak hindi

Me: yes sir

M3. Can you tell me demand for states currently that are not on linguistic basis?

Me: Sir, there is vidarbha, . Also a proposal to split UP into 4

M3. How many languages are there in india constitution

Me: 28[Brain freeze. I don’t know why I said that]

All members shocked

Me: sorry sir, Its 18[I was wrong. Its 22]

M3: k k. can you tell me which is largest spoken language in india?

Me: Hindi

M3: k 2^nd?

Me: Bengali

M3: K 3^rd?[smiling]

Me: I think telugu sir

M3: Ok you have mentioned cricket. Tell me all world records held by india?

Me: Sir there are many records by individual players. One of them is Sachin . he has scored most number of runs, played most matches

M3. Ok what about other records?

Me: Sir we won world cup twice, that is also a sort of record

M3: What record? West indies also won many times

Me: Yes sir. I am not able to recollect other records

M3: Ok . tell me who has scored most of triple centuries?

Me: Sehwag

M3. Who has caught most number of catches?

Me: I think Rahul Dravid

M3. See all these are records. Ok tell me top 5 run scorers

Me. I don’t know sir but definitely Sachin would be in that list

M3: What about dravid? Any other Indians in top 5

Me: I am not sure sir.

M3: Tell me test and ODI ranking of India

Me: I am not sure. I think it is no 2 in tests and 4 in ODIs

M3: its 3 and 5

Me: ok sir

CM you may go

Me: I would like to thank you all for giving me this opportunity

Interview lasted for about 20-25 minutes. It left me with mixed feelings. While I felt i answered opinion based questions satisfactorily, I made major blunders on factual questions relating to languages in 8^th schedule and cricket. 

My SBI interview

Date: 12^th january 2012, Hyderabad

Exam for SBI PO posts was held in july 2011. It comprised of an objective paper comprising maths, english, logical reasoning and general knowledge. The written paper comprised of letter writing and precise writing. After a long wait of 7 months results were announced and I was shortlisted for interview.

                On 12^th jan 11 AM I was called for interview to SBI Headquarters, hyderabad. I reached their campus around 10:30. It was a sprawling campus resembling a mini hitech city. A total of 18 people were called for interview. I had to wait for over two hours to get my document verified.  After which, they provided us lunch coupons and asked us to have lunch at their officers mess. After a quick meal, we were taken to a conference hall for group discussion. Again we were made to wait for another 2 hours as interviewers were busy interviewing people from morning batch.

                The conference hall was huge with state of art equipments. All of us were provided with a table mic. It was more a test on public speaking than a group discussion, as the format allowed no scope for countering others points. Everyone were given 2 minutes to talk on topic in 1^st round and another 1 minute to conclude in 2^nd round. The topic given was “villages in India are its strengths or weaknesses” . I said villages were once a strength and now have become our weakness and gave a few suggestions to convert our weakness into stength. After group discussion, the interviews started

                I was number 4 on list and hence didn’t have to wait for long . The interview board comprised of 4 old men. Unlike a traditional interview setting, this room had sofas on four corners of room and each was seated in one corner. I was made to sit on a chair in middle of the room.

Chairman: Welcome . please sit down.

Me: thank you sir

Chairman: So you have completed your graduation in 2010. What were you doing since then?

Me: I have been preparing for civil services

Chairman: What is the status now?

Me: I have written the mains and results are yet to be announced

Chairman: good. So if you get  through civil services, You would prefer it over this job

Me: Yes

Chairman: Did you write any other bank exams?

Me: Yes I did. I managed to clear the exam for a couple of banks but I couldn’t attend interview as they were too close to mains exam

Chairman: Ok. Do you know about lothal?

Me; Yes sir, it is a harappan site. It was an important port town

Chairman: Name some harappan sites in India

Me: Mohenjodaro

Chairman: its not in India

Me: sorry sir, its in pakistan. In India we have kalibangan, ranikhet

Chairman: Tell me one more

Me: I am not able to recollect now

Chairman: Name the person who designed delhi

Me: New delhi was designed by Lutyens

Chairman: Ok . what about chandigarh, rock garden is there na?

Me: I don’t know. I have stayed in delhi so I have an idea about it

Chairman: Ok. Name the tribes in meghalaya

Me: Mishmi…..gharo, khasi

Chairman: There is one more without which answer is incomplete

Me: I am not able to recollect not

Chairman: Its jaintia

Member 1: Can you give me technical definition of semi conductors?

Me: I can’t give technical definition but I can explain it

M1: ok please explain

Me: It is a material which has very low band gap and hence can be bridged easily and made conductive. So it can act as a conductor in certain circumstances

M1: Can you tell me how much that band gap should be?

Me: I don’t remember

M1: atleast resistivity

Me; No sir

M1: what about insulator?

Me: I ddon’t remember the band gap range

M1: Ok. Can you name a nobel prize winner who was born in almora?

Me: hargobind khurana?

M1: No.

Me: Am sorry sir. I don’t know

M1: name some nobel prize winners from India

Me: The latest was venkatraman

Chairman: what venkatraman?

Me: venkatraman ramakrishna

Chairman: no no tell me proper name

Me: I am not sure

M2; What is this? You have cleared prelims. You should saying these takatak

Me: sir the exam pattern has changed. It is more analytical and less bookish now

Chairman: but still, this is general knowledge. You will be asked these in civilis interview as well

Me: yes sir. I shall update myself in future

M1: Ok any other nobel laureates form india

Me: Amartya Sen

M1: Pandit amartya sen?

Me; No sir economist amartya sen

M1: that’s what. Pandit amartya sen

Me: eh??

Chairman : what he meant was you must address him as Dr Amartya sen. He has accomplished so much

Me: yes sir, he is professor emeritus, renowned economist

M2: Who is Rajat gupta? Do you know him?

Me: Yes sir. He is facing allegations of insider trading

M2: who was he helping?

Me: Rajaraman

M2: raja..what

Me: The srilankan Rajaratnam

M2; Yes. name some rating agencies?
Me: CRISIL, Moodys
M2: in India
Me: I only know about CRISIL in india

M3: Who was responsible for green revolution in India?

Me; M S swaminathan and Norman Borlaug

M3: Ok. What about white revolution?

Me: varghese Kurien

M3: where?

Me; at anand

Chairman: Ok thanks you may go

Me; I would like to thank you all for giving me this opportunity

Chairman: Ok all the best

The interview was for around 10 minutes. I left for home around 4 PM .

It was more a quizzing session than an interview. I have a feeling they have struck me off as my priority is civil services. Hence they didn’t ask anything related to banking or my background.

Anyways lets hope for the best. The results are expected in a months time.


Result: On 17th Feb 2012 results were out. Much to my surprise, i have been selected!

Moral of story: honesty and frankness helps at times :)

Post your feedbacks and suggestions as comments

                

Bank interview

Bank of maharashtra interview , Hyderabad, 23rd march 2011
Keeping in view the changed pattern of civil services exam, I decided to write bank exams for practice. But later I realised that the marks are not disclosed by banks. Only the result i.e. whether you are selected or not is disclosed.
I wrote around 6-7 exams spread over 2 months(dec-jan). so far 3 results have been declared. Two banks (allahabad and vijaya) showed me the door. Surprisingly bank of maharashtra called me for the interview.Here is an account of what happened at the interview:
I had reached the place around 11 AM. It was one small multi-storey building. I was directed to the third floor. It was a video conference room. Then I realised that interview was going to be conducted through video conference. Ignorant of that fact, I bought new shoes and watch!! Alas all in vain.
I was second on list for interview. My certificates were verified. Most of the candidates were uncles and aunties(28-30 yrs). Hence the person verifying the certificates was doubtful about my age and I had to submit my driving license as proof of my age!!
The video conferencing room had an old Onida TV with a web cam sort of thing. At 12:30, it came up and a group of buddas and one aunty were sitting on other side. The group of buddas were restless to start off the interview. So we were shunted out of the air conditioned room into the corridor . Luckily I was number two on list , so didn’t have to wait for long. I pity others who had to wait in the hot sun and also the hot air blowing out of AC compressors placed in corridors
At around 12:40 , my turn came. I went and took my place. I could hardly make out the faces of the people. For me it was just 4-5 faceless people on other side, I hope it wasn’t so for them. Here starts my interview
Lady: So vaishnov, tell me about yourself, your back ground, your work experience, your parents etc
Me; I am bharath vaishnov,basically from hyderbad but my schooling has been across the length and breadth of country since my father is working in HPCL a PSU. I have completed my B.Tech from ASE bangalore. My hobbies are speed cubing and blogging. During my engg course, I got an opportunity to work with Bosch. [While working there I realised that IT sector was not for me. Out there people work in a narrow field. All work they do is going to serve only the needs of a small strata of society]******* . I want to work in a sector where 30-40 years down the line, I feel that through my work I have been able to serve the needs of a wider section of people. This is when I decided that banking is one sector which is on a rise and is serving the people at large. With the financial inclusion drive on, I am sure banking sector provides a wider scope to serve the society. Hence I have decided to join the banking sector
P1: Who is a leader?
Me: Leader is one who can get things done. Hence he/she should be able to motivate the people towards achieving the organisational goals. Also at same time , he/ she should make efforts to bring the employees goals in sync with organisational goals. That way they will be able to serve the cause of organisation in a better way.
Lady: What is your short term and long term goal?
Me: My goal is to be successful in what ever endeavour I take up. I would like to see myself in long term at a position where I feel satisfied about the work I have done and at same time people feel good about my work
Lady: what is success?
Me: It is all about achieving the goals that one has set for themselves and also at same time ensuring that in due course it brings happiness to the people around.
Lady: how do you think your educational qualification is going to help in your job ?
Me: Engineering provides problem solving skills. It helps in developing an analytical bent of mind. This will surely help in my job as a bank officer
P2: The bank is recruiting 400 probationary officers. What do you think is the reason?
Me: With the government insisting on financial inclusion, I am sure there will be a need to expand the bank network. Especially considering that bank of maharashtra is a leader in rural banking considering that 38% of the bank’s branches in rural areas, I am sure there will be a huge need for manpower. This can help bank put more people at cutting edge level and get more out of their network.
P3: will it improve efficiency/ productivity of bank?
Me: it depends on how the organisation handles it. If the new recruits are imparted the required skills and put in right place at right time, I am sure there will be a boost in productivity
P4: What are the expectations of employee towards the employer?
Me; as I said before, it is important that people are put in right place at right time. I think that is a key factor
P4: 2nd factor?
Me: errrr…..It is also important to provide a person exposure in different fields. Regular rotation of job should be there to ensure that job doesn’t become monotonous and employees remain motivated
P3: You are 21 year old. Under you people of 40-50 year old will be working. DO you think you can handle the situation?
Me: I have faced such situations during my internship at Bosch(bluff) . So I don’t think that will be a problem(I should have said that authority flows from position and not the person and hence if what you are doing is right, I think there will be no problems)
P1: ok thank you. You may go
Me: thanks for giving me this opportunity

I was disappointed that no economics questions were asked. Neither did they ask about their bank nor current affairs. Lets wait and see how the result is gonna be.

There ends my interview. Hope to see a positive result. They had called 1500 people for 400 vacancies. Hope I end up among the 400

*******The italicized lines are not my true opinions. it was made up just to satisfy the egos of interviewers.


Result:

On 25th april, i got a mail from bank intimating me about my selection as a bank PO. I was supposed to join on 9th of may at Latur in maharashtra with an initial pay pack of 14000 per month.

The flying dragon and the oversized elephant

It has been a busy year for India when it comes to international relations. India has already hosted leaders of 4 of the P5 countries and the 5th will be coming soon. The most awaited visit was that of Wen Jiabao in the context of growing tensions between the two.

Despite the panchsheel and myriad other agreements China finds means and ways to irritate India. The latest being the stapled visa issue. India’s response has often been weak to the challenges thrown up by China. Post crisis China ‘s stakes in the global economy has raised to high and it now wields great power. But with great power comes great responsibility which is clearly lacking in the chinese way of politicking. It has constantly been at loggerheads with its neighbours be it japan, India or South Korea.

The growing presence of India in international fora has clearly irked China which seeks to be the dominant power down south. India’s policy towards China is flawed and lacks direction. At a time when China is putting its foot forward aggressively India is taking a step backward and pacifying the dragon. When China began throwing tantrums on Arunachal issue, India declared that it supported one China policy. At a time when trade deficit has reached unsustained levels, we have doubled our trade targets. While china puts up trade barriers for frontline indian industries, we are opening up our sensitive sectors like banking and finance to China .

On the stapled visa issue, India has been repeatedly imploring China to review its policy despite China giving a crass reply that it is an administrative issue!!How can a state belonging to India be an administrative issue for a foreign nation?? India needs to take a tit for tat stance on Tibet. In this regard India seems to have made some progress by not mentioning that it supports the one China policy in the joint statement. Also India’s decision to attend nobel prize ceremony should have sent a clear message to China .

Post 1962 war China captured a large chunk of J&K area known as aksai chin. Till date India has never demanded China to return back the land and even China has never bothered to tender apology to India for violating the panchsheel doctrine.

The widespread public view is that with the growing trade ties, China would be less aggressive and more obliging to India’s concerns. That doesn’t seem to be true. During the visit none of the core concerns of India seem to be addressed by China . The joint statement says that the ties have now be elevated form bilateral to global level. But what use are ties when they have divergent views? Even on a issue like terrorism, China refrained form taking a hard position.
India and China have agreed to cooperate on nuclear disarmament declares the joint statement. This seems to be more of a platitude than a commitment. This is clearly reflected in the fact that China has been actively empowering Pakistan , a state that is on the brink of failure, with nuclear technology.

On the whole Mr Wen’s trip was a mere PR operation. In the last 5 years there have been 4 high level delegation visits by India to China while from China this is the only visit. This sums up how the relationship is playing out. We need to make amends on our policy towards China .

THE telangana turmoil

On Dec 31st whole world would be gearing up to party while in AP the situation is gonna be tense. This is coz Sri Krishna committee will be submitting its report on dec 31st. Sri krishna committee was setup to determine the legitimacy of demand for a separate telangana state, an area in north AP.
Over the last few years, the stir for a separate state has been intensified. During the rule of YS rajasekhar reddy(YSR), he managed to keep them subdued with his leadershipa nd coercive skills. With his untimely demise in a helicopter crash ins ept 09, the state has been left without a strong leader.
K Rosaiah , aveteran politician with over 4 decades of experience took on the burden of carrying on governanc e of a state where revenue was dwindling and separatist forces were gaining popularity.
Yesterday all of a sudden, K Rosaiah stepped down citing health concerns. The new CM announced is Kiran Kumar reddy. A comparatively younger and inexperienced congressman. This will be his 1st post in the government. This might seem a heroic move and a sign of encouragement for young politicians. But deep beneath lies a different reason.
With the state heading towards tough times in december, a lot of pressure would be there on CM . At this hour AP needs a strong leader. Rosaiah with his vast experience could have steered the ship through but seems like he has hsied away form taking on the challenge. Instead an inexperienced Kiran has been put onto the high pedestal. This is for sure a makeshift arrangement coz no big leader wants to take on the helm at this time and take the risk of losing their image and credibility post dec 31st.
With such a selfish mentality, it is hard for congress to survive long in AP . Only time will tell how AP repsonds to the situations and how the inexperienced CM handles it.