Sunday, December 15, 2019


TAMAL BANDYOPADHYAY


H D F C BANK...2 by Tamal Bandyopadhyay; Published by Jaico ; Pages 430 ;Price Rs.499/-
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A benignly smiling photo of Aditya Puri adorns the cover page of this book. He has a right to smile happily as the bank he fathered has completed 25 years. Bimal Jalan, ex-Governor of the Reserve Bank of India described HDFC as an institution which is world class, privately owned and functioning as a corporate entry subject to the best governance and international regulatory standards.
The bank, for which the RBI gave the tag.....“too big to fail, along with SBI and ICICI Bank” is a child of economic liberalisation and strives to reinvent itself periodically while many others either remain where they are or become a throwback to old times, an anachronism that painfully survives the passing years”.
A happy event is that the bank got the best chronicler it could hope for—an economic “James Boswell” who makes the biography a piece-de-resistance.

Tamal Bandyopadhyay’s new book appears seven years after the release of his first book on the HDFC Bank. A talented biographer Tamal astutely chronicles the journey of the Bank from “Dawn to Digital”.The Bank has reinvented and turned itself into a digital bank by introducing basic changes, laying down the path for other banks to follow . HDFC Bank isn’t just surviving, it is thriving by disrupting itself rather than waiting to be disrupted by Fintech Companies. Tamal has amassed a wealth of data and presented it so exquisitely.
Certainly the new book is not a rehash of the first volume but an entertaining sequel. Tamal tells the entire story.

Tamal tells the intriguing story of how India’s largest Private Sector Bank took the initiative to become a financial market place and not just remain a Bank, at a time when pundits had predicted the death of Brick and Mortar banks at the hands of VC-funded Fintech Start-ups. This book is no chronological narrative of events, but a the untold tale of the making of India’s most valuable Bank within 25 years of its inception.
We learn how under the astute leadership of Aditya Puri, HDFC Bank has made gigantic strides into the world of digital banking over the past few years. Nandan Nilekani in his Foreword affirms  that the HDFC Bank’s focus on speed, technology, consumer experience, global reach and the application of Artificial Intelligence, remains unparalleled in the industry.
Unlike in traditional banking products where HDFC Bank learns at the cost of others and does not play the role of a pioneer, in digital banking, it has pioneered and continues to lead the way with its fast paced and efficient implementation.
HDFC Bank is today the most valuable Bank in India, with the most consistent record of quarter-on-quarter growth. Tamal tells the story of HDFC Bank which continues to march forward, being world-class in a world of unprecedented odds, and that too at a break-neck speed.
With a legendary leader at the helm who has foresight, aggression and flawless execution capability, HDFC Bank has been the earliest adopter of modern technologies in the Indian Banking Sector for digitalisation.
By the use of Artificial Intelligence, HDFC Bank has transformed Customer Service to Customer Experience and Customer Engagement. In 2018, more than 85% of HDFC Bank’s transactions were digital!
While the banking sector has been plagued by bad loans, HDFC Bank’s loan appraisal and risk management practices have ensured that its books remain clean, again setting an example for its competitors.
Tamal chronicles a story that is a once compelling and unique in India’s financial system. According to Nilekani,
Tamal has enthusiastically documented the epiphany that HDFC Bank’s leadership had in starting out on their digital journey. India is set for seismic changes to day-to-day banking over the next few years and banks who don’t commit to fully re-engineering their practice around becoming a technology company that delivers real-time, contextual banking experiences will wither on the vine. 
HDFC Bank wants to become a platform facilitating a financial experience and it is quite appropriate that this book makes its appearance on the 25th anniversary of the bank. You get everything that went in right from the time Deepak Parekh first approached Puri and then created the team. The digital bank now believes that it is a financial marketplace and everything can actually be done online or through various applications. This goes for getting loans in 10 seconds to shopping using various devices that embed discounts with merchants while making payments without the use of money.
The bank has been the front-runner in every innovation and though ICICI Bank may have been more aggressive, HDFC Bank has been more than steady. Puri's leadership style is to delegate but hold everyone responsible for the result. Hence while there is no interference with the heads of departments, there is serious action when there are slips. Most of the initial team members have left for other jobs, but Tamal quotes extensively to show that they had taken Aditya Puri into confidence and hence there was little friction.
Now coming to the bank, there has been quite a transformation in the business path which started off with corporate banking and moved to the retail space to capture smartly the market by also blending with parent HDFC when it came to taking on home loans with a business equation. Corporate banking focused on leveraging the supply chains of customers. The strategy then moved on to SMEs, which is the next big thing in Indian industry. Relentless pursuit of business, howsoever small, and never compromising on regulation and quality of assets has been the hallmark of the bank.
There have been two very big mergers which have been detailed by Tamal. There are details of how Times Bank and Centurion Bank, which had earlier taken in Bank of Punjab became part of HDFC Bank.
There was the famous IPO scam . The derivatives scam was uncovered by the RBI and then there was the more recent advance remittance against imports scam of 2014. But this can also be seen as parts of business that can go amiss in any system, especially if it is as large as HDFC Bank. The bank has been one with minimal blemishes, which is praiseworthy.
As Nandan Nilekani in his pithy Foreword writes,
"Tamal combines his financial knowledge,eye for detail and an excellent story telling style to create a vivid portrait of India’s most valued bank and its path for future.
One chapter of the book-- “The Commonsense Banker” tries to analyse what makes Aditya Puri the longest serving Managing Director of any bank globally different from his peers, tick.
P.P.Ramachandran.
15/12/2019.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Subbarao  and Bhaskar on Birds



Birds & Birdwatching in India by Gopinath Subbarao and M.K.Bhaskar; Published by the Authors ;Pages 114 ; Price Rs 1100/-
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With more than 8700 living species, birds have colonised all parts of the world and are found in virtually all habitats: from the icy shores of Antartica to the hottest parts of the Tropics,and from mountains,deserts,plains and forests to open oceans and densely urbanised areas .
Birds range in size from the tiny bee Hummingbird of Cuba with an overall length including bill and tail of 6 cm(2.5 in) to the wandering Albatross with a wing span of 3.5 mt(11.5 ft),and the trumpeter Swan which may weigh upto 17 kg(38 lb).The flightless Ostrich,the largest of all living birds stands almost 2.4 mt(8 ft) high and weighs upto 160 kg( 350 lb).
Before we embark on a study of “Birds and Birdwatching” it is appropriate to recall the first sloka of Mahabharata----
नारायणं नमस्कृत्य नरं चैव नरोत्तमम् ।
देवीं सरस्वतीं व्यासं ततो जयमुदीरयेत् ।।
Bowing to Lord Narayana, to the best among the men Arjuna, to Devi Saraswathi, and to Sage Vyasa must we pay our respectful and exalted Obeisance first, and then we must read Jayam-Mahabharata.”
Likewise before attempting a review of the latest book it would be in order to recall the glorious contribution of three “Bhishma Pitamahas of Birdwatching in India”. These are E.P.Gee, Salim Ali and M.Krishnan.
Gee was a non-official member of the Indian Board for Wildlife, the apex body that advises the Union Government on wildlife matters along with Salim Ali and M.Krishnan. Nehru wrote a splendid Foreword to Gee's book “The Wild Life of India”. In it Nehru said, “Life would become very dull and colourless if it did not have these magnificent animals and birds to look at and to play with.”
Gee took a passionate interest in the wildlife of India and its conservation and conducted several surveys on endangered species.
Sálim Ali referred to as the "Birdman of India" was the first Indian to conduct systematic bird surveys across India and wrote several books on birds that popularised ornithology.He created the Bharatpur bird sanctuary and prevented the destruction of what is now the Silent Valley National Park. Along with Sidney Ripley he wrote the landmark ten volume "Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan". Several species of birds, a couple of bird sanctuaries and institutions have been named after him.
Krishnan’s “ Of Birds and Bird song” is a masterpiece of great nature writing, natural history and wit at its best, by one of India's greatest naturalists ever. In this book, many of them are brought to vivid life by one of the country’s greatest naturalists and nature writers. M. Krishnan makes precise observations and original insights into over a hundred species of birds in a variety of habitats.
M. Krishnan wrote steadily and inspiringly for well over 35 years. A pioneer in the field of black & white photography, Krishnan's contribution to wildlife photography and writing on natural history in India has no parallel.
The authors of the book under review— Shri.Gopinath Subbarao and M.K.Bhaskar are technically qualified---one an Engineer and the other an Architect. They have dedicated their lives to Ornithology. Both are members of the Bombay Natural History Society. They have already written a book-- “Birds of India and basics of birdwatching”.
The book under review includes descriptions of 160 bird species---their natural history,essential data on flora and fauna,historical background,maps,weather conditions and a whole host of other valuable material.The authors have provided tips for budding birdwatchers.
The volume is an easy to comprehend guide to the art and science of birdwatching. It is neatly divided into four compact parts.
Part One furnishes the basics of birdwatching—the benefits one can derive from such an activity.It helps with material on when and where to watch—tips to identify favourite spots.Also provided are details of the type of equipment that is essential and helpful. step—by—step approach to achieve success in our efforts is provided lucidly.There is a valuable piece on the ethics of birdwatching.
The next part imparts vital details of the physical parts of a bird’s body. Attractively presented are beaks, legs & toes of birds and how they are put to use. A unique feature of birds—viz.,Feathers are explained very clearly with suitable diagrams and photographs.
The next part gives profiles of 160 birds.Each profile is accompanied by a lovely foto of the adult bird with both the common and scientific names.A very useful tip is that to enable the novice to mentally visualise the size of the bid—a dark silhouette of each bird is shown in relative size comparison to the shaded silhouettes of two birds all of us are familiar with—the crow and the sparrow.

The description of birds gives complete physical characteristics including the colour on different parts of the body,shape and colour of the beaks,the features of tail,crest,legs,etc. The distribution and habitat reveals the range and habitat where the birds are normally found. Some of the birds in the book are long distance migrants and the authors give data on their arduous journeys and how they reach India. 

The authors have provided tips for budding birdwatchers.The volume is an easy to comprehend guide to the art and science of birdwatching. 
Seventeen of the most popular national parks and sanctuaries are covered in considerable detail.Historic landmarks is a goldmine of info on the flora and fauna of the country.
Absolutely useful info is given of visiting hours of parks,latitude,longitude,altitude,etc.

The book is a cornucopia of invaluable information on birds and as pointed out in his “Foreword” by Shri.V.S Santhanam, Director of Bird Studies & Natural History,Rishi Valley, “ the book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on birds--- and will stimulate more people to take to outdoor pursuits and create more friends for birds in the country”
Tit Bits

Satyajit Ray and Salim Ali

In 1962,Satyajit Ray directed the film  “Kanchenjunga”. Based on his first original screenplay, it was his first film in colour. The film tells of an upper-class family spending an afternoon in Darjeeling, a picturesque hill town in West Bengal. They try to arrange the engagement of their youngest daughter to a highly paid engineer educated in London. Ray had first conceived shooting the film in a large mansion, but later decided to film it in the famous hill town. He used the many shades of light and mist to reflect the tension in the drama.

Several long walks and long conversations form the main body of the film .The hero –veteran Bengali actor Chhabi Biswas-- goes for frequent walks as is wont of those who visit Darjeeling. He was carrying a book in his hand. Even as Ray was shooting the film an old man sporting a beard jutted in and Ray had him removed by his assistants. But the man persisted and had to be shooed away twice or thrice by Subrata Mitra—the Cinematographer.

Ray decided to enquire himself and accosted that old man—“ Why are you butting in so many times—not allowing continuing my filming?”.
Innocently the old man said,” I am eager to know what that man is doing with that book in his hand?”.
Ray was angry—and asked him—“Why do you want to know? He may carry any book he likes”.

The old man replied-“ What is he doing with that particular book? He is carrying my book. I am Salim Ali”.

Ray was overjoyed. He shook hands with him— “ I know about you but I have not seen you. !.”
Salim Ali too had not seen Ray earlier.

The two became good friends later.

KPS Menon and Salim Ali

KPS Menon's wife Anujee has a pet theory that if a man is inordinately fond of any object he will begin to look like that object himself. This is certainly true of one of our friends, Salim Ali, the bird lover and the author of “The Book Of Indian Birds”. With him we used to roam about in that wonderful sanctuary for birds, the Ghana, in Bharatpur, and ring them; and some of the ringed birds were found as far away as Tashkent and Lake Baikal. Salim Ali is looking more and more like a bird; he makes sudden gestures and strange sounds while talking.”

P.P.Ramachandran.
8/12/2019.

Monday, December 2, 2019



SUBRAMANIAN     SWAMY

Reset by Subramanian Swamy ;Published by Rupa ; Pages 200 ; Price Rs.595/-
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Dr Subramanian Swamy is an economist with a PhD from Harvard University, who has published articles with Nobel Laureates Simon Kuznets and Paul A. Samuelson. He returned to India to be Professor of Economics at I IT, Delhi, but his scathing criticism of socialism and communism as being inapplicable in a democracy, invoked the ire of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and his professorship was terminated in 1973. However, a Delhi court held the termination as null and void in 1991, but he resigned after resuming his Chair for a day .
Dr Swamy has been elected six times to the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, three times each
respectively.  As a Cabinet Minister twice in 1990–91 and 1994–96, he helped Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar and Narasimha Rao to launch economic reforms. He is well versed in law and has   many feathers in his cap.
Dr Swamy is a renowned scholar of the Chinese economy and is highly respected in China for his contribution in improving bilateral relations in the 1990s.
He is regarded as a maverick and a Scarlet Pimpernel of Indian politics. He has a finger in every political pie in India.
At the request of a few Jan Sangh leaders Swamy prepared and presented in 1970 in our Parliament a “Swadeshi Plan” which demanded that socialism be sacrificed for a competitive market economic system, to enable India to grow at 10 per cent per year, achieve self-reliance, full employment and produce nuclear weaponry. Indira Gandhi denounced this plan as dangerous.

Almost fifty years later, Swamy redefines his path-breaking ideas on India-specific economic development in his seminal work--- “Reset: Regaining India's Economic Legacy”. 
Swamy undertakes a nuanced analysis of the manner in which the highly prosperous Indian economy witnessed a long, accelerated decline due to persistent British imperialist aggression, and compares the distinctive manner in which Asian giants—India and China—suffered at the hands of imperialism. He critically analyses the the Nehruvian model of centralized economic planning borrowed from the Soviet Union, and the debilitating circumstances that impelled him, as Commerce Minister in Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar’s government, to draw up a blueprint for economic reforms .
Swamy has asserted that unless India targets 10 per cent growth rate, it will not be able to remove unemployment in the next 10 years. India can achieve the double digit growth as it has a high savings rate and a huge young population. 
For this the economy needs to be "Reset".
He faulted the BJP-led NDA government for its handling of macroeconomic issues .He is critical of the government's decision to merge banks and slash corporate tax rate.
According to Swamy this is the first time since liberalisation, India is witnessing a slowdown driven by a steep decline in private consumption.
The decline in gross domestic product (GDP) growth since 2015 has been largely driven by a fall in household savings that morph into investments through financial institutions.
The situation is further complicated by a collapse in the shadow banking sector and a widening spate of corporate bankruptcies.
The hard task of balancing what is socially just in the long term with what is economically necessary in the short term requires governance to blend the sanctity of righteousness with the pragmatism of the marketplace.
Swamy identifies the three components that must drive GDP growth in India as capital deployment, employment and technological improvements through innovation.
There are a few ideas briefly touched upon in the book. The abolition of personal income tax is one of them. It is the middle-income group and particularly the salaried class that gets disproportionately squeezed by personal income taxes.The elite find multiple loopholes to minimise it, the rich farmer does not even have to do that much. The intent of this proposal is to lift savings and enhance their flow into investment.
Swamy also proposes moving back to a fixed exchange rate of Rs 50 per dollar, abolishing participatory notes and printing rupee notes to fully finance basic infrastructure.
The comparisons with China are a recurring theme throughout the book, given the coincident advent of industrialisation in both countries and their similarity in scale, which define them as natural competitors in the global economy.
What this book provides is the context that has brought us to where we are, through the history of our economic evolution over the last 150 years. It talks of the key challenges that have remained unaddressed and provides a broad framework for corrective action.
The book is an accessible primer on some fundamental issues that influence the macroeconomic scene a provides a perspective on the historical exploitation, political gridlocks and ideological missteps that have restrained the Indian economy from reaching its full potential.
It places the challenges in a structural context that reveals the logic in how resolutions must be prioritised.
Economies are built by a collective culture that leverages strengths and mitigates weaknesses.
This is what consistently informs the broad vision and detailed proposals outlined in the book.
The author combines an understanding of the delicate equilibrium that influence macroeconomics and the limitations of human social behaviour.
The author makes plain that while Dr Manmohan Singh was an “accomplished economist, he remained a marginal figure”. Modi is “honest in money matters” and a “domineering figure who brooks no political competition”. But on complex issues concerning the macro-economy, its dynamics being very different from micro issues, Modi has to rely on political advisers and colleagues who know very little about the subject, according to Swamy.
Dr Swamy asserts that the “folly of demonetization and the inanity of the Goods and Services Tax (GST),” have accelerated the tailspin of the economy,” partly to what may be called lack of intellectual sophistication and no familiarity with mathematical economics in the present dispensation.
"Now is the time for a structural overhaul to purge the remnants of the command economy, and usher in an incentive-driven, innovation-structured and market-determined competitive economy.” India’s future rapid growth model needs to dovetail “our ancient values and heritage; thus, today’s India is an ancient nation in search of a renaissance.”
Swamy’s turnaround economic plan wants the government to focus on the twin engines of growth - consumption and investments. Both have slipped badly besides exports. Abolishing Income Tax is part of his reform.
The peak of Dr Swamy’s economic philosophy emerges in his re-visiting the implications of the famous economist Kenneth Arrow’s ‘General Impossibility Theorem’- on ‘aggregating’ individual preference functions into a social preference ordering by satisfying certain conditions like majority-decision rule
In his ‘Appendix’, Dr Swamy seeks to reconfigure Kenneth Arrow’s relevance on the basis of the ‘Hindu Way of life’, as articulated by RSS leaders
Critiquing both capitalism and communism, Dr Swamy implies the Hindu theory of ‘Purusharthas’ as having already anticipated Kenneth Arrow!
P.P.Ramachandran.
1/12/2019.

Thursday, November 28, 2019


JAIMINI BHAGAWATI

The Promise of India: How Prime Ministers Nehru to Modi Shaped the Nation (1947-2019) by Jaimini Bhagwati ; Published by Penguin Viking ; Pages 385; Price Rs.799/-
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Jaimini Bhagwati was India’s High Commissioner to the UK and Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg. He has served in senior positions in the Government of India, including in foreign affairs, finance and atomic energy. In the World Bank, he was a specialist in international bond and derivatives markets; he was the RBI chair professor at ICRIER; and is a Board member of IDFC's holding company.
He has published several research papers .

Bhagwati analyses the key political, foreign policy and economic decisions of all the Prime Ministers from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, to comprehend the role of each one of them.

With his long experience , Bhagwati reveals fascinating behind-the-scenes events and offers fresh insights into each PM's governance. For instance how, Nehru, considered a 'socialist' by some, in fact acted according to the prevailing wisdom of highly regarded economists; why P.V. Narasimha Rao has not received adequate credit for heralding economic reforms; how Atal Bihari Vajpayee followed in the footsteps of Nehru and Rao; and how and why Modi focused on the delivery of basics to the poor.

Grand in sweep and thoroughly researched, this deeply engaging book sheds new light on independent India's history. It provides an incisive overview of India's political culture and what keeps its democracy ticking.

What distinguishes this book from other books is that Bhagwati was a former Indian Foreign Service officer and is also a trained economist. In the capacity of an IFS officer, Bhagwati did have a view from inside the government for the period in which he served it, and as an economist his mastery over detailing the economic transition and policies certainly has an edge over other such other books.

A balanced reader would find his account under various prime ministers neither gushing, hagiographic, or bitterly critical. The real test lies in dealing with Nehru and Modi. Most liberal writers overly gush about Nehru and are bitterly critical about Modi. He has assessed all PMs on three Cs – Character, Competence, and Charisma. For this book he has accepted limitations by invoking the principle of master historian E.H.Carr, that all writings about the past are impacted by the choices of what to include and what interpretation to give to the so-called recorded facts.
His assessment of Nehru is quite objective. Contrary to the belief that Nehru chose the wrong economic model for the country, Bhagwati shows through facts that the model of socialism or mixed economy was the dominant theme at that time, with the majority of economists of the time also endorsing it. Nehru’s choice of economic model was fine but needed to change with time, and this time was ripe during Shastri and Indira Gandhi’s reign. Unfortunately, Shastri died prematurely and Indira took a left turn to consolidate her political career.
On Nehru’s China policy, Bhagwati is rightly unforgiving. His overall assessment of Nehru’s legacy on 3 Cs is thus: He had character and charisma in abundance. It is in competence that he may be faulted in some measure on foreign policy and national security matters.

According to Bhagwati, India should have positioned itself as a nuclear weapon power in May 1974 itself, when former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi conducted India’s first nuclear test and earned sanctions from the US and other nations.
He agreed that it may not have been possible for Gandhi to take such a bold step at the time, given the US pressure and India’s own domestic challenges, but she could have done it when she came back to power in 1980.
"By 1983-84, if Indira Gandhi had done the second nuclear test, two things would have happened. We could have got economic sanctions but people would have reconciled with a country that was growing, that has a large consumer base and, secondly and most importantly, the door would have been shut very firmly on the face of Pakistan.”

The fact that the Vajpayee government could do it within two months of coming to power in 1998, proves that the “scientific community was ready and waiting for the political green signal”.

We have highly readable chapters on the contributions of all the 11 leaders who held the office of the Prime Minister of India,
The author agreed to rank the top five—but ranked only four, and did not find anyone worthy of the fifth slot.
In terms of impact and long-lasting value, none can match Jawaharlal Nehru. Till today, he overshadows every prime minister who has succeeded him. Perhaps, there would not have been a nation state called India today but for him at the start, immediately after the Independence.

 Narasimha Rao really deserves the second place—he has earned country's gratitude because we had several economic problems before his coming on the scene as Prime Minister. He was one of the longest serving politicians in terms of various positions he held—from CM of undivided Andhra Pradesh and cabinet minister with so many portfolios—Home, MEA, HRD....He served in a way that gave full expression to his ability to steer the country and the economy when it was in a major balance of payments crisis. And one could say that the same of reforms which he did – industrial licensing , EXIM rationalisation,etc. Import duties were reduced from that time onwards by every successive government. He rationalised exchange rates .
Narasimha Rao is high on Competence as he demonstrated through the balance of payment and economic crisis in 1991.He did not show enough courage of conviction to stop the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Rao was influenced by so-called god-men and that too was not a stirring example of Character. 

The next person is Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He displayed boldness in his decisions. While for the decision to go nuclear, one has to give credit to our nuclear scientists and engineers, Vajpayee. took a very bold decision here. A number of countries, including the USA, announced all kinds of sanctions, including economic. And he was also able to gradually normalise relations wit-h the  US.  Vajpayee is noted for his Character and Charisma--he was always amiable,good-natured and accommodating. 
About Lal Bahadur Shastri.the author has a high opinion.Pakistan had sophisticated weapons. Yet, Shastri was able to resist in Kashmir. He saw the situation was getting a little grim, and he remembered that Nehru had promised in Parliament that next time Pakistan attacks us, we would take the battle to them, and the battle would also be on Pakistani soil. That is exactly what Shastri, diminutive man in the sense he was short, did. He showed great strength of character when lot of people were wondering what we could or should do, and Pakistan leaders claimed one Pathan was equal to 20 Indian soldiers. He was able to push and almost reach Lahore. That was when the world community, including both the Soviet Union and the US, tried to pressurise them and us to stop fighting, and he agreed to ceasefire. With far inferior equipment, he was able to show the morale and leadership at the top that we can win.
The other area that he gave a fillip to was agriculture—the introduction of high yielding wheat, the beginning of the green revolution, and the slogan of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. In Tashkent at the negotiating table, he lost a little bit of what he had won in the war –the Hajipir Pass—but the problem was that he was under tremendous pressure from the USSR.
Modi scored high levels on Competence and Charisma.It is too early to assess him.

It is impossible to disagree with the learned assessment of this book by Dr. Y.V.Reddy,ex-Governor of R B I.
"With his versatile background,Bhagwati provides a bridge between news headlines and the reality of behind-the-scenes public policy making under each of the Prime Ministers since Independence.This timely book is a fascinating insider's account of the interplay of politics,economics,diplomacy,administration and financial markets....The book is a must-read for leaders and laypersons, scholars and students of social sciences."
PPR


24/11/2019.