Give and take

India is grappling with the proposed EU green laws, in particular the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) which is to be introduced in its transitional phase from October 2023. The Commerce Department is looking to buy more time for Indian exporters to comply with the norms to begin with and also possibly gain exemptions. However, officials say, the EU has its own axe to grind. Its top grouse at the moment is India’s continuation with import duties on ICT products, including smartphones, that a WTO panel has ruled against. As the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has been against any concessions in the area so far, the Commerce Department has not been able to offer any assurances.

How the problem is going to untangle is something exporters are eager to find out.

Attrition numbers

When a bank’s officials can readily share the number of additions to the workforce during a quarter and in the past 12 months, they can as well give the attrition numbers for the same period.

But senior officials of one of the leading private sector banks were reluctant to share the attrition numbers. They asked the media to wait for a couple of weeks as the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report is due for release and details regarding attrition can be gleaned from it. In sharp contrast, HDFC Bank’s CFO laid all the cards on the table on additions to/attrition from the workforce in a recent media call.

Arjuna’s eye: In focus

You must give it to Uday Kotak, Asia’s richest banker, to bring again to the fore the topic of “Arjuna’s eye” in public discourse.

This topic is making a comeback more than six months after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das emphasised that RBI would continue to have an “Arjuna’s eye” on inflation. Although Kotak referred to ‘Arjuna’s eye’ in the context of risk management, the subtle message that followed in his recent letter to Kotak Mahindra Bank’s shareholders caught the attention of financial pundits and Mint street observers.

Kotak went on to say in his letter, “While we need ‘Arjuna’s eye’ on risk management, we must prevent the bureaucratisation of financial services.”

He had in the previous para stressed the need to let entrepreneurship thrive and build regulatory trust requiring action on both sides of the aisle.

Oommen Chandy farewell

A massive emotional upsurge as never seen in the history of Kerala was witnessed when thousands bid farewell to former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. Though the distance between Thiruvananthapuram to his home town Puthupally in Kottayam through the Main Central Road was around 150 km, the motorcade carrying his body took nearly 30 hours to complete the final journey.

A politician who lived among the masses, he was always accessible and shed all the paraphernalia even when he was Chief Minister twice. At his farewell, which was telecast uninterrupted in television channels in the State, a sea of people turned up braving rains and the sun.

The veteran Congress leader had also achieved a rare distinction of being the longest serving member of Kerala Legislative Assembly, for 19,078 days (52 years, 2 months and 25 days).

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