NON-PERFORMING ASSETS

The economic progress of a nation and development of its banking sector is

always interrelated. Banks helps in economic development of the nation through
the capital formed by them. Maintaining asset quality and profitability are critical
for banks survival and growth. On a Bank’s balance sheet, loans made to
customers are listed as assets because those loans are generating interest
revenue for banks and when these assets stop generating interest becomes non
performing asset(NPA). NPA can be descibed as a loan for which the pricipal or
interest remained overdued for a period of 90 days. NPAs reflect the
performance of banks. Banks have classified NPAs further into Sub-Standard,
Doubtful and Loan assets.
According to Financial Stability report released by RBI, the gross non-performing
assets(GNPAs) of scheduled commercial banks in the country could rise from
11.6% in March 2018 to 12.2% in March 2019 which would be the highest level
of bad debt in almost two decades.The higher is the amount of NPA, the weaker
will be the bank’s revenue Also, Public Sector banks are far more prone to fraud
than private sector banks. This is significant in light of the huge scam unearthed
at a Punjab National Bank Branch earlier this year.
Higher NPA ratio results in higher interest rates on loans and also decreases the
confidence of investors, depositors, lenders etc. To reduce the NPA, various acts
like Securitisation Act 2002, Debt Recovery Tribunals(DRTs), Lok
Adalats,Insolvency and Bankruptcy code(IBC) are implemented by government.
The banks should be eqipped with latest credit risk management techniques to
protect the bank funds and minimize insolvency risks.
Looking at the giant size of the banking industry, there can be hardly any doubt
that the menance of NPAs need to be curved. It poses a great threat to the
stability of indian economy. In addition to RBI guidelines, the banks should also
focus on selection of right borrowers, timely recovery of loans. Prevention,
however has to become a priority than mere cure.
 GST

India is marching towards the progress with the lightning speed. After
demonetization, the GST bill is one of the biggest tax reforms in india since
independence. The goods and services tax(GST) is a value added tax that has
replaced all other indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the government.
GST came into effect from July 1,2017 through the implementation of 101th
ammendment of the constitution of india.
GST impelmentation in India completed one year this month. There have been a
lot of debates around the effectiveness, impact on inflation,tax buoyancy, and
implementation challenges of GST. “One nation, one tax” was the theme for the
GST launch and this objective has been largely achieved.
Under GST, producers can claim input tax credit for all goods and services i.e. at
the time of paying tax on output, producers can reduce the tax they have already
paid on inputs. GST has eliminated the cascading effect of taxation which helps
in reduction of prices. Revenue collection under GST have crossed Rs 1 trillion for
the very first time in April this year, indicating that the indirect regime was
stabilising. With GST, long queues at state borders disappeared as checkposts
were dismantled, creating a seamless national market.
According to the Economic Survey 2017-18, there has been a 50 percent increase
in number of indirect taxpayers, besides a large increase in voluntary registrations
by small and medium enterprises(SMEs), despite their turnover being below Rs
20 lakh annual threshold, done with the sole objective of availing input tax
credits. The indian economy is widely forecast to grow around 7.4% in the current
fiscal,up from 6.6% in FY18
GST is often criticised for having multiple slabs but this is the usual practice across
the globe. Also, there has to be differentiation between goods which are meant
for common use and luxury items. It is because of the multi-tier tax structure that
despite the GST roll-out, inflation is still under control.
In long term, GST will lead to benefits in the form of higher GDP growth, ease of
doing business, increase in government revenue.
 MERGER OF BANKS

Merger of banks is defined as joining of two banks to form a single bank. Merger
in indian banking have been initiated through the recommendation of Narsimhan
committee II. Banking industry in india has seen a number of changes over the
last 5 decades. The major changes been the nationalization of banks in 1969 and
1980, followed by liberalisation of economy in 1991, opening up of private sector
banks in 1993 and latest one being the emergence of payments bank and small
finance banks in 2015.
Despite the changes witnessed over the year, there still exists a number of
challenges which needs to be adressed, one such challenge being the NPA. Indian
banks gross non-performing asset(NPAs) have crossed Rs. 10.25 lakh crore as on
31 March 2018. Besides the problem of NPA, other problem faced by the banking
sector is of capital requirement to meet the new capital adequacy norms setup
by Basel III standards.
To overcome all these challenges, the government is focusing on merging of
existing Public Sector banks. So, the government is planning to amalgamate 27
banks into six large institutions. The consolidation of public sector banks is aimed
to have strong banks rather than having numerically large number of banks.
Recently, State bank of india has been merged with its 5 associates.
Merger of banks will reduce the burden on the central government to recapitalize
the public sector banks, again and again. Also,large banks would have a wider
capital base & can offer loan of a larger amount. Customers of smaller banks will
get access to wider financial instruments like mutual funds and insurance
products, available only with Big Banks. So, merger of banks will help in
development of banking sector.
 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

There is no denying the fact that women in India have made a considerable
progress in almost seven decades of Independence, but they still have to struggle
against many handicaps and social evils in the male-dominated society. Many evil
and masculine forces still prevail in the modern Indian society that resists the
forward march of its women folk. Women are born with equal rights as men. God
has not made anyone superior and inferior on basis of gender. We people make
this difference and discriminations on the basis of gender.
Women empowerment means liberation of women from the vicious grips of
social, economical, political, caste and gender-based discrimination. It means
granting women the freedom to make life choices and giving them equal rights
in social, political, economic and all judicial fields. Women empowerment does
not mean to discriminate men and worship women but it is about equality.
In ancient times also, women suffered from various social evils like child marriage,
sati pratha, dowry system, female infanticide etc. These ill practices have now
stopped but women are still discriminated in terms of gender. Many parents want
their daughter to marry a guy who they arrange. They don’t even educate a girl
and give her a choice of decision.However, there is a one-stop solution to this
entire problem, which is the woman Empowerment.Women empowerment
begins at home. Parents should treat both the male and female child equally.
So, women Empowerment helps to make the society and world a better place to
live in and march forward on way to inclusive participation.