A List of topics that can help you with your GDs or Extempore Speaking!

This is
however by no means comprehensive so feel free to add more content!
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TOPIC 1:- BREXIT

Impact of Brexit on UK and the world!
Decades of predictions and anticipations are ready to be weighed on the scale of reality as
Britain packs its boxes to bid farewell to European Union. While citizens of UK showed
mixed reactions some happy to feel freed and others busy calculating the impacts that
could go negative for them, the world outside panicked. Without further ado lets take a dig
at some of the most prominent impacts of Brexit on UK and the world at large.
Economic impacts:
1. Brexit managed to wipe $2 trillion off the global market. This came as a quick blow,
maybe due to panic or anticipations of losing further but this really happened. It is said to
have gone down $1.50 trillion year-to-date. Huge figures indeed!
2. British pound saw its worst ever day. Right at the early hours of Friday it went from being
$1.50 against the US dollar to just $1.33 which made FX traders experience the nightmare
of their life.
3. The 8% slump in the pound is a big warning that UK is about to see inflation in days to
come with imports costing more than earlier.
4. Poorer citizens of UK will experience economic crisis more than ever as living costs will
spike in days to come.
5. Treasury modeling of currency shocks shows that there will be 2.3% increase in CPI
which will increase living cost for poor households by 3.3% while the richest people (who
constitute 10% of the populace) will see 1.6% increase in living costs.
6. The stock market of London started suffering abrupt loss but regained its stance to stop
finally at 199 points or minus 3.1% amid clouds that forecast recession in the coming. UK,
at the brink of recession, did not expect such a negative impact.
7. The S&P 500, the broadest index of US stock, went down by 76 points to 2,037 points.
8. France got a tremendous shock with its CAC sliding by 8%.
9. Wall Street is said to have suffered its biggest one-day fall in 10 months. The Dow Jones
Index slumped by 608 points, or nearly 3.4 % at 17,402.
10. Japans Nikkei Index is being said to be experiencing its biggest fall since the

Fukushima disaster of 2011.

11. Moodys, the credit rating agency, cuts its rating outlook to negative owing to the
economic problems caused by Brexit. There are predictions of negative impact on the world
economy and Moody is of the view that unless UK negotiates a trade deal that largely
replicates its current access to the single market, the rating will continue to be negative. The
country is at the verge of being downgraded.
12. Fall in pound has given access to Indian investors to gain property in UK at cheaper
rates.
Political impacts:
1. British Prime Minister David Cameron tried to retain stability in the government but soon
his political position became unsustainable. He announced his plans to leave the position by
October. The Conservative party might become shattered with the referendum going totally
against their plans and new elections will have to be called for.
2. Geopolitics could go bad in times to come with Cameron gone. From the Labourss party
could rise someone of euroskeptical nature and the ties which they have maintained with
US could fail immediately. Boris Johnson could be the next leader if new elections are
called for.
3. There could be clash between UK nations and they might lose their unity after all.
Scotland and Northern Ireland had supported remaining in the UK since Scots have never
been keen on being dominated by the English. There could be more referendum of exists
for Independence in times to come.
Immigration:
1. UK will gain complete control over its immigration issues. There would be no pestering for
open border policies to be burdened with. It would be able to filter and control the number of
immigrants it wants to take in.
2. EU nation citizens who are living in Britain and the British people who are living in one of
the EU nations will have to update their immigration statuses.
3. Travel costs from EU nations to Britain and vice versa will considerably increase and
people will not have easy access to and forth.
4. Companies that operate in EU as well as Britain will have to ensure that they are
compliant with the two sets of rules of both the nations.

5. Complying with the norms on each side might not be possible for all traders and hence
trade for these companies will come to a halt.
6. UK will still have to accept some immigration if it wants to continue trading with the rest of
the EU nations which brings us to think what is the point of exit if the immigration crisis
would continue.
Trade impacts:
1. Trading will suffer as companies would have to rethink policies in order to meet the set of
guidelines of both the sides. They will have to reframe strategies to stay in the trade.
2. British imports will suffer badly and is expected to go down by 25% in the next few years.
3. One third of the Indian investment in the UK is in the IT and telecom sector and now India
will have to set up different headquarters for Europe and Britain. Either India could be
inclined towards EU or with easier trade propositions from Britain alone.
4. UK, now free to make its own regulations, could be inclined towards making more
investment in India after all India continues to be a great investment destination from the
emerging markets perspective.
5. Larger companies, like Tata Group will face the shortcoming of higher tariffs imposed by
the EU against British imports.
It is going to take a year or two to complete the paperwork of a formal Brexit but the impacts
wont stop anytime unless Britain goes the Norwegian way to negotiate trade deals.
However, since the chances of that happening are very low, we could expect more dent in
the pound sterling and slow investment from other nations.
Source: - www.careerride.com.

TOPIC 2:- GST

Background of GST (Goods and Services Tax)
GST has been proposed in the Indian Parliament few months back and economists are
deep diving to study its implications and feasibility of implementation throughout the
country. Implementation of GST has been passed by one house of the Indian parliament but
awaits approval from the other house. The Idea of GST was introduced long back but due to
lot of issues in implementation the government is trying hard to amend the constitution and
take it though.
What is GST?
GST stands for Good and Services tax. At present, India has two broad categories of
taxes:1. Direct Taxes (eg. Income tax, Wealth tax) The liability of these taxes cannot be
shifted.
2. Indirect Taxes Liability can be shifted.
o Central VAT
o State VAT
o Service Tax
The bottom line of GST is to curb the payment of tax on tax i.e. double taxation.
If GST is implemented, consumers shall pay taxes only on the new value added just like
the VAT.
Under the current tax structure, state government only levy taxes on goods while central
government levies taxes on both goods and services. In new emerging industries, such as
ecommerce, it is difficult to distinguish between products and services. Thereby, GST will
help unifying taxation throughout the country.
Indian GST will have following distribution:
1. Central GST
2. State GST
3. Integrated GST (This is a special tax that one has to pay for interstate transaction
which is 1% which is to be decided by GST council after 5 years if they wish to
continue or abandon it)

Why should government implement GST Benefits of GST

1. GST will bring tax consistency throughout the country.
2. It will allow free movement of goods from one state to another.
3. The cost of product from across states will almost be the same thereby providing
equal opportunities of business owners in all states.
4. The cost of the product for the manufacturers will come down as double taxation
will be minimised.
5. A reduction in these cascading taxes increases the incentive for more
consumption, leading to higher revenues which compensate for the reduction in
tax rates.
6. With consumers having more money in their pockets, the GDP is set to increase.
Why should government NOT implement GST Disadvantages of GST
1. From a consumer standpoint, there is no worthy disadvantage of implementing
GST. However, few businesses may suffer.
2. Businesses where cost advantages lies within states will suffer and lose their core
competency. e.g. VAT in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad are lowest at 5%
and it helps firms to provide products all across India at price which other states
cannot meet due to higher VAT rates in other states. This is the reason why all
eCommerce firms have their biggest fulfillment centers in these three cities.
States will suffer huge loss with implementation of GST as they will lose price
advantage for common commodities available nationwide. Government has
reached to conclusion they would still be paying any revenue loss hereafter to
each state for a period of 5 years from the date of implementation of GST.
3. The biggest contradiction comes with the fact that, on one hand, the government
is pushing Digital India movement and boosting eCommerce, whereas on the
other with GST its making tough for businesses to operate at a nationwide scale.
Recently eCommerce companies have requested government to keep
aggregators out of GST.
Source :- http://marketinglessons.in/

TOPIC 3:- Impending NPA Crisis in Indian Banks &

Remedies
Zoom Developers, Winsome Diamond, Sterling Biotech, Kingfisher Airlines and the recently
Bhushan Steel; the story never ends when it comes to wilful defaulters. Indian Banking
Industry has been in the focus when it comes to NPA or loans gone bad. In this article we
will try to explore if it is a systemic problem or monster created by the banks themselves.
We will discuss the current magnitude of the problem and steps which can be adopted by
the RBI & Government to resolve this messy affair. Our focus in this article will be large
corporations such as ones mentioned above simply because it is difficult to come up with a
framework for NPAs arising out of priority sector lending.
As of December 2013, gross NPAs had reached 4.4% of total loans in the banking system,
with PSUs such as SBI reporting much higher levels. PSUs in total account for Rs. 216,739
Cr. Of bad loans while private sector only Rs. 22,744 Cr.
NPAs effect the banks in multiple ways:
A negative impact on Return of Assets
Interest income of banks reduced it is to be accounted only on receipt basis
Erosion of profits
Capital adequacy ratio is disturbed
Cost of capital goes up
Economic Value Addition decreases
Taking over the business and appointing an external agency to oversee day-to-day
operations has been one of the most used remedial measures by the banks. But it is like
treating the patient after he has been diagnosed with interminable illness. The steps
adopted by the banks must be proactive with added teeth given by the RBI and
governments to deal with the issue of rising NPAs.

These strategies necessary to control NPAs can be of two types:

1. Preventive management and
2. Curative management

Some Steps for Preventive Management:

 Root cause of NPAs is indiscriminate lending by the banks. Banks need come up with tight
lending norms. For example, limit on the debt to equity ratio. In the case of Bhushan Steel it
went to 3.5, making them most indebted steelmaker in India. Still they managed to secure
additional debt of Rs 5,000 crore. Banks lending may be influenced by political pressure
and the confidence of a government bailout in the event of a crisis.
Banks need detect Early Warning Signals, mainly financial and management related.
Banks can come up with watch-list/Special Mention Category.
Banks needs to make their credit-appraisal process, before disbursement and during
renewal or extension, more robust. The parameters for appraisal can include parameters
pertaining to market practice, principles or code of conduct of borrower, business expertise,
availability of raw materials, possible M&As and analysis of the risk involved in the
borrowers project. Banks can make use of external assessors for coming up with rating for
a corporation. For example, 60% of NPAs are accounted by infrastructure, power, iron and
steel, textiles and aviation industries. Thus even a layman can guess that Banks need to
careful while lending to these sectors.
Continuously tracking the asset performance and not engaging in it ones the load slips
into NPA. This will help in early detection of stress and help lenders take prompt corrective
actions to avoid non-performing asset creation. The same was stressed by RBI.
Establishing a specialised AMC prior to a financial crisis as observed in Malaysia and
Taiwan. AMCs to have one core objective: the rehabilitation and restructuring of viable
assets.
Recently RBI came up with policy directive that even before a loan turns into an NPA,
banks are required to identify stress by creating three sub-categories under the Special
Mention Account, for overdue ranging between 30 and 90 days. But reluctance of various
financial institutions to act on such and many other proposed solutions, which, if
implemented properly, can indeed go a long way in curbing the NPA menace, is proving to
be one of the main hurdle in the war against NPAs.

Some Steps for Curative Management:

Empowering banks to seize property of defaulters has resulted in reducing bad loans. RBI
needs to provide framework under which banks need to work. One step that RBI took earlier
this year was to launch a framework for revitalising distressed assets in the economy.
Lenders to agree collectively and quickly to a restructuring plan. RBI can offer incentives
for the same. Sector-specific companies / private equity firms can be encouraged to play an
active role in stressed assets market.
Accept limited success of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) in India and take steps
to improve their effectiveness. ARCs need to be more realistic when it comes to asset

valuation as it will help in investments by foreign investors so that ARCs stop being
sponsored by the banks solely.
Banks to focus on fairness & efficiency of the loan recovery process and try to preserve
the value of underlying assets and if possible safeguard jobs. Credit data must be shared
and large exposures across banks monitored closely. An urgent need for accelerating
working of debt recovery tribunals and ARCs exists currently.

Some Contentious Changes:

FICCI recommended establishment of Namco to effectively tackle large NPAs in India.
But it can again be remedial measure with no guarantee that it will succeed. It may become
garbage can for all the NPAs helping banks writing off the NPAs off their balance sheet.
Adoption of detailed guidelines on formation of Joint Lenders Forum (JLF) and adoption of
Corrective Action Plan for operationalizing the above Framework are given below. JLF can
also refer the matter to CDR cell. A study needs to be conducted in the effectiveness of this
mechanism. The parameters for the study can be viability milestones achieved using either
of the mechanism, time duration for achieving the same, and effectiveness in transfer of
equity or infusion of more equity, lastly overall restructuring efforts.
Banks raise capital through dispersed ownership of banks' equity capital or creation of bad
bank. Though it will change the status of banks to buy, it fails to address the root cause.

Bottom line remains the banks should prevent assets from slipping into NPAs and not run
behind the large defaulter after the crisis. In short, a pro-active, preventive approach is
desirable for speedy revival of the economy.
Source :- http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/finance

TOPIC 4:- STARTUP BUBBLE

Is the Indian startup space fast becoming a bubble? Lets take a closer look.
At the Goldman Sachs technology conference earlier this year, leading venture capitalist
of Benchmark, Bill Gurley, expressed concerns to attendees of a possible bubble, caused
by some over-valued startups in the US. His concerns were directed at the young
companies that had almost magically reached over a billion dollars in valuation, which
according to him, was largely fueled by investor fear of missing out (or FOMO, as the VC
community knows it). He said that investors were making investments of sizes previously
reserved for listed companies. Aptly framed, he said a founder pursuing a $40 million IPO
offering takes the process more seriously today than a founder raising $400 million in
private capital.
Another reason for his concern was the presence of public market investors, like hedge
funds, etc., investing in the space earlier catered to only by venture capitalists. Bill isnt
wrong in saying that hedge funds, mutual funds, etc., have traditionally had a different
investment appetite and strategy. FOMO, clubbed with this new blend of different investor
classes and styles of investing, is perhaps what is fueling his growing anxiety of a possible
bubble.
Benchmark has funded numerous industry-altering young companies since 1995, including
Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and Uber, and around 250 other startups.
The Wall Street Journals Billion Dollar Startup Club saw at least 73 young private
companies valued over USD $1 billion this year, compared to only 41 last year. Nearly half
the investors, in some of the most invested startups too, were institutional and strategic
investors, with Tiger Global (TG is an international firm that manages hedge and private
equity funds) leading the pack with 12 investments in private billion-dollar companies. TG
also raised the most money last year, $4 billion to be more specific, amounting to nearly
12% of all venture capital raised in 2014. (source)
Coming back to India, should this over-investing and over-valuing in US startups be of any
concern to our booming Indian startup scene that is currently fueled by online travel, ecommerce retail and logistics, classifieds, online food ordering, radio taxis, etc.? Let's find
out.
Firstly, one of those aggressive investors that Bill Gurley mentioned, Tiger Global to be
specific, is also the most aggressive investor in Indian startups. In 2015 alone, TG disclosed
investments in over 17 companies, investing in rounds totaling about $1 billion. Some of its
investments include a $150 million round (Series H round), with other investors in Quikr,
India's largest online and mobile classifieds portal. Then there was a series D round of $100
million in Shopclues, an e-commerce portal. We could argue that the exact investment

exposure by Tiger Global is not known, and could be somewhat small. Or that perhaps
these startups are actually worth the millions or billions they are said to be worth.
Tiger Global, among others, may have helped inflate a startup bubble in the US, but that is
a significantly different market fromIndia; with a far more mature and aggressive investor
community. Therefore, a race to get a piece of what is hopefully the next Google or Uber in
the US might have led investors to try and outbid each other with increasingly sweeter deals
to promising startups. But is TGs strategy or tendency to overvalue being carried to India
too?
In February, a reasonably well funded 'mom and baby' products portal, BabyOye, also a
Tiger Global funded company, was acquired by Mahindra Retail for an undisclosed sum; in
the hope of boosting their own brands, Mom & Me and Beanstalk, that have not been too
strong online. BabyOye raised $12 million in 2013 from investors, partlyused to acquire
another company (Hoopos.com). After an earlier round of funding in 2011, BabyOye
spent extravagantly on TV advertising, using a former movie star in the ads.
Mahindra's acquisition in a bid to gain online strength seemed concerning, given that such a
large group felt the need to acquire a small company with only 1500 followers on Twitter
(now up at 2003 followers), to bring in the ability to sell online, even if the acquisition didn't
cost them much. And at a time when a lot, if not most, of those products, were
already available on Amazon and Flipkart. Did that make good business sense, or is ecommerce happening so fast that even the heavyweights of Indian industry are feeling the
pressure to jump on this bullet train?
The US's popular classifieds service, Craigslist, only had one known investor ever; eBay.
And that too not for too long. And was Craigslist popular enough? More than it perhaps ever
expected. In comparison, a similar service in India, Quikr, has raised upwards of $350
million so far, and we can only wonder why. To buy and sell other companies, maybe?
And just then, in comes news of a possible acquisition of the nearing-a-billion-invaluation Housing.com, by none other than Quikr. If the acquisition does happen, while it
might be a progressive step for Quikr, it also leaves me wondering about the vision of these
startup promoters, with growth strategies and a business direction that seem to be going all
over the place. In many ways, this startup mania is turning out to be more of an exit ground
for investors, rather than an effort to give the world its next great company.
Looking at the magnitude of investments themselves.Alayman could argue that 'the more
the funding, the better'; after all, is there anything like too much money? Or for that matter,
even a sky- high valuation. Imagine the pride and respect in your social circles when they
read in bold, the value of your young company. But venture capital and investing isnt as
simple. If one funding round happens at a significantly high valuation, the next round
becomes that much tougher to raise, as does getting a suitable exit for your existing

investors. Of the $51 billion worth of private equity deals in India from 2000 to 2008, there
have been only around 30% exits, according to a McKinsey and Co. report.
Over-investing in companies brings with itthe tendency to spend, whether it makes perfect
business sense or not. As the world, and more importantly India, is getting increasingly
interconnected online and socially, it is worrying to see the amount of money young online
businesses are investing in expensive traditional media.Like Amazons catchy ad,or
Flipkarts loud and confusing oneshow, everyones on TV and on billboards, trying to push
their way into the heads of prospective customers.
About 5-8 years ago, it was comparatively tougher for companies to scale. Building
capacities, adding servers, fleet, manufacturing capacity, manpower, etc., took a lot more
time and more money.
While salaries are much higher today, a lot of services and business functions can now be
outsourced efficiently and effectively, allowing businesses to scale faster by focusing on
their core business only and outsourcing everything else. The evolution of analytics,
contractual manpower and everything in-between has also made it possible to have small
numbers of people pull off tasks that previously requireda small army of people.
All this brings us back to How do we make sense of the heavy investments into these still
nascent startups? And more importantly, will such heavy spends only on marketing
guarantee a successful future for these young ventures? How much of the funding is being
invested by these companies into listening to and understanding customers? Or on
empathizing with problems customers are currently facing?
The notorious, multi-billion dollar Uber for instance, has an extremely light operating model,
asset-light, limited overheads, and is highly scalable. But has it done anything to address
woman passenger safety in countries where it operates? Not so far. Even Indian taxi
aggregator Meru (2 years older than Uber) had a panic button on the app long before Uber
decided to put one there. Uber waited till after unfortunate incidents occurred, before putting
a feature that was so logical and obvious. So, if all that funding was spent on technology
and marketing, why do customers still shower so much love on services that dont feel the
same way about them?
Between aggressive promoters and aggressive investors, the focus has gradually shifted
from the customers best interests to the startups and investors best interests. Online foodordering businesses too, for example, have built strong websites and apps, and have been
advertising like theres no tomorrow.But their internal processes remain shockingly primitive.
Back in 2008, I had toyed with the idea of starting an online food ordering service, and had
listed some concern areas that needed figuring out, in an effort to shape the idea better.
While I eventually didnt pursue it, online food ordering startups today, surprisingly still live
with those same problems, despite the advancements that have happened in the interim.

The possible risks of overvalued and over-invested-in startups range from VC firms going
bustto startups not being able to raise their next round of funding and/or being made
redundant by other startups. And with every startup that shuts shop, it also affects a large
number of other individuals and businesses (like logistics, etc.) that have come to serve
these super-valued startups.
And finally, in an effort to boost entrepreneurship, India has considerably relaxed rules for
listing startups in the recent past. But this bold step will take its time to see benefits, since
there is poor liquidity in this space, and the experience in valuing these new age businesses
isnt anywhere near accurate.
Sky-high valuations of startups would make for interesting conversations with friends overa
few rounds of beer. Butlack of clarity in funding and growth strategy in these heavyweight
startups could be a matter of concern for these young stars of a new and emerging India.
And India's big startup contributions to the world would hopefully be highly profitable, even
more scalable, and most importantly, solely focused on delighting its customers.
Source :- https://yourstory.com/2015/07/startup-bubble/

TOPIC 5: Business and Ethics do not go together

They say that Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and
what is right to do. It is true that morals and values differs for an individual, concerns come
in our professional lives. When people at work pressurize you to things, often we ignore our
ethics.
For:
- In todays situation with immense pressure and competition, business and ethics cant go
together.
- A couple of times because we follow ethics, it hinders us from succeeding because it
squanders time.
- Ethics are usually bound and nurtured by religion, family values etc. Such forms cannot
work well in business where you are expected to be professional and practical.
- A businessman should know how to handle pressure, stress and competition and not how
to be ethical.
- We all want to make quick money. In todays market, being ethical takes a toll on you.
- Ethics unlike a balance sheet dont have visibility. People today judge you based on
money and not ethics.
Against:
- Ethics makes you stronger and independent. People cant deceive you easily.
- Not following ethics makes you a selfish person.
- There is nothing wrong in making profit. But, making profit by unethical means could cost a
lot of people harm, mentally.
- Customers perspective is to link with a company with ethics and values. They know that
will never be forged.
- Being ethical in business creates a sense of responsibility towards society.
Morals and values are extremely individualistic. Its incorrect to say that you cant succeed if
you are ethical in business. You will probably take some more time to succeed. You cant
force someone to follow ethics.
Source: http://www.careerride.com/view.aspx?id=3150

TOPIC 6: FDI in multi-brand retail will hurt domestic

sector
What is FDI?
- A foreign direct investment is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a
business enterprise in one country by an entity based in another country.[1] It is thus
distinguished from foreign portfolio investment by a notion of direct control.
The Union Cabinet has given its approval for simplification and liberalization of the Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) Policy, 2016 in various sectors announced in June, 2016. The
radical amendments to FDI policy are meant to liberalize and simplify the FDI policy so as to
provide ease of doing business in the country. Its main aim is to allow larger FDI inflows in
the country that will contribute to growth of investment, incomes and employment.
Changes in FDI Policy Regime
Defense Sector: FDI beyond 49% has been permitted through government approval
route, in cases resulting in access to modern technology in the country or for other
reasons.
The condition of access of state of the art technology has been removed and it has been
modified to access to modern or for other reasons.
FDI limit also has been made applicable to Manufacturing of Small Arms and
Ammunitions covered under Arms Act, 1959.
Food Products manufactured or produced in India: 100% FDI under government
approval route for trading in respect of food products manufactured in India.
Pharmaceutical Sector: 100% FDI under automatic route in greenfield pharmaceuticals.
FDI up to 100% under government approval in brownfield pharmaceuticals also has
been approved and 74% FDI under automatic route in Brownfield pharmaceuticals.
Civil Aviation Sector: 100% FDI under automatic route in Brownfield Airport Projects.
FDI limit raised to 100% in Scheduled Air Transport Service and regional Air Transport
Service.
Animal Husbandry: 100% FDI allowed in Animal Husbandry (including breeding of
dogs), Aquaculture, Pisciculture and Apiculture under Automatic Route without
requirement of controlled conditions.
Private Security Agencies: 49% FDI permitted under automatic route and FDI beyond
49% and up to 74% will be permitted through government approval route.
Establishment of branch office, liaison office or project office: No approval from Reserve
Bank of India or separate security clearance would be required. This exemption will be
application in cases where FIPB has approved it or license and permission already has
been given by the concerned Ministry.
Single Brand Retail Trading: Entities undertaking single brand retail trading have been
relaxed from local sourcing norms up to 3 years.

Entities engaged in of single brand retail trading of products having state-of-art and
cutting edge technology have been relaxed from local sourcing norms up to 5 years.

Comment
With these radical changes in FDI Policy, Union government has permitted 100% FDI
under government approval route for almost every sector, including defense.
However, there is still exception in few sectors mentioned in the small negative list. FDI
continues to be prohibited in atomic energy, lottery, gambling, real estate and Real
Estate Investments Trusts (REIT) and railways operations.
Background Since 2014, Union Government has brought major FDI policy reforms in a number of
sectors, including Insurance, Pension Sector, Defense, Construction Development and
Broadcasting etc.
Measures undertaken by the Union Government have resulted in increased FDI inflows
at 55.46 billion dollars in the financial year 2015-16. This was the highest ever FDI
inflow in India for a particular financial year.

Argument:
Foreign direct investment in the retail sector has always been a raw nerve for India.
Whenever this discussion is initiated, it leads to opposing and debate and rightly so since it
is the domestic sector that is going to be hurt the most if it is implemented.
Farmers and small traders will face heavy competition, something they are not ready for.
FDI in multi-brand retails has its advantages and they are many but it is usually the
disadvantage that takes the upper hand, causing a negative response from commerce and
industry ministry.
Agree
1. Farmers and traders will lose: Our farmers and small traders, with their little to no
facilities to handle retailing will be at a complete loss when multi-brand retails from other
countries will start opening up. As more and more people get used to the ease of buying
from them to save something we are always short of these days, time, farmers and small
retailers will be at a huge loss.
2. Losing employment: All the local retailers, which we know are huge in number in our
country, will face heavy loss as people start pouring into hypermarkets and supermarkets.
Many will be bound to close down sooner or later which will lead to an increase in
unemployment. We already have to worry about the shortage of jobs for youths graduating
these days and to add to that there will be concerns of self-employed people giving up on

their retail businesses.

3. Inflation: Letting all the multi-brands to open up in India will initially lower the prices of
low goods with local sellers competing with the brands but later on, there is bound to be a
price surge once they settle down on a stronger ground. Keeping up with their pricing, local
vendors will hike the prices too, paving way for inflation.
4. Unorganized retail sector will suffer: The organized retail sector might not face the
consequences heavily, but the unorganized retail sector, which is responsible for providing
employment to major part of the country, will suffer greatly. They will be left at the mercy of
foreign brands wooing people will their state of the art products, which will go our people
swooning on their feet again.
Disagree
1. State of the art agriculture sector: With the inclusion of FDI in multi-brand retailing in
India, we can expect to get all the state of the art agricultural facilities for farmers who would
be able to sustain food produced with the help of their cold chain infrastructure, something
that we seriously lack at the moment. There is lot of waste which can be avoided and the
farmers will benefit too.
2. Direct buying: Organize sectors like keeping the prices competitive and hence they
usually opt for purchasing directly from the farmers with no involvement of middle men and
dealers who currently take all the profit, giving only 10-20 % to the farmers. With the right
pricing for their products, the farmers will be at a better place compared to their current
scenario.
3. Better investment: When retail sector deals directly from the farmers, it is evident that
they will be entitled to bear a big part of the investment too. This will also ensure security to
farmers who are at a loss with the mercy of weather playing on them. Sharing the load
could go ahead to become the ultimate solution for the woes of farmers in India, something
that we havent been successful in doing so far.
4. More taxes: When revenue increases, it will benefit the domestic sector too in turn.
There will be more funds for development of infrastructure, more job opportunities for youth
and better facilities for people who are often saddened to see what our country lacks in
comparison to the west.
5. Reign on price hike: With direct buying from the producers and keeping with the
competitive rates, the retail pricing will be reasonable instead of surging high at the whims
of middlemen and distributors. It could lessen chances of inflation to a good extent, though
this is something that is highly debated with those who think that the opposite of it has more

chances.
FDI in retail sector can be beneficial or painful to the retail sector depending on the policies
that govern them. They could be kept in check with set of restriction to prevent farmers and
small traders into falling prey to these giants of trade. However, with the right set of rules
they can be as advantageous as we allow them to be.
Source: http://www.careerride.com/view.aspx?id=29342

TOPIC 7: RIO OLYMPICS16

Let us begin with a small quiz: More than a hundred Indian athletes participated in the Rio
Olympics 2016. How many names do we remember?
Ten, perhaps, including the badminton players, wrestlers and Dipa Karmakar. Twenty more,
maybe, if you are a keen follower of other sports and Indian hockey.
India finished 67th on the medal tally, winning a silver and a bronze medal. A handful of
athletes fought till the very end for a podium finish. But, except for a few individuals, the rest
of the Indian contingent just made up the numbers. One medal for every 60 athletes and
just two for a country with around 1.3 billion people is a huge shame.
Yes, it is important to contest. But participation for participation's sake has never been the
Olympic motto. It clearly states: faster, higher, stronger. On that count, India's performance
was miserable. Every four years the Indian contingent goes to the Olympics only to erase
the gains it made in the previous years, to destroy its own legacy.
The following was the performance of Indian contingent at the Rio Olympics 2016:
BADMINTON:
# P V Sindhu secured a silver medal after losing to Carolina Marin in the womens singles
final.
WRESTLING:
# Sakshi Malik won bronze in womens 58kg freestyle.
GYMNASTICS:
# Dipa Karmakar finished fourth in Vaults final.
SHOOTING:
# 10m Air Rifle (Men): Abhinav Bindra finished 4th in the finals, while Gagan Narang failed
to qualify.
# 10m Air Pistol (Men): Jitu Rai finished eighth in the finals, while Gurpreet Singh failed to
qualify for the finals.

# Womens Individual: Deepika Kumari and Bombayla Devi lost in the pre-quarterfinals,
while Laxmirani Majhi lost in the Round of 64.
Rio was expected to be a turning point for India. Months ahead of the Rio Games, Indian
sports officials vowed that the massive nation would turn around its long history of dismal
Olympic results and be proud of its athletes.
Steeplechase. Golf. Shooting. Badminton. Boxing. Tennis. Wrestling. Archery. Discus. India
saw medal possibilities in all those disciplines, and the head of the governments sports
authority, Injeti Srinivas, said he expected India to bring home anywhere from 10 to 14
medals.
What happens on a particular day is something none of us can predict. But we should
achieve this target, Srinivas said in March. They didnt.
Not only that, the countrys gate-crashing, selfie-taking officials have been accused of failing
to help its athletes taste success. Badminton champion P.V. Sindhus silver towards the end
of the Rio Games sparked an outpouring of national pride and celebrations, along with
wrestler Sakshi Maliks late bronze. But reports during the competition of Indian officials
seemingly living it up in Rio, while athletes struggled to make it through qualifying, sparked
anger back home and raised questions about the commitment of those in charge. Officials
do not have the welfare of the athletes on their mind. All they are bothered about is having a
good time, Aslam Sher Khan, Indias former hockey Olympian, said. While other countries
have scripted a turnaround in their fortune like the UK, we sadly continue to languish in
mediocrity. We have become the laughing stock of the world.
The minister Vijay Goel sparked ridicule on social media after praising one of Indias
athletes on Twitter, only to use a photo of a different one. And the Indian Express
newspaper accused him of spending his time in Rio taking selfies with exhausted Indian
athletes after posting a picture of himself ringside with just defeated boxer Vikas Krishan
Yadav. The incidents come as little surprise to observers who have long accused sport
administrators of being more concerned about protecting their own fiefdoms than targeting
success.
Indias only individual Olympic gold medallist, shooter Abhinav Bindra, said he was fed up
with apathetic officials, some of whom were unqualified for the job and were not being held
accountable for a lack of success on the field. We need a complete overhaul of the system.
We need more experts coming in. I have no problem with a politician if he can bring
something to the table. But they are simply not bothered if the country is winning medals or
not
Indias anti-doping officials were also left red-faced in Rio after wrestler Narsingh Yadav
was banned for four years for failing drug tests overturning Indias earlier decision to

allow him to compete. Indian officials had cleared Yadav just days before Rio, accepting his
defence that a rival spiked his food supplements, after failing two tests for a banned steroid.
The World Anti-Doping Agency swiftly challenged the decision in the Court of Arbitration for
Sport which found no evidence of such contamination.
In an effort to ensure that India does better in subsequent Olympics, Local Circles, a citizen
engagement platform, conducted a countrywide survey on the problems being faced in
improving as a sporting nation and what can be done to better performances in the 2020
Tokyo Games. Olympic level athletes are not built overnight, it is a continuous process and
requires time and effort.
Sport bodies are expected to identify the right talent, at the right age, support and train them
to Olympic level. Unfortunately, our sport bodies are not able to do this with the same
rigour, barring a few exceptions like badminton.
The reason is that most sporting bodies are led by non-sportsmen and bureaucrats who
have never played at the international level. The politicisation of Indian sports is the root
cause for the country not being able to create world class athletes. People are also tired of
the political interference in sports.

Therefore, the revealed that the obvious way forward is to revamp the country's sports
bodies. World-class sportsmen need to be inducted at all levels so that they can help build a
culture that promotes, trains and builds world-class talent.
An overwhelming majority of 86 percent people said that sport bodies should be headed
and controlled by sportspersons. This clearly shows that if India wants that to prepare for
the next Olympics we should begin with restructuring our sport bodies.
Corruption was another issue that is endemic in sport bodies due to political interference,
nepotism and lack of performance measures. A poor performance in the Olympics does not
lead to any action against the incumbents due to nepotism. Ninety-two percent of those
polled said corruption is very high in state sports departments and bodies. This perception
may also be the reason that most people do not see sports as a worthwhile option for their
children.
Of those polled, 89 percent felt that the government has not done much to make sports
popular in the country. This perception also fuels the charge that the government does not
make enough efforts in promoting performance and merit in sport per-se.
Education tends be the highest priority for the average Indian household instead of extracurricular activities such as sports. A popular Hindi saying roughly translates to "if you study
hard you will live like a king but if you play sports you will ruin your life."

"India does not have a sports culture," explained Boria Majumdar, a leading Indian sports
scholar who's authored numerous books on the topic. Indian athletes who have achieved
international success are exceptions rather than products of the country's sports system, he
said. "Unless there is a synergized sports culture you will never win a string of medals. A
fundamental overhaul is needed and urgently so." Indeed, education tends be the highest
priority for the average Indian household instead of extra-curricular activities such as sports.
A popular Hindi saying roughly translates to "if you study hard you will live like a king but if
you play sports you will ruin your life.
Indians, over the decades, have been mostly pre-occupied climbing the socio-economic
ladder. Consequently, the pool of talent created at the local community, school and
university levels, leaves much to be desired both in terms of size and quality. Moreover,
there's little support for those who display athletic prowess.
Scarce public investible resources have eluded sports. This is further compounded by
misallocation, lack of transparency, poor asset management and an absence of a
framework for measuring impact of public spending. This is unlikely to change, despite the
government's best intentions.
There are scholarships and endowments for athletes that guarantee a basic minimum
standard of living, but this system is fraught with bureaucratic red tape, political interference,
conflicts of interest and corruption.
While Modi's administration may be constrained on the expenditure front, it could certainly
do more to define a scheme and partially fund public-private partnerships for sports
infrastructure and services, such as coaching or event management. Administering fiscal
incentives would also help, such as tax exemptions for earnings from sports or reduction in
import duties on expensive sports equipment. India needs to invest in the long term, not
expecting miracles at the touch of a button.

TOPIC 8: CRYPTOCURRENCY
What is a cryptocurrency?
It is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of
units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.
A cryptocurrency - say Bitcoin, for example - is a form of currency, similar to the US Dollar:

Usage: Annually, about 35 billion US Dollars-worth of Bitcoin are traded approximately 1.5 quadrillion (1,500,000 billion) US dollars are traded in the same
period.
Governance: The US Dollars properties are governed by a US institution focused on
maximizing safety and soundness for the US economy and other economies that are
aligned with it. Bitcoins properties are governed by a primarily China-based network
individuals and institutions focused on maximizing profits.
Transmission: Bitcoins can be transferred digitally, and US Dollars cannot (yet!)
Unlike centralized banking, like the Federal Reserve System, where governments control
the value of a currency like USD through the process of printing fiat money, government has
no control over cryptocurrencies as they are fully decentralized.
Most cryptocurrencies are designed to decrease in production over time like Bitcoin, which
creates a market cap on them. Thats different from fiat currencies where financial
institutions can always create more, hence inflation. Bitcoin will never have more than 21
million coins in circulation. The technical system on which all cryptocurrencies are based on
was created by Satoshi Nakamoto.
While hundreds of different cryptocurrency specifications exist, most are derived from one
of two protocols; Proof-of-work or Proof-of-stake. All cryptocurrencies are maintained by a
community of cryptocurrency miners who are members of the general public that have set
up their computers or ASIC machines to participate in the validation and processing of
transactions.

History of Cryptocurrency

The first cryptocurrency was Bitcoin. Bitcoin was created in 2009 by a pseudonymous
developer named Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin uses SHA-256, which is a set of cryptographic
hash functions designed by the U.S National Security Agency. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency
that is based on the proof-of-work system.
In April 2011, Namecoin, the first altcoin, was created to form a decentralized DNS to make
internet censorship more difficult. In October 2011, Litecoin was released and became the
first successful cryptocurrency to use scrypt as its hash function rather than SHA-256. This
gave the general public the ability to mine for litecoins without the purchase of specific
hardware such as the ASIC machines used to mine Bitcoin.
Litecoin began receiving media attention in late 2013 reaching a market cap of $1 billion.
Ripplecoin, created in 2011, was built on the same protocol as Bitcoin but services as a
payment system think of it like a PayPal for cryptocurrencies that supports any fiat
currency, cryptocurrency, commodity or even frequent flier miles.
Cryptocurrencies & Market Capitalization
Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency in both market capitalization, volume, acceptance and
notoriety, but its not the most valuable coin. NEMstake, while only having a market cap of
$1,116,720, trades at $1,117 a coin. Looking at the market cap, Litecoin takes second place
after Bitcoin with Ripple close behind.

One coin that you are more than likely familiar with is Dogecoin. Dogecoin ranks, on
average, thirds in trading volume, but has a relatively low market cap ranking number six
in the largest cryptocurrency.

What is a Cryptocurrency Hash?

Cryptocurrency mining power is rated on a scale of hashes per seconds. A rig with a
computing power of 1kH/s is mining at a rate of 1,000 hashes a second, 1MH/s is a million
hashes per second and a GH/s is one billion hashes per second. Every time a miner
successfully solves a block, a new hash is created. A hash algorithm turns this large
amount of data into a fixed-length hash. Like a code if you know the algorithm you can solve
a hash and get the original data out, but to the ordinary eye its just a bunch of numbers
crammed together and remains practically impossible to get the original data out of.
SHA vs. Scrypt
While Bitcoin and a several other coins are mined using SHA-256, Litecoin and many other
coins, use Scrypt. These are the two major hashing functions, but several different kinds
exists and are used by other cryptocurrencies such as scrypt-N and x11. The different
hashing functions were adopted to answer concerns with the SHA-256. Before, individuals
were able to mine Bitcoin with their GPUs, which require a large amount of energy. But as
Bitcoin grew in popularity, ASIC SHA-256 machine were built which made GPU mining
obsolete.
To give you an idea of just how powerful these machines are, a mining rig running 4 GPUs
would get a hash rate of around 3.4 MH/s and consume 3600kW/h while an ASIC machine
can mine 6 TH/s and consume 2200kW/h. This effectively killed GPU mining and left many

individuals worried about the security of the network. With less individuals being able to
profitably mine from their home computer, the network become less decentralized. Scrypt
mining was implemented with the promise of being ASIC resistant due to the memory
problem it introduced.
Scrypt hashes require lots of memory, which GPUs are already designed to handle and
ASIC machines were not. However, Scrypt mining require a lot of energy and
eventually scrypt-ASIC machines were designed to address this problem. At this point
Litecoin considered changing their proof-of-work function to avoid ASIC mining. Scrypt also
taut that their proof-of-work is much more energy efficient than SHA-256. Bitcoin blocks are
solved at a rate of 1 per 10 minutes while Litecoin blocks are solver at a rate of 1 per 2.5
minutes.

CRYPTOCURRENCY SECURITY

The security of cryptocurrencies has two parts. The first part comes from the difficulty in
finding hash set intersections, a task done by miners. The second and more likely of the two
cases is a 51% attack. In this scenario, a miner who has the mining power of more than
51% of the network, can take control of the global blockchain ledger and generate an
alternative block-chain. Even at this point the attacker is limited to what he can do. The
attacker could reverse his own transactions or block other transactions.
Cryptocurrencies are also less susceptible to seizure by law enforcement or having
transaction holds placed on them from acquirers such as Paypal. All cryptocurrencies are
pseudo-anonymous, and some coins have added features to create true anonymity.

Cryptocurrency Legality & Taxes

Bitcoin Taxation

While cryptocurrencies are legal in most countries, Iceland and Vietnam being an exception
Iceland mainly due to their freeze on foreign exchange, they are not free from regulations
and restrictions. China has banned financial institutions from handling bitcoins and Russia,
while saying cryptocurrency is legal, has made it illegal to purchase goods with any
currency other than Russian rubles.
In the U.S., the IRS has ruled that Bitcoin is to be treated as property for tax purposes,
making Bitcoin subject to capital gains tax. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
(FinCEN) has issued guidelines for cryptocurrencies. The issued guidelines contain an
important caveat for Bitcoin miners: it warns that anyone creating bitcoins and exchanging
them for fiat currency are not necessarily beyond the reach of the law. It states:
A person that creates units of convertible virtual currency and sells those units to another
person for real currency or its equivalent is engaged in transmission to another location and
is a money transmitter.
Miners seem to fall into this category, which could theoretically make them liable for MTB
classification. This is a bone of contention for bitcoin miners, who have asked for
clarification. This issue has not been publicly addressed in a court of law to date.
Cryptocurrency Services
There are a host of services offering information and monitoring of cryptocurrencies.
CoinMarketcap is an excellent way check on the market cap, price, available supply and
volume of crypto currencies. Reddit is a great way to stay in touch with the community and

follow trends and CryptoCoinCharts is full of information ranging from a list of crytocoins,
exchanges, information on arbitrage opportunities and more. Our very own site offers a list
of crypto currencies and their change in value in the last 24hrs, week or month.
Liteshack allows visitors to view the network hash rate of many different coins across six
different hashing algorithms. They even provided a graph of the networks hash rate so you
can detect trends or signs that the general public is either gaining or losing interest in a
particular coin.
A hand website for miner is CoinWarz. This site can help miners determine which coin is
most profitable to mine given their hash rate, power consumption, and the going rate of the
coins when sold for bitcoins. You can even view each coins current and past difficulty.
Source: https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/cryptocurrency/

TOPIC 9: Consolidation in Indian Banking sector:

Pros & Cons
Indias largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) formally started merger of 5 associative
banks and BharatiyaMahila Bank with itself. The merged entity will have Indias one-fourth
of the deposit and loan market.
Post-consolidation, SBIs market share will increase from 17 per cent to 22.5-23 per cent,
while the total business of the merged entity will be over 35 lakh crore rupees.
Against this backdrop, it is pertinent to analyse pros and cons of consolidation in the Indian
banking sector.
Arguments in favor of consolidation
India is the fastest growing major economy in the world. To sustain this growth, there is a
need for mega banks that only will ensure investments into the large scale infrastructure
projects.
At present, there are a total of 27 public sector banks (PSBs) in the country. Apart from
the SBI, all the remaining banks are regional banks. Hence, consolidation helps in
leveraging the benefits of economies of scale.
Banking sector is suffering from non performing assets (NPAs) problem. To overcome
this, the government is resorting to capital infusion. Consolidation will increase capital
efficiency, apart from improving the ability of banks to recover bad loans.
Consolidation will help in leveraging the synergies among the banks that have diverse
portfolios, focus areas and coverage areas.
As the government is the only common owner of all the PSBs, the process of
consolidation is much easier and effortless.
Indian companies are going global. Now we are home to many multinational companies
that have presence in various sectors of the economy. Again this context, big-ticket Indian
banks are the most proper platforms to deliver financial services to them.
At present, there is not a single Indian bank in the top 50 global banks list. The
consolidation is expected to fill this gap, and, consequently, help build the Brand India
among international investors.
International experience is also favorable towards consolidation. Banks in Japan gained a
lot as a result of large scale merger and acquisition process between 1990 and 2004.

Arguments against consolidation

Experts argue that consolidation should take place in a positive environment. The present
process of consolidation is not driven by the inherent strength of the banking system. It is
resorted to escape from the problem of NPAs.
There are apprehensions among the labor unions that the consolidation will lead to job
losses.

Topic 10: Why India can't effectively respond to

Pakistan
The gruesome attack on an Indian Army base in Kashmir this week has renewed calls for a
more purposeful approach from New Delhi on Pakistan. Critics charge that the Modi
government has been found alarmingly short of answers in tackling Islamabad, even as
terrorists from across the border perpetrate one attack after the other.
The criticism isn't invalid. The Modi government has blown hot and cold in equal measure
on Pakistan, suggesting a lack of coherence within India's foreign policy establishment.
New Delhi's stated policy has been to suspend all dialogue with Pakistan, until Islamabad
cracks down on terror camps on its soil. Yet, talks have happened, and with no abatement
in terrorism.
Meanwhile, the Indian government has been able to offer no more than strong words of
condemnation and promises of "action" as the status quo rolls on.
What's hurt India the most has been its constant vacillation in dealing with Pakistan. India's
foreign policy has swung from being hawkish to dovish, seemingly at whim.
Following the Uri attacks, home minister Rajnath Singh called for Pakistan to be "isolated",
labelling it "a terrorist state".
Such language is uncommon in Indian diplomacy, but there is a certain legitimate case to
be made for it. The links of some elements in the Pakistani state to terrorist groups has
been proven for years.
As far back as in 2006, a British defence ministry think tank charged that "Pakistan (through
the ISI) has been supporting terrorism and extremism". In 2010, leaked records of US
intelligence agencies suggested strong links between the ISI and militant groups in
Afghanistan. And perhaps most damningly, Pakistan shields a UN designated terrorist in
Hafiz Saeed.
If North Korea, Iran and Cuba spent years ostracised by the international community, it
seems rather inconsistent that Pakistan is treated as a major regional power.
But Pakistan isn't North Korea (and India certainly isn't South Korea). Pakistan's strategic
value in Asian geopolitics has rendered isolation largely unrealistic. Pakistan remains one of
the few countries in the world with strategic ties to almost all major powers, from the United
States to Russia and China.

Despite recent cuts in aid owing to fallouts over counterterrorism, the US still sends as
much as $320 million in security aid alone to Islamabad.
And any attempts to isolate Pakistan globally will drive China to be more hawkish and
protective in Pakistan's defence. Beijing has already invested heavily on an infrastructure
project connecting its Western provinces to Pakistan's southern coastline - and most
pointedly, a significant part of it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. And last year,
China voted against India's appeals at the UN to censure Pakistan. This really is an "allweather" alliance.
Just this month, Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif controversially met Kashmiri separatists shortly
before leaving for the UN General Assembly session.
Let's face it: India has no bargaining chips at present to counter Pakistan with. The best
form of "isolation" India can manage is to impose economic sanctions on Pakistan.
But its impact is likely to be weak. In 2014, India's trade with Pakistan amounted to under
$2.5 billion; by contrast, China traded almost $13 billion worth of goods with Pakistan that
year. India's trade with Pakistan makes up less than five per cent of Pakistan's total trade.
New Delhi has to develop pressure points vis--vis Islamabad if it is to frame a coherent
and purposeful response and actually take "action" against terror groups in the region.
That means making hard choices. Take the Pakistan military, for instance - an institution
notorious for its widely publicised patronage of militant groups targeting India, but also an
unlikely starting point.
In a path-breaking book enquiring into Pakistan's military economy in 2007, Ayesha Siddiqa
wrote that the Pakistani army controls as much as one-third of all heavy manufacturing and
seven per cent of private assets.
In all, retired and serving military officers run secret industrial conglomerates worth as much
as $40 billion, according to Siddiqa, ranging from manufacturing complexes to petrol
pumps.
Pakistan's military businesses, many run underground as they are, provide a vulnerable
bargaining chip for India, waiting to be exploited. Many of these businesses are run privately
by high-ranking former and serving officers, and like all businesses in the modern globalised
world, they view India as a lucrative market for investment.
Yet, India's self-imposed freeze on dialogue with the Pakistani army means that none of
those businesses have a stake in India. If Pakistan army officers had deep private economic
interests in India, the Pakistan army would likely be less comfortable with terrorism across
the border.

Additionally, New Delhi would also be well-advised to engage with Pakistan's civil society to
root out political propaganda directed against India across the border.
Much of Islamabad's policy towards India is sustained on a web of ideological poison,
portraying New Delhi as an existential threat to Pakistan. The propaganda has effectively
made the peace process prohibitively costly for political leaders across Pakistan's spectrum.
No individual reflects this better than the prime minister himself: in an interview to journalist
Karan Thapar in 2013, Nawaz Sharif spoke of India as a potential friend and ally, and
promised to investigate the ISI's role in 26/11 if elected to office that year.
Yet, in the three years that have passed, no such probe has taken place. Worse, tensions
have risen under Sharif's watch as his government has turned increasingly hawkish. Just
this month, Sharif controversially met Kashmiri separatists shortly before leaving for the UN
General Assembly session.
New Delhi must decide on a consistent course of action towards Islamabad if it is to curb
the frequency of cross-border terrorism. And that means building bargaining power in place
of tall domestic rhetoric.

Topic 11: RELIANCE JIO STORY

Reliance Jio rolled out its full-fledged 4G services in India on 5th September, 2016. This
means that Jio services will be open to all smartphone brands, which were not under its
umbrella earlier. Though Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) opened its 4G service to most
brands like Samsung, LG, HTC, Asus, Lava, Micromax etc; there still were a few left out.
This includes iPhone, Xiaomi, Motorola and Lenovo. Now, any user with a 4G-enabled
handset is eligible for Jio SIM card. The SIMs will be available at nearly two lakh stores
across the country, including locations where SIMs from other vendors are also sold.
Earlier, the SIM cards were only available at Reliance Digital Store o Digital Xpress Mini
stores.
Reliance Jio SIM card comes with the Preview offer which gives users an access to free
unlimited 4G data for the first three months. Users will, however, have to pay for Jio
services from January 1, 2017. RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani called this the welcome offer
that starts September 5. Other benefits include free voice calling, and no roaming charges
for Jio customers forever. Also, Jio customers will be able to access Jio premium apps like
JioChat, JioMusic, MyJio, JioMoney etc for free. Ambani claims Jios data plans are the
cheapest in the world at Rs 50 for 1GB. Reliance Jio prepaid 4G plans start for as low as Rs
19 and goes all the way up to Rs 4,999. The postpaid plans start at Rs 149.
It has signed a deal with state owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited or BSNL for leasing
approximately 4,000 towers. According to the deal, BSNL will be offered a base rate of Rs.
38,000 per month for GBT or ground based towers. For rooftop based towers, the base rate
has
been
pegged
at
Rs.
24,900
per
month.
The state-run corporation will also provide discounted rates if RJIL consents to leasing at
least 1,500 towers within the first year. "The rent for ground towers will be Rs 35,000 per
month and Rs 21,000 per month for rooftop towers if Reliance Jio commits leasing of 1,500
towers in first year," BSNL Director (Consumer Mobility) Anupam Shrivastava has been
quoted by PTI as saying. He further added that there will also be a 5% discount for
commitment
to
lease
at
least
1,000
towers
within
3
months.
Reliance Jio Infocomm has also come up with pacts such as these with leading telecom
companies such as Bharti Airtel, R Comm, Viom Networks, Ascend Telecom Infrastructure
and American Tower Company. Rather than creating infrastructure, RJIL's game-plan is to
utilise
existing
infrastructure
for
setting
up
its
4G
network.
Given the mutual benefit that will be derived between RJIL and its partners through such
deals, the infrastructure sharing agreement has a positive implication in terms of generating
revenue and partnerships. RJIL is the first telecom operator in the nation which has attained
unified
licence
for
22
service
areas
in
the
country.
BSNL has also been actively hiving off towers. The plan to hive towers to separate

subsidiary commenced in April this year. After an in-principle nod from the government in
February this year, the state-run corporation has been on the move. It had also been given
cabinet approval for surrendering BWA spectrum in 6 of 20 circles for a refund of nearly
6,700
crore
at
the
start
of
2014.
RIL has also taken active part in a consortium set up to lay submarine cable system through
the Bay of Bengal last year. Reliance Industries CEO and chairman Mukesh Ambani has
also indicated data services will be launched by RIL in a phased manner as well.
High speed internet will be rolled out by RIL which also set up 8 free Wi-Fi spots in
Ahmedabad and 9 at Baroda and Surat. With new targets in sight, RJIL's 4G network will be
operational in cities and villages across the country. This will boost connectivity and create
growth as well.
Services:
Reliance Jio 4G services come bundled with several benefits for its users including cheap
4G data prices. Most of the Reliance Jio 4G plans gives come with free SMSes and free
WiFi data. Then theres voice calls, which is now free for life for Reliance Jio customers.
Also, the Reliance Jios wide suite of Jio apps offers access to on-demand music, video,
chat to name a few.
New features:
RIL has made it very clear: free voice calls (both local and STD) and no roaming charges
within India. Ambani, on September 1 announced the company will make voice calls free for
all its customers for life. Users will not need to pay for roaming (within India) either. The Jio
4G data plans include free SMSes as well. Theres free 100 SMSes per month for certain
plans and free 100 SMSes per day for others.
Tariff plans:
Reliance Jio tariff plans start at Rs 19 for prepaid and at Rs 149 for postpaid
users. Reliance Jio postpaid plan starts at Rs 149 for 300MB (1 month validity) and
access to 100 free SMSes. There are 7 more plans, all of which come with a validity of 28
days and offer 100 free SMSes per day.
The 4GB data plan at Rs 499 and gives users an access to 8GB of free WiFi data. Theres
10GB plan at Rs 999, which also comes with 20GB free WiFi data. The 20GB plan is priced
at Rs 1,499. It comes with 40GB free WiFi data.
Up next is 35GB plan, which costs Rs 2,499 and gives users an access to 70GB free WiFi
data. The 60GB and 75GB 4G data plans are priced at Rs 3,999 and Rs 4,999 respectively.
These come with 120GB and 150GB of free WiFi data respectively. Additionally, the 20GB,
35GB, 60GB and 75GB data plans come with 30, 50, 80 and 100 free ISD minutes.

Reliance Jio prepaid has 10 data plans ranging from XXS to XXXL. The XXS plan gives
users an access to 0.1GB data and 100 SMSes. Theres 4GB plan, 10GB, 20GB, 35GB and
60GB. The biggest (XXXL) plan comes at Rs 4,999 and gives users access to 75GB of
data. The companys S plan costs Rs 149 and comes with 0.3GB of data and 28 days
validity. The M plan is priced at Rs 499 for 4GB data and another M plan at Rs 999 for
10GB data. Reliance Jios L and XL plans are priced at Rs 1,499 and Rs 2,499. These
gives users an access to 20GB and 35GB data respectively. The XXL and XXXL plan offer
60GB and 75GB data at Rs 3,999 and Rs 4,999 respectively.
Jio apps:
Reliance Jio 4G comes with free unlimited access to Jio apps, which includes JioPlay,
JioOnDemand, JioBeats, JioMags, JioXpressNews, JioDrive, JioSecurity and JioMoney.
Those who wish to use Reliance Jio 4G services but do not have a smartphone which
supports 4G VoLTE, theres another way. Reliance JioFi is a hotspot device that connects
up to 10 2G/3G devices and one more through USB. The JioFi device is now cheaper by Rs
900 and is available for Rs 1,999 from the companys website.
Issues with Jio
It was not even a week since Mukesh Ambani-led RIL launched 4G telecom network,
Reliance Jio before its users reported high call drops.

This has threatened to be its first major hurdle as customers have already begun
voicing out their displeasure about the call drops and low speeds.
It has been noted that call drops are high while making voice calls to non-Jio
networks including those of Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, and Vodafone India.
Reliance accused the incumbent operators for not providing adequate points of
interconnection.
Rivals such as Airtel blamed this on Jios own under-preparedness stating that they
are providing adequate connectivity to take care of far more subscribers than Jio
actually has. They also criticized Jio for unleashing a tsunami of free traffic on their
networks.

In an attempt to counter this, Reliance took the fight against its incumbent rivals by making
live the data on call drops its users are experiencing due to Airtel, Vodafone and Idea not
providing enough interconnectivity during a 24-hour period.
Where did TRAI feel the need to intervene?
The TRAI which earlier suggested the operators to resolve the conflict among themselves,
has now felt the need to intervene as it has said the rates of call failure are unacceptable.

TRAI regulations limit dropped calls on POIs to five in every 1000 calls. Anything
beyond this and the operators would be held responsible for anti-competitive
behavior.
The regulator will seek explanations from the telecom operators on the reasons for
such call failures and decide on appropriate legal steps as necessary.

How can this be resolved?

The quality of service by network operators has plummeted over the years, and this can be
attributed to spectrum shortage, debt arising from 3G/4G auctions, and the towers being
taken down due to court rulings.

The launch has come in the wake of people acknowledging that they are unhappy
with their operators regardless of who they have subscribed to.
Facing stiff competition from incumbent players who lowered rates ahead of its
launch in response to claims of its disruptive prices, Jio has claimed to be the victim
in this battle and will look to build its case for more POIs.

This means the only way to resolve the issue is if the network operators in India decide to
work on improving the number and quality of towers in the country.

TOPIC 12:- Donald Trump as the next US President the

good and the bad!
Donald Trump is one candidate for the Presidential election whom no one can really
understand. Hes keen on the hate culture but is also popular when he shouldnt be. Hes a
racist and yet has followers everywhere. Hes blatantly anti-Muslim and yet he is supported.
Trump is openly blasted by fellow contestants and interviewers. He has a reputation for
being rude and insulting people when he doesnt seem to quite agree with them. Hes
winning opinion polls everywhere. No one seems to directly like this man but yet he has
supporter in large numbers who are silently hoping that he supported.
Previously, we have witnessed right wing leaders like Ronald Reagan being bashed when
they angered people with their hate speeches but now the same person is being held up
high. This is further creating hopes that despite all the shortcomings Trump could win
Elections 2016. Considering that he becomes the next President, there should be a list of
what
could
go
right
and
wrong.
Pros:
1. Speaks without fear: We may hate him for his outlandish way of handling questions
but there is no denying that Donald Trump would always speak without fear and
hesitation. Regardless of who he may please or displease, this man would always
address issues as it is. While politicians take to diplomacy, cry out fake tears and
polish their venomous words with sugar coatings, Trump prefers his words
unchecked, unpolished and not the least bit fabricated even if that caused quite a stir
that could have cost him his popularity going down.
2. Successful business: Apart from being the real estate mogul that he is, Donald
Trump is known for his shrewd business formulations, something that he will apply to
the economic constructions of the country and take it back to where it was or maybe
even higher. Heres a man who believes in dreaming high, working harder to make it
bigger than ever and then achieving it in every possible way. His real estate empire
is one living example of his successful venture.
3. From nadir to zenith: There is no ceasing to get impressed by Trumps nearly
bankrupt situation to the way he handled it to take it back to top notch. Someone
who understands how to stay strong during crisis is undoubtedly the best candidate
for the highest position of leadership for any nation. Even the big recession that hit
his projects hard couldnt stop this man from leading his business to zenith. That is
what America needs at this hour.

4. Jobs at large: For the economy to revert back to where it was creation of more jobs
is the big requirement and Donald Trump is quite focused in this field. His business
empire is responsible for the creation of so many jobs and some of the highest
recruitments which makes people hopeful of his intentions. He isnt much of a
political player but his understanding of politics as well as business is what makes
people think high of him and have expectations from him that are clearly visible from
the opinion polls.
5. The ever challenging: Donald Trump is one successful leader who rose up to
challenges and readily accepted them in all walks of life, emerging as the ultimate
winner wherever his eyes were set. His campaigning might have gained more
criticism than appreciation, he was bashed at large but he never succumbed to the
challenges. He took the criticism openly and answered each and every question that
was asked to shake him off his grounds. He fought back, brutal and tough, and
emerged unruffled by those who tried to get under his skin.

Cons:
1. Just words: Donald Trump doesnt measure his words before he utters them. While
this may look like a good thing it has its own cons. He doesnt think which implies he
doesnt measure the fact that what he says now, he will also have to consider
fulfilling them later. He is simply speaking things that he knows people will like to
hear. Can he really put a ban on all Muslims in America? No? Exactly! His lack of
experience shows clearly that he is an unfit candidate who would just speak what he
feels without any constraint of having to implement them later.
2. Racism gets you nowhere: He did get himself ashamed when he said that
Mexicans are killers, criminals, drug dealers and convicts. He wants to deport them
and then talks about how he has many good Mexican friends. This hypocrisy will not
get him anywhere, especially in a nation that has the largest diversity of immigrants.
When the whole world talks about getting rid of the plague that racism is, this man
contesting for the Presidential position of US makes the black sound like plague.
3. Narrow ideals: Trumps lack of experience shows clearly when he fails to
understand that America opts for freedom and wouldnt advocate anything that calls
for dividing people on basis of colour and religion. Just like all rightists, he is all
about supporting only the white Christians. His thought is irrational and there is no
relying on him for any betterment of the present state. Hate politics doesnt last, not
when you have Hitler as your favorite speech maker.

4. Business is all he cared for: When one has spent all his life gobbling money, he is
expected to have little insight of what life for common people ought to be like. He
talks about making the whole of America rich while ignoring the fact that people do
not get rich by promoting hate politics in a country has immigrants.
Donald Trump is one person who has got the whole world confused. He bullies people, a
handicapped who he imitated, a woman he insulted, an Indian journalist he kicked out of his
campaign, a turban man he poked fun on and many more and yet he is popular. He might
be relying on these stunts to make him popular but that wont last as long as he doesnt
really
pay
heed
to
understanding
basic
politics.
People still have high hopes on his shrewd businessman nature to nurture American
economy back to health. Lets just hope that his hate speeches are only for the sake of
popularity stunting and that he pays heed to the betterment of citizens.
Source:- http://www.careerride.com/