The CEO of ICICI Bank has seen several ups and downs in her 25-year career. But the allegations of conflict of interest could be her toughest challenge yet.
India’s civil services were once called the ‘steel frame’. But steel is forged in fire, not moulded in a coaching class. While dilution has made the exam easier, it has also made it harder to find the game-changers we need.
SEBI probe concluded that purported loans and fund transfers were paid back in full and did not amount to deceptive market practices or unreported related party transactions.
Many really smart people now share the position that playing cricket with Pakistan is politically, strategically and morally wrong. It is just a poor appreciation of competitive sport.
Normally political parties are using every development to score points against each other, why this deafening silence from ruling party and opposition? What does it tell you about the people involved? Govt which cannot do one thing on time has gone and given clean chit in no time – why? Board with two government representatives would not have given clean chit without govt blessings, so board’s view should be seen as govt view. If you are sufficient high in the food chain, you can buy patronage using other people’s money with little accountability. When you have patrons on both sides, there’s deafening silence!
The issue is not about Ms Kochhar’s competence, or her contribution to the growth of the institution. She deserves to be where she is. At some stage, in an out of the box situation, she could have been tapped by the government to head the RBI. However, the financial arrangement her husband entered into with the Dhoot family, to whose group the bank has a large exposure, now gone bad, seems to have conflict of interest written all over it. A leading industrialist would not personally partner with a start up, however promising, and then hand over the entire entity. There are legitimate questions that will need to be answered.
This controversy is best analysed through Cordelia Fine’s recent book ‘Testosterone Rex’ in which she argues against the prevalent perception that women make cautious and more responsible bankers. Fine states “The ubiquitous image of the cautious female banker, carefully handling capital as though it were a newborn baby, is more figment than fact” and that putting women in senior banking positions are NOT the most effective way to decrease instances of irresponsible banking and financial transactions, summing it up in strong words “The best antidote for bankers selling junk products isn’t women; it’s a dismissal slip.”
Normally political parties are using every development to score points against each other, why this deafening silence from ruling party and opposition? What does it tell you about the people involved? Govt which cannot do one thing on time has gone and given clean chit in no time – why? Board with two government representatives would not have given clean chit without govt blessings, so board’s view should be seen as govt view. If you are sufficient high in the food chain, you can buy patronage using other people’s money with little accountability. When you have patrons on both sides, there’s deafening silence!
no objectivity.
A FAWNING BIOGRAPHY
The issue is not about Ms Kochhar’s competence, or her contribution to the growth of the institution. She deserves to be where she is. At some stage, in an out of the box situation, she could have been tapped by the government to head the RBI. However, the financial arrangement her husband entered into with the Dhoot family, to whose group the bank has a large exposure, now gone bad, seems to have conflict of interest written all over it. A leading industrialist would not personally partner with a start up, however promising, and then hand over the entire entity. There are legitimate questions that will need to be answered.
This controversy is best analysed through Cordelia Fine’s recent book ‘Testosterone Rex’ in which she argues against the prevalent perception that women make cautious and more responsible bankers. Fine states “The ubiquitous image of the cautious female banker, carefully handling capital as though it were a newborn baby, is more figment than fact” and that putting women in senior banking positions are NOT the most effective way to decrease instances of irresponsible banking and financial transactions, summing it up in strong words “The best antidote for bankers selling junk products isn’t women; it’s a dismissal slip.”