oppn parties Big Banks Will Need To Be Leaner And Better Governed

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Tiranga Rally Is Excellent. Breaking The Law Was Not

October 17, 2026

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News Snippets

  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Big Banks Will Need To Be Leaner And Better Governed

By Sunil Garodia

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The government has rightly taken a decision to merge some PSU banks to create bigger, and hopefully better, banks. This magazine had been the first to cite sources to report that a mega merger of banks was on the cards over a week ago. But a merger of banks can only be successful if several other things are streamlined. Smaller banks have lesser checks and balances but serve a purpose in catering to regional areas and small businesses. But with a plethora of banking licenses issued now and a host of NBFCs catering to such needs, they have outlived their purpose. Bigger banks with better checks and balances and stronger balance sheets can focus on big projects and evaluate the risk factors in a better way. They can be more competitive, locally as well as globally, and can benefit from economies of scale if the problems of overstaffing, multiple branches at close-by locations and decision-making inertia are taken care of.

The government has announced that it will allow banks to appoint chief risk officers at market-linked remuneration. This is a step in the right direction. But if banking is to be taken to greater heights, market-linked remuneration has to be offered to all. The additional revenue outgo on this account can be neutralized if staff strength and number of branches is reduced. But bank unions are very vigilant and will not allow this. Hence, the most important thing now is to bring the unions on board.

The other thing to be tackled is related to technology. Banks in India use two platforms for core banking and merging the platforms is very difficult. The SBI and some other banks use TCS developed BaNCS while the Bank of Baroda and some others use Finacle developed by Infosys. Although the government has taken care to merge banks on the same platform, going forward, the need is to have a common tech platform for all banks.

The government must also tackle the decision-making inertia that has gripped PSU banks due to big loans going bad and the needle of suspicion pointing to collusion by bank officers. Some senior officers of many banks involved in major scams have been arrested too. This has made even senior bank officers fearful of taking decisions. With the state of the economy, big projects are also not being planned. Rajnish Kumar, the Chairman of SBI, has said that the reports of liquidity crunch in the banking sector are not true as the SBI is willing to lend up to Rs 1 lakh crore but there are no big borrowers. This is a problem that can only be solved if demand for goods and services rises and entrepreneurs plan big projects. But creating big banks, streamlining risk assessment processes and appointing risk officers will ensure that the banking system will be ready for lending to entrepreneurs when they plan big projects as and when demand picks up.

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