2021 and Beyond

 

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...” This is how Charles Dickens begins his novel, A Tale of Two Cities.

Bottom of Form

Vision and Strategies Change

 This is an apt description of this age. We are at a maddening speed in technologies. Industry 4.0 has entered. Artificial intelligence, block chain technologies, man machine learning, robotics are the decisive forces of change in most organisations. Digital applications are replacing the traditional gurus (teachers). Tick boxes define the success of persons, whether in schools or office selections. People would like to travel, if possible, at the speed of light. Several corporates are rewriting their vision and strategy documents.   

 Conflicting Contours

 If those characteristics define the age of wisdom, street fights, large family divorces, abandoned children in larger numbers than before, failures in inter-country relationships redefining trade rules, ignoring climate warnings, several persons yearning to cross the boundaries aiming high only to know that ‘distant hills look green’, reflect the age of foolishness. 

 Mobocracy Vs Democracy

 With Joe Biden taking over the reins of the largest democracy, democracy would appear to be on the path of restoration. But, on the other hand, in India, with the unrelenting farmers’ agitation, mobocracy seem to be asserting itself, mainly because of the failure in following the Constitutional process for a well-thought-out reform in the sector. With 123 amendments, Indian Constitution seems to be under attack off and on and begs for a comprehensive overhaul, so as to keep the Fundamental Rights enshrined there intact.

 Financial Sector 

 In the financial sector, Covid-19 shook the world while in India, the scenario is much worse as frauds and cybercrimes are surging, threatening financial stability. Reforms in this sector should move strategies ahead of structures. Two World Bank economists in a recent blog commenting on asset purchases in emerging markets and developing economies, say that unconventional policies and unconventional times had set in. “History is a reminder to central bank’s credibility if asset purchase programs are used for prolonged monetary financing of fiscal deficits.”

 Investments in water, environment, natural resources, education, health and hygiene, and emerging technologies would be the defining features of sustainability.

 Ethics in Governance and Yoga

 Ethics in governance and transformation processes seem to be of criticality. Albert Einstein had said, “We should be men of values rather than men of success, ” Winston Churchill had said “We should extend values beyond our homes.” The corporate executives are selling their professional skills and not their conscience. It is the attitude to life and the value system one has to cherish and live with. Values are not like a sensex graph varying every day or with every person. Values are universal in character. It is the application of values that has been undergoing a change. Clean minds are as important as clean physics and dharmic yoga makes more sense than mere physical yoga embraced by people in different parts of the world, with PM Modi’s clarion call to the nation since 2014. 

 Post Covid, the stars surface

 During this third millennium, with sputnik science reaching for livable space even on Jupiter and the moon, India would be moving ahead of other nations and prove its leadership in space technologies. She has already proved herself as a leader in pharmaceuticals and software and would move its best foot forward in the transformational world. No wonder McKinsey in its most recent article has put Asia as the leader of the future and generations will define the future in terms of pre-Covid and post Covid. 

 The year 2021 and beyond will see the world transiting to a different horizon. The wisdom of the aged will fall behind the expectations of youth and it is this youth that are going to redefine the age ahead. I am not a soothsayer but the writings on the wall are clear.

 (The writer, an economist and risk management specialist, is author of “Roots to Fruits – The Journey of A Development Banker.” The views are personal.) 

   https://www.moneylife.in/article/2021-and-beyond/62745.html

 

 

 

Democracy is in peril - Save Democracies

 Indian Express today carried a banner story with the title: "When history is rewritten, US Courts many be singled out for protecting national elections. Capitol Hill was put to flames and the whole of US should have been in rage. But there are a section of Republicans insisting on the reversal of election process with Trump hegemony to continue. 

There are an estimated 33mn expatriots and several Indians among them serving in the most reputed IT firms either with \US base or with India base. Their voice should also be heard. 

India stands out with the Supreme Court readying to deliver its judgment today on the Farmers' agitation against the three Farm Laws. Most protestors are from the three States of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh in the lead and some vested interests joining them. While it is true that the Acts have come into being without the expressed consent of the State Governments ruled by non-NDA States, there are a few silent supporters to these farm laws. 

Politics of India are dominated by the elitist farmers who were able to exploit the small and marginal farmers and vested interests ruling the Agricultural Market Yards in the States. They now throw the blame on these Acts as capitalistic and in support of capitalists and contract farmers. 

Contract farming is in vogue for the past two decades in one form or other. Organized Retail markets only enhanced their presence but to the absolute advantage of both the farmers, Collective farm organizations, and the customers of farm products. Today will be the historic day when the highest Court would decide their fate.

This apart, there are many a legislation like the one relating to universal identification through Aadhar Card identification that would also see the judgment today.

 "Public Perceptions: Public perceptions play an important role in policy formulation and implementation. In a 2014 report by Oxfam International titled Working for the Few polling from across the world captures the belief of many that laws and regulations are now de-signed to benefit the rich. A survey in six countries (Spain, Brazil, India, South Africa, the UK, and the US) showed that a majority of the people believe that laws are skewed in favor of the rich. Public expectations and perceptions, therefore, need to be considered seriously in public policy management in a democratic set-up.

 

Free Speech: This has been one of the key tests of democracy. After the social media platforms started giving expression to the free speech, governments in different parts of the world, without India as exception, started controlling it. Interestingly the Economist in its issue dated October 24, 2020 reported: “Our cover this week is about the rules of free speech in the era of social media. As online outrage mounts, pressure is growing to restrict ever more material. The big tech firms’ shifting attempts to clean up their platforms mean that a handful of unelected executives are determining the boundaries of what people can say: Is that good for society?" (Excerpt from my Autobiography: "Roots to Fruits, Part 2 Chapter 3, Development, Democracy, and Development with Human Development Focus").

Both Public perception and Free Speech are crucial elements of Constitutional Democracies. This does not imply that outrage and destruction are part of such expressions leading to tremendous waste of public resources at the will of the people. It is time that people who are against such outrage should have a free voice against them.