Thomas Franco, Author at Centre for Financial Accountability

LIC IPO is a scandal, SEBI, IRDAI and the Supreme Court must intervene!

The Life Insurance Corporation of India’s (LIC) Initial Public Offer (IPO) has been opaque and only after the issue of t...

General Random Reflections

Article

Why are you killing excellent institutions, Nirmala ji?

Every single institution built up during the last 75 years is either being weakened, strangulated or killed at a slow pa...

General Random Reflections

Article

It’s Not Freebies, it’s Our Right!

On 3rd April, the Prime Minister held a meeting with the Secretaries of various departments. As per reports, several to...

General Random Reflections

Article

Pension and other Social Security – India lags far behind

Our country’s constitution talks of equality, equal opportunity and social justice. But unfortunately, even after 74 ye...

General Random Reflections

Article

Amidst Authoritarian Regimes, Terrible Labour Conditions & Privatization, What’s the Future of our Youth?

Across the globe, we are seeing a rise in authoritarian regimes. Vladimir Putin in Russia, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, R.T...

General Random Reflections

Article

Has the SBI become too big to govern?

‘The rot within’ is the title of an article by Ms Purnima. S. Tripathi, wrote in Frontline magazine, in its ...

General Random Reflections

Article

Tata gets a loan at 4.5%, but the poor pay over 26% for microfinance!

On 14th March 2022, RBI issued revised instructions for microfinance loans to the poor by Non-Banking Financial Companie...

General Random Reflections

Article

How did the banks help BJP to win UP?

BJP has secured a landslide win in Uttar Pradesh and there are many reasons stated in the press and on the TV discussion...

General Random Reflections

Article

Should Corporates Own Banks?

“It would be difficult to undertake credit planning unless the linked control of Industry and Banks in the hands is snap...

General Random Reflections

Article

ABG Shipyard Scam- Need for Accountability and Overhaul of the System

To begin the story, here is a gist of media reporting on the issue- ABG Shipyard was incorporated on 15th March 1985 as ...

General Random Reflections

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May 5, 2022

Thomas Franco

LIC IPO is a scandal, SEBI, IRDAI and the Supreme Court must intervene!

The Life Insurance Corporation of India’s (LIC) Initial Public Offer (IPO) has been opaque and only after the issue of the Red Herring Prospectus(RHP) some details have emerged. From the initial proposal of 5% sale of shares to fetch around Rs.75000 crore the sale is down to 3.5% to get around Rs.21...

General Random Reflections

Article

May 2, 2022

Thomas Franco

Why are you killing excellent institutions, Nirmala ji?

Every single institution built up during the last 75 years is either being weakened, strangulated or killed at a slow pace. We are seeing a weakened Election Commission, strangulated Judiciary as stated by the Chief Justice of India. Development Financial Institutions have been killed over a period ...

General Random Reflections

Article

April 25, 2022

Thomas Franco

It’s Not Freebies, it’s Our Right!

On 3rd April, the Prime Minister held a meeting with the Secretaries of various departments. As per reports, several top bureaucrats flagged their concerns over populist schemes and freebies announced by political parties during assembly elections, going to the extent of warning that the state coul...

General Random Reflections

Article

April 16, 2022

Thomas Franco

Pension and other Social Security – India lags far behind

Our country’s constitution talks of equality, equal opportunity and social justice. But unfortunately, even after 74 years, we lag far behind in social security. The organised workers who form just 3% of the total workforce in the country get contributory provident fund, gratuity, and pension. Even...

General Random Reflections

Article

April 2, 2022

Thomas Franco

Amidst Authoritarian Regimes, Terrible Labour Conditions & Privatization, What’s the Future of our Youth?

Across the globe, we are seeing a rise in authoritarian regimes. Vladimir Putin in Russia, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, R.T. Erdoğan in Turkey, Xi Jinping in China and Narendra Modi in India are glaring examples, yet there are more. Democracy is being thwarted using various means, but let us discuss th...

General Random Reflections

Article

March 26, 2022

Thomas Franco

Has the SBI become too big to govern?

‘The rot within’ is the title of an article by Ms Purnima. S. Tripathi, wrote in Frontline magazine, in its March 25, 2022 issue. The article further states – ‘State Bank of India, India’s largest bank, is plagued with a host of problems, mostly related to wages, perks, and pension...

General Random Reflections

Article

March 19, 2022

Thomas Franco

Tata gets a loan at 4.5%, but the poor pay over 26% for microfinance!

On 14th March 2022, RBI issued revised instructions for microfinance loans to the poor by Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) called Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs). Their website published a draft on 14 June 2021. The draft has been criticised by several women’s organisations and a numb...

General Random Reflections

Article

March 11, 2022

Thomas Franco

How did the banks help BJP to win UP?

BJP has secured a landslide win in Uttar Pradesh and there are many reasons stated in the press and on the TV discussions, but one which has not come to focus is how the schemes implemented by banks helped BJP in securing a victory. Over the last 7 to 8 years, the banks have been forced to lend unde...

General Random Reflections

Article

March 4, 2022

Thomas Franco

Should Corporates Own Banks?

“It would be difficult to undertake credit planning unless the linked control of Industry and Banks in the hands is snapped by Nationalisation of Banks,” said R K Hazari in the R K Hazari Committee’s report on Industrial Planning and Licencing Policy in 1966. This was one of the reasons for Na...

General Random Reflections

Article

February 19, 2022

Thomas Franco

ABG Shipyard Scam- Need for Accountability and Overhaul of the System

To begin the story, here is a gist of media reporting on the issue- ABG Shipyard was incorporated on 15th March 1985 as a ship building and repair business in Gujarat with an office in Mumbai. Its Chairman as well as Managing Director is Rishi Kamlesh Agarwal and Directors are Santhanam Muthasamy, A...

General Random Reflections

Article

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