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The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill 2017, or FRDI Bill, which is expected to be moved during the short forthcoming winter session of Parliament, has rightly created a serious concern among all sections of depositors with banks and financial institutions as it seeks to dilute the security of deposits in case of institutional failure. Although the government, under growing public pressure, tried to defend the provisions of FRDI Bill, last week, saying the proposed legislation is aimed at protecting the interest of depositors, few are really willing to buy such an assurance. There are several issues. One of them is the ‘bail-in’ provision in the new bill, which seeks to allow a government entity to use depositors' money to save a financial institution on the verge of bankruptcy. An online petition against the Bill by a Mumbai-based lady, Shilpa Shree, has got some 40,000 sign-ups within 24 hours, supporting her appeal to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to not let this Bill pass with the provision. The finance minister responded quickly in a twit saying: “The objective of the government is to fully protect the interest of the financial institutions and the depositors. The government stands committed to this objective.”

Union Government in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has decided to set up an umbrella organization called Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC), subsuming the existing individual status of three Media Units of DAVP the Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity, DFP the Directorate of Field Publicity and S&DD the Songs & Drama Division, thus converting them into three separate Divisions under the overarching BOC. The intended objective is to provide integrated coordinated approach of the three Divisions under BOC’s unified command.

Opinion polls on TV placed the BJP at the top of the heap, poised to win Gujarat yet another time. The opinion polls went ballistic on the Hardikfactor but declared it will not change the verdict: The BJP will win. The ‘Other Media’ – mostly news websites – does not speak of Hardik Patel. It went to the ‘people’ to find out which way the wind blows. The verdict: The BJP is out on a limb. The Congress will win.

Every time a Malayali gets sober and sits down to down a peg or two, some or the other bunch of politicians in power remind him that there is a slip between the cup and the lip. This time, the slip is age: A 23-year-old can raise a toast but a 21-year-old cannot stand in line for his quarter and pint!

If bureaucrats had their way, they would have long stopped the earth from revolving around the sun. At least they would have issued an order banning it. Because they live on the earth, and by revolving around the sun, the earth is making their heads spin. And if at all anything must revolve, it can be the other way around: the sun can revolve while the earth stays stationary, which will still produce day and night as only the parts of earth facing the sun will have light falling on them while the other parts will remain dark. Then they will assign a certain fancy name and number to the rule and prosecute both sun and the earth for violation.

How fast the election scene is changing in Gujarat is reflected in the poll surveys conducted now and when the poll dates were announced. The Gujarat elections could be a dead heat between BJP and the Congress, according to an opinion poll released on last Monday (Dec 4). The poll predicted that both parties—Congress and BJP—would get 43 per cent each. This means victory for either of the two parties but the ground reality shows that wind is blowing in favour of the Congress. Who knows—it may turn into a hurricane? That’s what Congress leaders say. However, poll surveys predict a victory, may be a narrow one for the BJP, with the party getting 91 to 99 seats in the 182-member house while the Congress would get 78 to 86 seats.

The Dalai Lama wants to return home. And home is Tibet. Home is Lhasa. Home is Pottala Palace. The Dalai Lama’s voice once rang and bounced off the walls of the Pottala Palace. China now owns Tibet, Lhasa and Pottala Palace. If he returns, China will own the Dalai Lama, too.

The armed forces are miffed with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and mad at the Modi government for putting a cap on educational expenses paid to the children of armed forces personnel killed in action.

The Office of RG finally got the message and pulled out Mani Shankar Aiyer’s thick file and suspended him from the primary membership of the Congress for his Neech lexicon, and for sleeping with the very enemy he called Neech!

Doctor patient relationship is a pious one, based on trust and faith. That is why a patient feels better going to a certain doctor; but the same medicines given by another doctor may not lead to the same improvement. In routine cases, the patients wait for long without complaining so that they can meet the doctor they trust. This relationship is important because it is a question of one's own body or of kiths and kin with whom he is emotionally attached. Any untoward happening during the course of treatment is not acceptable. But if the existing relationship has been on strong bonds, there is a possibility of rapprochement. It is not a small thing that even today patients treat the doctor next to god. That is a result of faith bestowed upon by the patient on the doctor, who is seen not only as a healer of one's medical sufferings but also a counselor on personal and family matters. The godly image of the doctor is developed in the eyes of the patient because of the conviction that the doctor would always be ethical and his or her conduct would based on moral principles.