PayTM Payments Bank

In Press Release dated March 11, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India, in exercise of its powers under section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, had directed Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL or the bank) to stop onboarding of new customers with immediate effect.

2. The Comprehensive System Audit report and subsequent compliance validation report of the external auditors revealed persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank, warranting further supervisory action.

3. Accordingly, in exercise of its powers under section 35A of Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Reserve Bank of India, has today directed PPBL as below:

1. No further deposits or credit transactions or top ups shall be allowed in any customer accounts, prepaid instruments, wallets, FASTags, NCMC cards, etc. after February 29, 2024, other than any interest, cashbacks, or refunds which may be credited anytime.
2. Withdrawal or utilisation of balances by its customers from their accounts including savings bank accounts, current accounts, prepaid instruments, FASTags, National Common Mobility Cards, etc. are to be permitted without any restrictions, upto their available balance.
3. No other banking services, other than those referred in (ii) above, like fund transfers (irrespective of name and nature of services like AEPS, IMPS, etc.), BBPOU and UPI facility should be provided by the bank after February 29, 2024.
4. The Nodal Accounts of One97 Communications Ltd and Paytm Payments Services Ltd. are to be terminated at the earliest, in any case not later than February 29, 2024.
5. Settlement of all pipeline transactions and nodal accounts (in respect of all transactions initiated on or before February 29, 2024) shall be completed by March 15, 2024 and no further transactions shall be permitted thereafter.

Maqbool

Brilliant Shakespearean adaptation of Macbeth in “Maqbool” (2004), directed by Vishal Bharadwaj and starring Pankaj Kapur, Nazeeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Tabu, Irrfan Khan among others.

Its an adaptation of Macbeth into the Mumbai underworld milieu. I have not read Macbeth so i do not know that story. But Vishal Bharadwaj must have stayed close to the original story by Shakespeare.

Maqbool (Irrfan Khan) is a underling of the don Jehangir Khan or Abbaji (Pankaj Kapur) but he is almost like his heir. He is having an affair with Nimmi (Tabu) who is the mistress of Abbaji. Its an underworld fight gone wrong with the politicians playing the double game.

Nazeeruddin Shah and Om Puri are corrupt police officers in the informal pay roll of Abbaji. Abbaji’s daughter Sameera (Masumeh Makhija) is in love with the son Guddu of his trusted lieutenant Kaka (Piyush Mishra). As Maqbool wrests control of the empire, bodies start falling and there is an all out war between the two gangs with the police waiting in the wings to pounce upon the remaining members.

Its a dream star cast for Vishal Bharadwaj with three of the greatest stars in the same movie – Om Puri, Nazeeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapur, probably for the first time after “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron”. Pankaj Kapur’s character is based on Godfather Don Corleone. Even his mannerism, his talk, walk etc. are all ditto copied from Marlon Brando.

Tabu sizzles in the movie as the lusty mistress swinging for Maqbool and her distaste for her lover Abbaji. Irrfan Khan is as always magnificent in the central role of a loyal servant but at the same time unwilling to give up on his love interest and insecure about Guddu wresting control of the gang.

Deadly script with fast moving action sequences lends some authenticity to the movie. Vishal Bharadwaj has done full justice to the script and the original play of Shakespeare. IMDB 7/10

Killa

Beautifully sensitive award winning Marathi movie “Killa” (2014), directed by Avinash Arun and starring Archit Devadhar, Amruta Subhash, Parth Bhalerao, Gaurish Gawade among others.

Its a story of a young kid Chinmay (Archit Devadhar) who is relocated to Konkan when his mother (Amruta Subhash) is transferred in her job. She is honest in her work and Chinmay finds it difficult to adapt to the new school and new friends.

He has lost his father just one year back and uprooting from Pune to Konkan has created some issues for him. Luckily some friends gravitate to him and they become his soul mates. They go cycling to a fort where Chinmay gets lost.

Meanwhile his mother is forced to sign a document against her wishes and she is suspended and called for inquiry. Chinmay starts getting rebellious which hurts his mother very much. She is also coping with the loss of her husband but never in the movie she shows her grief at her loss.

Its a beautiful coming of age movie which displays a lot of the emotions between a single parent and her child, after the loss of one parent. Amruta Subhash and Archit Devadhar have acted quite splendidly and so do the other child actors. Cinematography is breathtaking and so is the background score. Very matured movie. IMDB 8/10

Animal

SPOILER ALERT

One of the worst movies i have ever watched and should rank as one of the worst movies ever made in over 120 years of Indian cinema. Animal directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Rashmika Mandanna, Triptii Dimri, Bobby Deol among others.

There is no story, no plot, Ranbir Kapoor rambles incoherently throughout the movie with his one expression on his face. Anil Kapoor is the busy angry father who has no time for his son and who in turn becomes a psycho hurting other people and defending his actions vigorously.

There is some family dispute which is unclear and so the revenge takes places in some vague manner. Revenge movies are bad with too much violence.

Inane dialogues which make no sense, pathetic direction, ridiculous scenes with the underwear and sex and pelvis and shaving — even a H grade small town movie would be better than this pathetic crap dished out in the name of cinema.

I wonder which producer has wasted his money on such rubbish product. IMDB 1/10 (actually it is 0.00001/10)

6.29 kms

Nice and easy 6.29 kms in chilly weather. Mumbai weather is awesome these days. Have a great day folks.

5.48 kms

And the training for the next half marathon starts in earnest. 5.48 kms on a chilly morning. Have a great day folks.

The White Tiger

Sensational Indian drama movie “The White Tiger” (2021) directed by Ramin Bahrani and starring Adarsh Gaurav, Rajjkumar Rao, Priyanka Chopra Jonas among others.

Its an adaptation of a novel of the same name written by Aravind Adiga which won the Booker prize in 2008.

The movie stays true to the plot in the book, although i have not read the book, i have read his other book “High Tower”. Adiga writes beautifully but his books has an element of noir in it, especially the ending.

Balram Halwai (Adarsh Gaurav) is a poor kid in a poor town of Dhanbad but it has got coal interests and so somebody makes money. His father is a rickshaw puller but he dies of tuberculosis and penniless. His grandmother is a crafty old woman who makes these kids work for money which she usurps.

He sees a way out of poverty by becoming a driver to his master’s second son Ashok (Rajkummar Rao) who has just returned from US with his American wife Pinky (Priyanka Chopra). Ashok and Pinky wants to get out of their rotten family business, but they are unable to do so.

They go to Delhi to bribe the politicians and one fine night, Pinky kills a young kid. The blame is put on Balram and Pinky leaves her husband for good. Ashok goes into depression and Balram seeing a way out of the mess, starts thinking of himself instead of only his master.

That is when his tide turns, albeit it starts with a crime. He says poor get out of poverty only through crime and politics, but crime inevitably comes first.

Brilliant acting by Adarsh Gaurav, the newest kid on the block he is brimming with talent. Watch out for him in the future, he is going to make names just like Vikrant Massey another talented actor.

Rajkummar Rao is bold to take such movies in which he is not even the main character and his character degrades so much. Priyanka is okay but she has got screen presence in plenty. The background score by Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurrians is exquisite.

The screenplay by Iranian American Ramin Brahini is brilliant and his deft direction makes presence. Cinematography by Paolo Carrera is superb. Worth a movie this magnificient movie. IMDB 8/10

The Husband

Thrilling crime suspense from Dean Koontz “The Husband”

Mitch Rafferty who is an ordinary landscape architect gets embroiled in a deadly saga of terror in which his wife is kidnapped for ransom of 2 million dollars whereas he has only about 10000 dollars in his bank account.

The plot starts unravelling for Mitch when he enlists his brother Anson for support. Anson is a successful business man but he is not what it turns out to be, an elder brother for support.

Mitch’s parents are killed and out of 5 kidnappers, four are killed. Mitch in turns accidently kills one kidnapper and the police are after him, sensing something wrong happening.

Nice narrative by Dean Koontz keeps the reader occupied throughout this fast paced thriller. Goodreads 4/5

TMM Half Marathon

Ran the TMM half marathon today in a time of 2.27.11 hours, which is the season’s best time for me this year. I have been running the Mumbai Marathon, since 2005. It is now known as Tata Mumbai Marathon, but which until 5 years ago, was known as the SCMM, Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon.

The plan was to run easy but that went out of the window, as the 2nd km itself opened out onto sea link. There was no space to run in the first 3 kms due to the large number of runners, but then onwards, it was dodging one runner after another.

I thought of doing the positive split and take it easy from 11 km onwards, but went all out until just after 15 kms when there was a hill climb at Pedder Road. Half the hill i ran but had to walk the rest and from then onwards the pace dropped considerably, which was okay with me.

i took only 3 walking breaks and they were only for greeting my fellow club runners who were manning the water stalls at various points. Otherwise i am satisfied with the results.

After the race, we had to walk a lot through a throng of runners and then i took some water to cool down, splashed it on my face and around my neck and face. I sat down on the grass for a while recovering the spasm of cramps that were enveloping around my toes.

Overall arrangements were good for a mega city race which took on 59,000 runners from all over India and abroad.

Zodiac

American true crime mystery movie “Zodiac” (2007) directed by David Fincher and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr. among others. 

Its based on a true crimes committed by one Zodiac who left ciphers and sent letters to the San Francisco Chronicle. Jake Gyllenhaal is a cartoonist in the SFC and Robert Downey Jr. a reporter in the same newspaper. 

Mark Ruffalo is handling the case but they get no clues. They interview one Arthur Leigh Allen and all clues point to him as the possible Zodiac. But the handwriting match turns negative and the case is lost. 

Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) pursues the case doggedly though he is only a cartoonist and not a police man. He is interested in the cipher code and does a lot of leg work which points him to Arthur Leigh Allen. 

Mike Mageau who is the survivor from the first shooting of the couple in 1969 identifies Allen as the man who shot him. But by the time they start investigation, Allen dies of a heart attack. 

So officially this case remains unsolved in America’s crime history. A rather longish movie which painstakingly takes the viewers through the happenings from 1969 onwards to more than 25 years later. A lot of detailing has gone into the script. 

Of the actors, both Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo have done good roles as required of them. IMDB 5/10

penalty on ESAF bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated January 05, 2024 imposed a monetary penalty of ₹2.95 million on ESAF Small Finance Bank Limited (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Customer Service in Banks’.

Background

The statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE 2022) of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022. The examination of the Risk Assessment Report (RAR) pertaining to ISE 2022, and all related correspondence in that regard, revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the aforesaid directions by the bank to the extent it (i) allowed its certain Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) account holders to open savings bank deposit account; and (ii) failed to close certain savings bank deposit accounts within thirty days from the date of opening of BSBD accounts for such customers. Consequently, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for failure to comply with the said directions, as stated therein.

monetary penalty on PSB

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated January 03, 2024 imposed a monetary penalty of ₹10 million on Punjab and Sind Bank (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’.

Background

The Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (lSE 2022) of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022. The examination of the Risk Assessment Report / Inspection Report pertaining to ISE 2022, and all related correspondence in that regard, revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the aforesaid direction by the bank, to the extent it sanctioned a term loan to a Corporation (i) in lieu of or to substitute budgetary resources envisaged for certain projects; (ii) without undertaking due diligence on the viability and bankability of the projects to ensure that revenue streams from the projects were sufficient to take care of the debt servicing obligations; and (iii) the repayment / servicing of which was made out of budgetary resources. Consequently, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for failure to comply with the said directions issued by RBI, as stated therein.

penalty on Dhanlaxmi Bank

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated January 08, 2024, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹12.047 million on Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd. (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions’, ‘Reserve Bank of lndia (Know Your Customer (KYC)) Directions, 2016‘ and ‘Reserve Bank of lndia (Interest Rate on Deposits) Directions, 2016‘.

Background

The Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE 2022) of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022. The examination of the Risk Assessment Report/Inspection Report pertaining to ISE 2022, and all related correspondence in that regard, revealed, inter alia, non-compliance with the aforesaid directions by the bank, to the extent it (1) sanctioned loans to certain borrowers against pledge of gold ornaments and jewellery for non-agricultural purposes exceeding 75 per cent of the value of gold ornaments and jewellery, (ii) offered interest rate applicable to normal term deposits on certain senior citizen term deposits instead of higher rate of interest applicable to such deposits, (iii) did not obtain PAN or Form 60 for certain term deposit accounts (exceeding fifty thousand rupees), and (iv) allotted multiple Customer Identification Code to certain individual customers instead of a Unique Customer Identification Code (UCIC) to each customer. Consequently, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for the failure to comply with the directions issued by RBI, as stated therein.

Citizen X

Award winning American true crime movie “Citizen X” (1995) directed by Chris Gerolmo and starring Stephen Rea, Donald Sutherland, Jeffrey DeMunn, Max Von Sydow among others. 

Its a true story of a serial killer in Soviet Union who went undetected for more than a decade killing 52 young kids. He targeted kids who were alone, took them to the woods and killed them after sexually molesting them. 

The dreaded Soviet bureacracy prevented any kind of serious attempts at catching the killer for fear of spoiling the image of their country. It took a determined effort of Lt. Victor Burakov (Stephen Rea) subtly supported by his superior Col. Mikhail Fetisov (Donald Sutherland). 

Andrei Chikatilo (Jeffrey DeMunn) was a worker in a factory with a frustrated sex life and serious psychological problems. He used to prey upon young kids at railway stations. He was arrested once but allowed to go because he was a “respectable” member of the communist party. 

It took glasnost and perestroika in 1990 to loosen the strict bureacracy and make serious attempts to capture the serial killer. After he is caught Andrei stalled all attempts at breaking him down until Dr. Bukhanovsky (Max Von Sydow) a psychiatrist subtly tricks him into confessing. 

Nice taut direction with all the elements of drama and tension in the script. Stephen Rea and Jeffrey DeMunn have acted quite well in their roles. True crime movie worth watching. IMDB 5/10

Under Orders

Another fast paced thriller from Dick Francis based on his favorite topic, horse racing in “Under Orders”

Sid Halley is an ex-race jockey turned sleuth. He became detective because of an accident in the race tracks. When three deaths take place on the same day as the Cheltenham Gold cup, he gets worried.

Two of the persons who died Huw Walker and Bill Barton were his close friends and he knew of their honesty. So when he starts poking his nose into the murky dealings pertaining to the deaths and the race fixing, his Dutch girl friend Marina gets a hit.

She is badly hurt not once, but twice and though Halley is anxious, he does not stop the investigation. More untruths tumble out as he goes deeper into the mess that is horse racing what with online betting and fixing races in such a way that nobody suspects.

Peter Enstone is one suspect though a suspense of sorts is there towards the end. Juliet Burns was an assistant trainer to Bill Barton’s horse stable. George Lochs owns a betting website and he has a past history. Nice narrative as usual by Dick Francis, he revels is this kind of story. Goodreads 5/5