1. The movement of USDINR in September provides a clueto the timing of the transactions - in the absence of counterfactuals of what might have happened without RBI interventions.The INR strengthened in the first week of September - from 60.85 levels against the USD to 60.3 and then weakened sharply to 61.5 mid-September. Over September - the USD had strengthened secularly against other majors. ____________________________ RBI's USD purchase and sale would roughly have corresponded tothese periods.

2. Within a few decades - millions of seals were killed and entire islands were wiped clean. Then followed a mad rush for whales. The Antarctic Ocean in summer generated vast amounts of plankton that provided food for billions of krill - a shrimp-like creature._____________________________

3. The influx of foreign investment in e-commerce in India has left the government with a regulatory conundrum. On the one hand - it needs to protect the interest of brickand-mortar retailers. ____________________________ To further complicate the issue - the government also needstake into consideration the interests of brick-and-mortar retailers that are joint ventures between Indian and foreign companies.

4. The disturbing thing is that crude oil prices are rapidly falling towards the level where oil production from shale rocks will not make commercial sense. Producing oil in conventional fields costs about $25 or less per barrel. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling in shale rocks can cost $60-80 or higher. ____________________________ And US shale output - which has contributed handsomelyto the huge rise in oil supply - will be priced out of the market.

5. The retail landscape has changed globally and it is changing in India too. Over a decade ago - it was the large-format stores and malls that redefined the way people shopped in India. ____________________________Online markets have enabled small sellers - retailers - artisans and weavers to directly take their products to customers.

6. The recent changes in the PIO and OCI cards announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are welcome.____________________________ The overseas citizenship card (OCC) falls well short of genuine dual citizenship. Many of us overseas Indians have been demanding genuine dual citizenship - with full political and economic rights inIndia on par with the rights enjoyed by Indian citizens.

7. Development is necessary. But it is critical for it to be sustainable and responsive to the needs of local communities. ____________________________Above all - it needsto break the stranglehold of vested interests in'unsustainable development' and replace it with the custodians - stewards and caregivers of the health of the ecosystem.

8. erally be added to book profits in the year of realisation or disposal.

9. The assassination of the Russian Ambassador to Turkey by a lone gunman at an exhibition - in Ankara in Turkey last week - is clear evidence of the enlarging contours ofterrorism. Turkey is no longer a merely troubled country. ____________________________ The perpetrator - who was later shot dead by security forces - was a policeman said to have jihadist links.

10. The entire community is exposed to infection if even a few members defecate in the open. Rising literacy and exposure have helped change attitudes - but 'selling sanitation' remains a huge challenge.____________________________ It is clear that a lot more effort needs to go into the information education campaign (IEC) component of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

11. Banks - especially the Indian ones - are at the absolute front line - weathering digital impact on their customers - business models and employees. Critical as it is - digital readiness needs to be understood properly and correctly. _____________________________ Some people define it based on strategy and others based on frameworks.

12. Perhaps we should think of serious incentives and provision of cheap liquidity for fresh infrastructure lending. Incremental infra lending by banks can be refinanced by the RBI at cheap rates. Incremental infra lending can be given priority sector lending status. A part of the liquidity generated by foreign currency inflows can be directed solely towards fresh infrastructure investments. ____________________________

13. India is in the middle of a revolution in information and communication technology (ICT). The number of mobile phones has reached over 900 million - from just 2 million in 2000. The number of internet-users has risen from 50 million in 2008 to over 250 million currently.____________________________ ICT is spurring innovation and entrepreneurship - and boosting productivity in all areas it touches.

14. Concern of loss of management control is of much less importance compared to sacrifice of economic growth. Considering the potential of FDI to spur growth - India's ambivalence toward FDI is completely misplaced.____________________________Growth results from domestic investment from savings - from productivity improvements and from foreign investments.

15. To start with general levels of globalisation - take a look at the cross-border components of activities that couldtake place either domestically or internationally. On thetrade front - the world's exports-to-GDP ratio amountedto 32% in 2012.or more like 23% adjusted for doublecounting.____________________________

16. ____________________________ Collecting funds initiallythrough donations - borrowing or robbing banks and the rich are the first stage when terrorism/insurgency is internal. State sponsors are the starting point of all externally-originating terror activity and resort to extortion - kidnapping for ransom - smuggling and humantrafficking inevitably follows.Funds are needed to maintain cadres - arrange their training - weapons and shelter but - eventually - all terrorism becomes profitable business.