Do you know what Narayan Murthy says about demonetisation?
Kolkata: Describing himself as "not an expert on economics", Infosys co-founder and India's IT industry doyen N R Narayana Murthy on Wednesday said he could not understand the logic behind the Narendra Modi government's note ban move in November 2016, particularly when it remonetised the monetary system with same or even higher denomination currency notes.
He, however, felt the demonetisation move was largely welcomed by rural people but not by the urban intellectual.
"Though I am not expert, but as a lay person I saw that when, for some reason, old notes were demonetised, the government introduced new notes pretty quickly of the same denomination and even of higher denomination. Only an expert can answer why this happened. I cannot understand... you should talk to experts," Murthy said at an interactive session with the students of Presidency University here.
Murthy further said, "I am not an expert in economics but I saw that urban intellectuals did not buy the idea of demonetisation, but a majority of rural Indians seemed to have welcomed it."
Emphasising on striking a balance between automation and human beings, he said: "We can take a decision...we will not follow automation up to certain level of our manufacture or services."
Murthy also stressed upon the transformation of culture and mindset of people of India before the economic transformation.
"There is a need for cultural transformation and that is more important than economic transformation. Unless there is cultural and mindset transformation, economic transformation cannot take place," he said.
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NDA's win in Bihar Assembly bypolls a matter of concern: Prashant Kishor
Patna, Nov 23: Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Saturday dubbed as "a matter of concern" the NDA's win in assembly by-polls in Bihar despite "failure" of the BJP-led coalition to end the state's chronic backwardness during it's decades-long rule.
Talking to reporters here shortly after the results were out, Kishor also drew succour from the fact that his fledgling Jan Suraaj won "10 per cent" of the total votes polled in four seats, but rubbished the claim that it had played a role in the RJD's defeat in three of these.
"RJD is a 30-year-old party. The son of its state president finished third. Can Jan Suraaj be faulted for that? In Belaganj all Muslim votes went to the JD(U) candidate. In Imamganj, the Jan Suraaj cut into NDA votes. Else, the victory margin of (Union minister) Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha would have been bigger", asserted Kishor.
Notably, Imamganj, a reserved seat, was retained by Manjhi's daughter-in-law Deepa, who defeated the RJD candidate by a thin margin of less than 6,000 votes. Jan Suraaj candidate Jitendra Paswan finished third, polling more than 37,000 votes.
When pointed out that in three of the four seats, candidates of Jan Suraaj had polled less than one-sixth of the total votes and ran the risk of losing their deposits, Kishor shot back "That should not be a matter of concern (chinta ki baat). If there is a matter of concern, it is the ability of the NDA to make a clean sweep despite having ruled Bihar for so long and "failed" to end the state's backwardness".
The IPAC founder, who had a brief stint in the JD(U), insisted that the party's supremo Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, was a "spent force" and its candidate, former MLC Manorama Devi, had won on her own steam.
"We have always said that our fight is with NDA, not with RJD despite its claim of being the largest party in Bihar.....(but) Nitish Kumar is no factor. His party polled just about 11 per cent of total votes", said Kishor.
About his own party's inability to make a mark, Kishor said "We have secured 10 per cent votes..... in seats where Jan Suraaj had no presence since these areas were yet to be covered by my padyatra. Also, please note that we got our poll symbol after filing of nomination papers was over".
He also maintained that the Jan Suraaj will go solo in the assembly polls due next year when it will contest "all 243 seats".
"We were initially written off but by garnering about 10 per cent votes, in a state known to vote along predictable caste lines, we have proved a point. In the next few months we shall be strengthening the organization to ensure that vote share of the Jan Suraaj improves", he said.
