Some articles I read in the week ended 19 Jan 2019

Interesting post by Deepak Shenoy on SBI selling Essal Steel exposure. There is one interview of SBI MD reasoning the logic behind it

Opinion: Why Is SBI Selling the Essar Steel Debt, One Day Before A Court Decision On The Resolution?https://capitalmind.in/2019/01/opinion-why-is-sbi-selling-the-essar-steel-debt-one-day-before-a-court-decision-on-the-resolution/

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/jet-airways-resolution-plan-to-be-crystallised-very-soon-says-sbi-chairman-rajnish-k 

About Essar Steel, he said, "There is a time value for money and the way we have worked out it is that we are putting time value for the realisable amount and that is how the entire offer-for-sale (OFS) has been restructured so the message is all around that every day, it is costing lenders Rs 17 crore, my share is nearly 25-30 percent. So we don't want to wait indefinitely."

Canada's vast pension fund is gaining even more financial clout

Its performance matters beyond Canada not just because of its holdings of global assets, but because many other countries, with their ageing populations and poorly funded pension schemes, might hope to draw lessons from it. https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/01/19/canadas-vast-pension-fund-is-gaining-even-more-financial-clout

Rafale deal: Is it about air power or political power?

Now the UPA's demand to reveal the additional technology and firepower on these aircraft, in the public domain, (which it knows, can't be done) is contestable. It would give away its India-specific capabilities that would allow our adversaries to put in place counter-measures. The questions thus are: why all this noise by the opposition parties? Is there a desire to even get over the ghost of Bofors that haunts the Congress party and hasn't allowed any big arms deal to go through since the 1980s? 

https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/rafale-deal-air-power-political-power-sukhoi-30-congress-bjp-upa-nda-indian-air-force-iaf/279141

The Central Bank of Russia shifts its reserves away from the dollar

Although the share of rouble- and yuan-denominated transactions has been growing, the finance ministry reckons three-quarters of bilateral trade with China still rides the greenback. *Ending the dollar's dominance is not so easy* https://economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/01/17/the-central-bank-of-russia-shifts-its-reserves-away-from-the-dollar

'They Own the System': Amazon Rewrites Book Industry by Marching Into Publishing - WSJ

"They aren't gaming the system," literary agent Rick Pascocello said. "They own the system." The promotional levers that Amazon has built to lure consumers can boost the opportunities of little-known writers and recharge the careers of experienced authors such as Mr. Sullivan. Amazon Publishing, the company's book-publishing unit, together with its self-published authors, has made it a fierce competitor in lucrative genres including romance. https://www.wsj.com/articles/they-own-the-system-amazon-rewrites-book-industry-by-turning-into-a-publisher-11547655267

IRDA Claim Settlement Ratio 2017-18| Best Life Insurance Company in 2019

https://www.basunivesh.com/2019/01/18/latest-irda-claim-settlement-ratio-2017-18/