Center For Study Of Regional Aspirations

Ajit Jha, Assist. Professor - ISID and Shishu Ranjan, Political and Economic Analyst As alarm bells for the 2019 general elections have begun ringing, political parties, in order to maximise their gains, have started playing their smart and nifty electoral strategies.  It is most likely that this time a bi-polar contest could be held between the BJP-led NDA and the Congress -led UPA or a larger alliance of regional parties. From this perspective, UP and Bihar are two crucial states that send 120  Lok   Sabha  members to parliament.  But it has been observed that more than development-related issue, it has been caste factor which has played a dominate role in winning or losing an election. In the past, elections in Bihar have shown multiple political realignments. As the 2019 parliamentary polls draw nearer and seat sharing issue among political parties is not resolved, there are chances of further realignments in the state. Some of the small caste-based parties are holdi

Mr. Shishu Ranjan Economist and Banker As the long wait for India Post to start as a bank gets over, it enters into a financial world full of complexities, cut throat competition, increasing cost, and depleting interest margins. It will be very interesting and exciting to see the journey of Indian Post Payment Bank (IPPB) now onwards. Only time will tell how this new entrant will grow up to deal with the challenges and rise to the opportunities in order to strengthen the banking sector which is considered to be backbone of any economy.  How a new entrant competes with other bank depends on many factors. One such is brand. Such is the importance of brand value that the Royal Enfield is competing with Harley Davidson  motercycles very well even though Harley’s products are of much better quality. At least in this aspect, India Post brand for IPPB is going to give existing banks run for their money. Most of the Indian Citizens have emotional connection with India Post. This emo