<div>Two glittering events centred around power-packed panel discussions in Mumbai and Delhi, respectively, became the magnets for the banking industry last week. The who’s who trooped in for the unveiling of the most authoritative book on the industry —Businessworld’s ‘Contemporary Banking in India’, edited by Naina Lal Kidwai, HSBC’s country head and executive director on its Asia-Pacific board. Kidwai kicked off the Mumbai event with an expansive account of the 14-month journey of editing the book with some of the industry’s best minds. “It’s a celebration of one of India’s most robust sectors. <br /><br />A sector that has withstood global headwinds, a sector that has done us well through the ups and downs of volatility over the last 3-4 years,” she said. The essayists include the PM’s Economic Advisory Council chairman C. Rangarajan, RBI governor Duvvuri Subbarao, ICICI Bank MD Chanda Kochhar and Bharti Group chairman Sunil Mittal, besides other distinguished bankers, financiers and academicians. The panel discussion that followed on Contemporary Banking in India had some forceful arguments put forward by HDFC Bank’s MD Aditya Puri, ICICI Bank’s Chanda Kochhar and Viral Acharya, professor of finance, Stern School of Business, NYU. L&T Finance’s CMD Y.M. Deosthalee held forth for the NBFC sector. <br /><br />The Delhi event was put in perspective by the opening remarks of D.D. Purkayastha, MD of BW’s parent, the ABP Group. “Challenges of the next decade will test our banking system and the leadership in our banks even more,” he said. The evening warmed up to an animated discussion moderated by Kidwai. She was joined by Adil Zainulbhai, chairman, McKinsey India; Arun Duggal, chairman, Shriram Capital; Jaspal Bindra, group executive director and CEO, Asia, Standard Chartered Bank; M.D. Mallya, CMD, Bank of Baroda; Nachiket Mor, chairman, SughaVazhvu Health Care; Rana Kapoor, founder, MD and CEO, YES Bank; and Business Standard chairman T.N. Ninan. Glenlivet was the associate partner for the event while The Oberoi Group was hospitality partner.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px; line-height: normal; ">(This story was published in Businessworld Issue Dated 10-09-2012)</span> </div>
