Monthly Archives: September 2021

Iraq has climbed the ranks on various economic indicators over the past decade as the government's fiscal reforms aimed at ensuring stability bear fruit, according to the 2020 Legatum Prosperity Index.

Iraq rose five places to 137th position out of 167 countries in 2020, up from 142nd place in 2010 when it was one of the least prosperous countries, the index shows.

It scored higher for its open economy particularly economic quality, market access and infrastructure as well as social inclusion, although its people empowerment fell by one spot.

"Prosperity is far more than wealth; it is when all people have the opportunity and freedom to thrive. Prosperity is underpinned by an inclusive society, with a strong contract that protects the fundamental liberties and security of every individual," the Legatum Institute's report said.

"It is driven by an open economy that harnesses ideas and talent to create sustainable pathways out of poverty. And it is built by empowered people, who contribute and play their part in creating a society that promotes well-being," the UK-based think tank said.

The World Bank estimates Iraq's economy will grow 1.9 per cent this year, and expand 6.3 per cent over the next two years, on the back of rebounding oil prices and rising Opec+ production quotas. Non-oil GDP is forecast to recover in 2021, growing by 5.5 per cent.

The Legatum Prosperity Index, now in its 14th year, assesses how well countries promote the economic and social well-being of their residents in three domains: inclusive societies, open economies and empowered people.

Iraq's score rose for two out of these three overarching categories that determine a country's prosperity performance.

The country rose three notches in the inclusive society category, which includes sub-divisions of safety and security, personal freedom, governance and social capital. It jumped seven ranks in the open economy category, which includes sub-divisions of the investment environment, enterprise conditions, market access and economic quality.

However, it dropped one rank in the people empowerment category that includes measures of living conditions, health, education and natural environment.

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Iraq is poised to attract significant foreign investment into its energy sector, in tandem with expected higher revenues following the Opec+ decision to raise output that will help strengthen its weak fiscal position. Baghdad is a founding member of Opec and the group's second-largest producer,

"The recent recovery in oil prices provides an opportunity to push ahead with reforms," the World Bank said in its Spring 2021 Iraq Economic Monitor. "With oil prices trending above the US$60/barrel, Iraq could engage actively on the white paper reforms and use those windfalls to soften the potential repercussion of those reforms."

The country's economic outlook hinges on global oil market prospects, the implementation of reforms and the evolution of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Washington-based lender said.

The Covid-19 crisis, combined with a decline in oil revenues last year from low global demand and Opec+ output cuts, dealt a severe blow to the country's rentier economy. Like many countries affected by the pandemic, Iraq's economy contracted 10.4 per cent in 2020 after growing 4.5 per cent the previous year, according to the World Bank.

Iraqs economy is expected to return to pre-pandemic economic growth levels by 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Iraq has begun taking much-needed steps towards ensuring future economic stability.

The Central Bank of Iraq devalued the currency by about 23 per cent against the US dollar in December a move the IMF expects to help reduce external imbalances and preserve foreign exchange reserves.

The draft 2021 budget is intended to cut the fiscal deficit through various measures to raise non-oil revenue and contain the unsustainable expansion of pension bills and government wages, the IMF said.

In July, Moodys Investors Service affirmed the Caa1 long-term non-investment grade rating of Iraq and maintained its stable outlook.

Meanwhile, Denmark topped the global index, with European nations dominating nine of the top 10 spots and New Zealand coming in at 7th place.

The UAE maintained its position as the most prosperous Arab nation for the 14th year in a row. The Emirates scored highly for its open economy, particularly its enterprise conditions, market access and infrastructure, putting the nation in 42nd position out of 167 countries.

Updated: September 20th 2021, 8:00 AM

The rest is here:

Iraq advances in prosperity index as economic reforms bear fruit - The National

Picture a Scientist, a documentary depicting the groundswell of women scientists working to further gender equity in STEM, is going viral. Its goal is to potentially act as a catalyst for reflection and discussion and foster diversity, equity, and inclusion in science. If there is inequity in science, a field that precludes bias and discrimination by design, we can only imagine the state of inequality in spaces where gender matters.

Gender equality is a moral, business and an intellectual imperative. It is undebatable and independent of profession or affiliation or gender. Gender equality benefits both men and women. Barriers for women must be knocked down at every level.

Feminism is the notion that each individual should be free to develop their own talents and not be held back by man-made barriers. Amongst the other hurdles in the way of womens empowerment are implicit bias and gender stereotypes. Stereotypes related to gender brilliance or gender-based intrinsic aptitude or domestic responsibilities are instances of implicit bias, revealing automatic associations that people cannot or, at least, do not report holding when asked directly. Implicit biases generate inequity which remains unnoticed.

Due to deep-rooted biases, it is difficult for women to access many experiences and networks that are easily accessible to men. Personal barriers include notions of compromise and sacrifice that are ingrained in women another reflection of culture and society. This feeds into how women present themselves and the opportunities they take advantage of and also shape the responsibilities they are entrusted with. External barriers relate to the subtle, and often unspoken, societal and cultural cues which reinforce how men and women ought to behave. Our socio-cultural constructs reflect absolute patriarchal entrenchment, causing even women to be sceptical about their abilities, to accept the roles set for them in the household and to trade empowerment for male protection.

There is gender segregation in high-level jobs with more men in strategic functions and women in support functions. These glass walls occur through a combination of unconscious biases in career and recruitment processes, benevolent sexism where well-intended men can inadvertently kill careers with kindness, and socialised masculine behaviours which dissuade women from certain occupational choices. It is essential to create awareness of inherent injustice and biases. There has been a very gradual change in the representation and the status of women globally. Incremental changes, although realistic and necessary, are intangible and go partially unnoticed. The rate of change definitely needs to increase by several orders of magnitude.

The problem in India in STEM is quite different from the problem in the West in that many girls in India study STEM subjects but the number of women who stay on and pursue higher degrees and then go on to higher positions are fewer. In such cases of gender disparity, what matter are the decisions of marriage and childbearing, and the fact that a womans well-being and dignity are not necessarily in her hands. Gender sensitisation involves being cognisant of biological differences, recognising the needs of either sex and creating safe spaces without gender bias.

The issue of womens empowerment in India contains a strange paradox. There are women in powerful positions in many fields but, at the same time, several women have minimal rights. In the capital, New Delhi, and in the political realm, there have been many powerful women. However, the high rate of crimes against women, including murder, rape, and female infanticide, in the nations capital shows that political power and intellectual presence are not transferred. Untangling this paradox and fostering equality requires overcoming social, economic and cultural barriers, and implicit biases at the grassroots.

There is thus a need for a major upheaval in mindsets about gender in India, a social and cultural change in what is perceived as right and wrong for women. Policies that help women advance in science and society globally are needed. The world cannot afford to miss out on what women have to offer.

This column first appeared in the print edition on September 18, 2021 under the title Breaking the glass walls. The writer is senior principal scientist in the biological engineering unit of the chemical engineering and process development division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.

See the article here:

Break down the glass walls for women in STEM - The Indian Express

If you want to know where the Republican Party is headed, you need to set aside your assumptions and simply listen to what its leaders and activists sayespecially when theyre talking amongst themselves. As a reporter and author on the religious right beat over the past dozen years, Ive made a point of attending such meetings, especially those that focus on the religious right leadership and strategists who command the movements voter turnout machine. Lately, Ive been hearing things that might surpriseand alarmthose who see the movement only from a distance.

A good venue to catch up on the latest thinking inside the movement that wants to take America back to a place that never existed is this summers Road to Majority convention, an annual gathering of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, which was held this year at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida.

In recent years, the convention has brought together the big Republican names with the on-the-ground activists who delivered the largest and most reliable slice of the Trump electorate. Dozens of featured speakers this year included Mike Pence, Ted Cruz, Marsha Blackburn, Ron DeSantis, Lindsey Graham, and Madison Cawthorn.

I came away from my listening experience in Kissimmee with a few surprisesor at least a few takeaways that may challenge some of the narratives that prevail in the center and on the left about Americas Christian nationalist movement. The first is that any Democrats who take comfort from the thought that demography is destiny are probably deluding themselves. The received wisdom on the center-left is that Americas homegrown authoritarian faction is an affair largely concentrated on an older, whiter base that is just now exiting the stage of history with loud grievances in hand. But thats not how the leaders of the movement see thingsand the broader picture may indeed be a bit more complex.

Of the many religious-right strategy gatherings Ive attended over the years, this was among the most ethnically and racially diverse. I am pleased to be able to report that we have 200 African American pastors and community organizers who are here this week and over 500 Hispanic pastors and community organizers, and we are going to keep going until this movement embraces the full diversity of our country, said Ralph Reed. By my count, over 30 of the roughly 70 speakers were Black or Latino.

The diversity on display at the conference reflects the fact that the religious right has been making a sizable effort to cultivate conservative-leaning Latino and Black voters of faith. Much of the action starts by attracting religious leaders from communities of color, who are often drawn into larger pastoral networks such as Watchmen on the Wall and Ministeros Hispanos. An aspect of the diversity push, to be sure, is merely performative, a means of reassuring white voters that they arent racist after all. But the strategy works with a nonnegligible number of voters of color, too. Between 2016 and 2020, Trump made substantial gains among Latino voters in particular.

In Kissimmee, the speakers, and especially the speakers of color, had a unified message about race, and it was one that Democratic strategists might wish to note as they craft their own messaging and outreach in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections. Speaker after speaker at the Road to Majority Policy Conference asserted that they believe in an America where race doesnt define youwhere opportunity is there for all who strive for it.

Never mind the Republican Partys efforts to promote McCarthyist laws that restrict discussions of the history of racism and other supposedly divisive concepts in American schools; or its leaderships denigrating characterizations of political leaders of color with whom they disagree. And who here really cares that the Republican Party has championed voter suppression and gerrymandering that disproportionately affect voters of color and others in democratic-leaning districts, or that some Republican leaders tolerate or even court the support of white supremacists? The fact is, this message has presumably convinced some peopleincluding those at the gathering in Kissimmeethat their party is the one on the side of equality and justice for all, while the other side is the one that insists on characterizing everybody by the color of their skin.

C.L. Bryant, a right-wing television and radio host, made the point with an anecdote about a long-ago confrontation with his grandfather over his Afrocentric style. He said these words: Sonny . . . I didnt go through all that I went through so that you could be Black. I went through all that I went through so that you could be free.

Its a message that has a strong appeal to some immigrants, as Jennifer S. Carroll, a former Navy commander born in Trinidad who served as lieutenant governor of Florida, made clear at a panel titled Majority Minority. I wanted to give back to my country because my country gave myself and my family so much, said Carroll. And thats what immigrants are all about. Recognizing that this country is a special place. The only place in the land that can give a person like me the ladders to climb if I choose to climb it.

Carroll delivered her comments with passionate sincerity. But as one speaker after another offered the same caricature of critical race theory as the centerpiece of their presentations, I was reminded of statements from Christopher F. Rufo, a conservative activist and architect of this new front in the culture wars: We have successfully frozen their brandcritical race theoryinto the public conversation and are steadily driving up negative perceptions, he wrote on Twitter. The goal is to have the public read something crazy in the newspaper and immediately think critical race theory. We have decodified the term and will recodify it to annex the entire range of cultural constructions that are unpopular with Americans.

At a Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference the following month the drumbeat continued. What are our parents around the country doing to stop critical race theory from taking over our schools, what are we doing to stop them from taking over our corporations, taking over sports, even taking over the military? said David M. McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth. Martin Luther King had a dream: that we would judge or be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin. . . . But radical Marxists have taken over this movement they call critical race theory that shames our children, treats them differently and punishes them based on the color of their skin. And tells them America, our country, our capitalist free markets, our constitution are evil and irretrievable.

According to a June report in Media Matters, in the prior three and a half months, critical race theory was mentioned on Fox News nearly two thousand times. By comparison, in November 2020, there were just four mentions.

The second surprise on my listening tour was more of the I cant believe this is actually happening variety. Over the past two decades, the imminent demise of the religious right has been predicted with casual confidence many times, and the often unspoken assumption is that the movement will turn watery as it fades away. But that isnt what the people at the Road to Majority conference or CPAC think at all. This movement is getting ideologically harder, hotter, and more extreme in every way as it moves forward into the future.

Two decades ago, an ideology called Seven Mountains Dominionism was considered so fringy that it was never allowed near the podium with Republican political leaders. Now, that very same ideology is a heartbeat away from everything that happens in the Republican Party. This year, in fact, the Road to Majority featured a breakout session titled The Seven Mountains of Influence.

Seven Mountains dominionism is the conviction that Christians of a certain hyperconservative variety should rightfully dominate the main peaks of modern civilization in the United States and, ultimately, the world. The ideology reportedly got its start in 1975, when Loren Cunningham, a missionary leader, and Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (now known as Cru), allegedly heard messages from God urging them to invade the seven spheres of society, which by their reckoning included government, media, education, business, entertainment, religion, and family. According to the late C. Peter Wagner, a key proponent of the ideology, the responsibility of Christians to take over whatever molder of culture or subdivision God has placed them in is really a matter of taking dominion back from Satan.

That last bit about Satan gets to the throbbing heart of this political ideology. In Kissimmee, speakers and panelists inveighed that America is on the precipice, careening toward a socialist revolution, anarchy, and chaos, and is under the thumb of the most despicable human beings imaginablenamely Democrats, who were referred to as the enemy, Satanic, and agents of evil. Panelist and religious activist Johnny Enlow, who has authored multiple books on the Seven Mountains, warned that if Christians dont fight to conquer darkness, the world goes under control of the deep state, illuminati, demonic possession for hundreds of years, thats what were facing.

Describing what she claimed to be a Democratic voter registration operation targeting Puerto Ricans coming to America after Hurricane Maria, Adianis Morales Robles, a GOP operative and religious right activist, said, God was showing me the injustices that these organizations, these demonic organizations, are doing to our people.

For decades, this kind of blatantly theocratic political ideology lived on the fringes of the Republican Party, where leaders might toss its adherents a gratifying wink while pretending to the outside world that they didnt really exist. Those days are over. In Kissimmee, at the conclusion of The Seven Mountains of Influence breakout session, comprised entirely of panelists of color, Ralph Reed stopped by to offer praise and encouragement. I want you to know that my commitment to building bridges in the African American community is not about politics, he said as dozens of attendees rushed toward the stage to get selfies with the speakers. This is about the Kingdom of God. Other speakers and panelists at the Road to Majority convention invoked the language and goals of Seven Mountains dominionism as if it were simply shorthand for the Republican agenda.

You got to put on the full armor of God, said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, alluding to a passage from Ephesians thats often used to invoke a spiritual war against the devil. You got to take a stand, take a stand against the lefts schemes.

The end-of-the-world vision at the heart of the new Republican orthodoxy may help explain a further observation: The people who attend these kinds of religious nationalist gatheringsthe activist backbone of the Republican Partyare in no mood to back down from the January 6 attempt to subvert the presidential election through a brutal and disgraceful attack on our Capitol. Sometime around January 7, some parts of the mainstream wisdom coalesced around the idea that the Republican Party now had a chance to separate itself from the anti-democratic elements within. That moment has passed. There will be no reckoning within the Republican Party over Donald Trumps attempted coup, and any Republican who tries will be excluded from gatherings like these.

In conversation with conference organizer Ralph Reed, Eric Metaxas let it be known that the real victims of the January 6 event were the good people who ransacked the Capitol. He fired an arrow across their bow (his words) to Republican leaders: Any Republican that has not spoken in defense of the January 6 people to me is dead. Theyre dead.

The right-wing political commentator and activist Dinesh DSouza, also in conversation with Ralph Reed, echoed the sentiment. The people who are getting shafted right now are the January 6 protesters, he said. We wont defend our guys even when theyre good guys.

Reed nodded and replied, I think Trump taught our movement a lot.

At CPAC, January 6 was even reconceived as a possibly Democratic plot. [The Biden] administration is about tyrannical rule. They dont follow the Constitution, said Allen West, former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, before he recast events driven by far-right extremists as bizarre and possibly Democratic conspiracies. On January 6 the sergeant at arms had turned down, on behalf of the speaker, having the National Guard there to help protect the Capitol. Why did that happen? You think they were setting things up? Well I do.

In Kissimmee, perhaps the sole wry note of commentary on the character of the former president was provided by Senator Lindsey Graham, who quipped, We came to find common ground. The common ground is that [former president Trump] likes [himself], and I have come to like him, But I heard no expressions of remorse, misgivings, or even doubt about the greatness of Donald Trump and his administration. Bottom line is President Trump delivered, dont you think? Graham concluded. This partyor at least the hard rock of its base represented in this gatheringis moving toward, not away from Trumpism.

And yet, notwithstanding the apocalyptic rhetoric and visceral hatred of the liberal enemy that seemed to exude from every presentation and panel (Democratic strategists take note), this is a party and movement that is determined to telegraph confidence in the future and tell a positive story about America. Im going to count this as something of a surprise, toobecause the conventional narratives on the left hold that any movement so steeped in fear and loathing cannot possibly have a positive mindset, and that narrative turns out to be false, at least to the people here on the ground.

Speaker after speaker told hopeful stories of personal triumph and presented a vision of an America characterized by what they call freedom, opportunity, personal empowerment, and spiritual fulfillment. Party loyalists in Kissimmee passionately conveyed the message that this happy future is within their graspthey just need to trample a few demonic organizations to get there.

A final aspect of todays Christian nationalism that deserves more attention than it gets is the role of extreme money in shaping the movement. Too often the nature and goals of the movement are explainedand explained awayin purely social terms, as the reactions of a large mass of believers who see the world of their youth slipping away. We too easily forget that building an effective political movement of this kind takes a lot of moneyand that money isnt shy about speaking its mind.

A good place to witness the union of money and God would surely have been the Ziklag Group gathering, which took place at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Dallas in mid-June.

Named after a Philistine town that biblical King David used as a retreat from which to mount his battle against the Amalekites, the Ziklag Group is affiliated with United in Purpose, a data, networking, and messaging organization thats played a substantial role in turning out the conservative Christian vote in past elections. You can get a sense of the Ziklag Groups true raison dtre from a glance at its membership/attendee criteria, which appeared on the invitation. Attendance, I learned, was limited to those who are committed to Christ, are humble in spirit, and have demonstrated success in business with significant financial means, defined as a net worth of at least $25 million.

Having come up, among other things, a few million dollars short on their admissions requirements, I cant offer any takeaways from the Ziklag Groups gathering. But the invitation I saw showed that, just like the Road to Majority gathering in Kissimmee, it prominently featured a Seven Mountains Mandate workshop along with its list of noted keynote speakers including Mike Pence.

But one difference between the gatherings in Kissimmee and Dallas has to do with the certainty of payoffs. Whether the tax cuts, budget cuts, and non-regulation of markets that are the reliable outcome of Republican politics will work to the benefit of the diverse crowd that gathered in Kissimmee is doubtful. That they will serve the interests of the extravagantly rich attendees of the Ziklag Group gathering, on the other hand, is certain. That, presumably, is why the kind of people who attended the event in Dallas are likely footing most of the bill for events like these that unite the Republican Party around a radical vision, even as they deepen our countrys political divisions.

Katherine Stewart is the author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism (Bloomsbury). Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Review of Books, and The New Republic. This article was originally published by Religion Dispatches, a publication of Political Research Associates, on August 9, 2021.

Original post:

What's Missing From Popular Discussions of Today's Christian Nationalism - The Washington Spectator

Celebrities and fashion icons dazzled at New York City's ultimate night of glamour and haute couture on Monday evening. Making her grand debut at The Costume Institute Benefit was none other than chic billionaire philanthropist, Sudha Reddy who joined the likes of Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Kendall Jenner, Kris Jenner, ASAP Rocky and others.

The wife of billionaire Megha Krishna Reddy has been stealing the limelight ever since her outing at the Global Gift Gala alongside Elizabeth Hurley, and never fails to impress everyone with her sartorial fashion choices.After serving some major fashion goals on her 40th birthday, the fashionista and art aficionado once again made headlines with her red carpet appearance at the Metropolitan Museum Of Art, looking every bit of a designers muse in a breathtakingly opulent ensemble.

Making a regal entry in a spanking white Rolls Royce, the chic philanthropist debuted at the glamorous soire donning a bespoke ensemble assembled by Falguni Shane Peacock, Chanel, Judith Leiber and Farah Ali Khan. Keeping up with this years theme and maintaining an Indian touch to her outing, the business doyennes military-inspired haute couture look was inspired by the American Revolution.

While Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Isha Ambani and Natasha Poonawala have attended the do in the past, the elegant entrepreneur becomes the first non-film luminary from Telangana and the only Indian celebrity to be invited for the extravaganza this year.

We caught up with her for a quick tete a tete -

Firstly, how do you feel being the only Indian at "Party Of The Year," the "Super Bowl Of Fashion," and the "Oscars Of The East Coast?

Incredibly blessed and humbled. Im always looking forward to putting India on the world map. For me this was an opportunity to showcase not just myself but represent my country and my city. While the Met Gala is the greatest fashion night, for me it was an opportunity to propel the cause of benevolence and align with individuals who see the merit and potential in the concept of giving back to society.

Can you describe those last moments in the car before landing on the red carpet?

All that was running through my mind was its showtime and my big golden moment to get the spotlight of my city, Hyderabad on the world stage! At that moment I was feeling proud, humbled and honored.

Tell us about your experience at the event?

Exciting and overwhelming. It was a surreal experience and Ive made so many amazing memories! I had interesting interactions with Donatella Versace, Gigi Hadid, Karlie Kloss, Lil Nas X, Anna Wintour amongst others. All I wanted to do was shine the light on the brown renaissance and how Indians have arrived on the world stage in every sphere practically and I achieved that somewhere!

Lastly there is a lot of potential for South Asian representation at mainstream events such as the Met. What was this year like in this respect, and where do you think this representation can go?

I feel South Asian representation is still very marginalized at these events. I would have liked to see more South Asians and Indians at the event as I believe Indians are making a mark in every field across the world and they need to be celebrated at such global outings. Given how our lives have drastically changed post the pandemic, I would have also loved to see participation from personalities from the field of medicine, law, business, social service etc and not just celebrities from the world of fashion and entertainment at such events. Hailed as one of India Inc's most noteworthy do-gooders, Sudha Reddy propounds the inclusive microcosm of billionaires. Moving from cheque philanthropy' to hands-on philanthropy', the Sudha Reddy Foundation works towards causes of affordable healthcare and accessible education. She spearheads Megha Group Of Industries and TruJet Airlines. She was the only Indian to be nominated for The Global Gift Empowerment Of Women Award. With a commitment and vision to continually pledge out of her personal wealth, she handed over grants to two charities viz. Action Against Hunger and Fight Hunger Foundation and 'Breast Cancer Research Foundation' in Paris with Elizabeth Hurley in attendance.

Excerpt from:

Hyderabads billionaire philanthropist, Sudha Reddy is a cynosure of all eyes at the 2021 Met Gala - Fortune India

Earlier this month, India unveiled the Account Aggregator (AA) network with eight of Indias largest banks participating in the network marking the first step towards bringing open banking in India

The service of AA is available for both individuals and enterprises and any financial institution registered with RBI, SEBI, IRDA and PFRDA can be FIP or FIU

The ensuing status of this ecosystem will depend on several factors like participation of all the stakeholders, the security of the financial data, working of the consent architecture of the customers, different aspects of technology at the end of the Account Aggregators, etc

In todays time, we all deal with a number of financial service providers each one of them providing one or more services which makes it certainly inconvenient for the users to keep track of their finances since all the information cannot be provided at the same place and there is no framework for consolidation of all such financial information. With an aim to resolve this inconvenience, in 2016, the Reserve Bank of India had proposed setting up a framework for account aggregators. These Account Aggregators are expected to fill this gap by collecting data from, Financial Information Providers (FIP) that hold your personal financial data like banks and providing the information of customers financial assets in a consolidated, organized and retrievable manner to the customer or any other Financial Information Users (FIU) like lending agencies etc. Earlier this month, India unveiled the Account Aggregator (AA) network with eight of Indias largest banks participating in the network marking the first step towards bringing open banking in India.

The service of AA is available for both individual and enterprises and any financial institution registered with RBI, SEBI, IRDA and PFRDA can be FIP or FIU. The network also has technical service providers (TSPs) participating in the ecosystem who collaborate with other participants to deliver vide range of fintech products and services.

Sahamati is a self-organized Account Aggregator ecosystem collective that is facilitating the ecosystem and it prescribes standards, promotes interoperability, and prevents participants from engaging in anti-competitive behavior, as well as serves as a source of information for the AA ecosystem. The AA ecosystem is designed so that each FIP and FIU is enabled to work with every AA in the ecosystem network, rather than only with those with whom they have a bilateral agreement. Once any FIP/FIU is certified and added to the Central Registry, any approved AA can connect with them. Registering with AA network is not mandatory for all participants and the network allows complete unmasked information unlike other central registries.

Financial Information means information about all kinds of financial services availed by the user including all kinds of bank/ NBFC deposits, mutual funds, stocks, insurance policies etc. However, currently, only asset-based data is available and other data types shall be added over time.

Every aspect of the AA network will be consent driven. The consent architecture includes one consent artefact to authorize the AA to obtain information from the FIP and other artefact authorizes the FIU/Customer to request aggregated information from the AA. The customers shall also be provided an option to revoke consent to obtain information that is rendered accessible by a consent artefact, including the ability to revoke consent to obtain parts of such information.

Upon receipt of the request with consent and only after the verification of the consent is done, the financial information provider shall digitally sign the financial information and transmit the same to the Account Aggregator in a secure manner in real-time. The customers will also be able to view a dashboard and a list of consents given and revoked in the application to track the information shared with financial institutions.

The data being transmitted through the AA is encrypted by the sender and can be decrypted only by the recipient and AA cannot see the data, they merely take it from one financial institution to another based on an individuals direction and consent. Also, AAs are not allowed to store, process and sell the customers data. This is designed to ensure AAs do not have a conflict of interest when designing processes to obtain consent for access to user data. AAs arenotexpected to aggregate customers data and create detailed profiles however, an AA application, not the AA itself, will have access to the balances of your accounts. The decrypting of this happens on the device of the end customer and very basic analytics may be done on the users app/ device.

Further, in order to ensure greater security and protection of the information the Account Aggregators are prohibited from accessing user credentials, keeping or residing with itself the financial information of the customer accessed by it and indulging in activities such as supporting transactions by customers or undertaking any other business other than the business of account aggregator. This also seems to suggest that the Account Aggregators has no role to play in verifying or reconciling the correctness of the financial information retrieved and shared.

The AA network is primarily based on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) framework which is built on the premise that users have control over their data, which can be used for their empowerment.The framework for business of an Account Aggregator is designed to be entirely Information Technology (IT) driven and AAs are required to adhere to IT frameworkand interfaces to ensure secure data flows from the financial information providers to their own systems and onwards to the financial information users.The IT systems are also expected to have adequate safeguards to ensure they are protected against unauthorized access, alteration, destruction, disclosure or dissemination of records and data. The AAs shall be subjected to Information System Audit at least once in two years and report is to be submitted to the RBI.

The launch of the AA network has received a positive and welcoming response among the financial service providers especially the lending institutions and is being longed to bring in a revolution in the nature and form of the financial information sought and the manner in which it was shared to the lenders for processing a loan application. An applicant will now be able to share all his financial and transaction information required by a lending institution seamlessly through the AA which shall equip the lender with granular information and facilitate the lender to make quick and more informed decision. Being a completely technology driven network it will reduce the time taken by FIUs to access, verify and analyze the financial information. However, one hitch is that, to understand a customers credit behavior a lender is supposed to have all of the requisite information and since here the customer has the control and option to pick and choose the information he wants to be shared, the customer may avoid to sharing a particular crucial financial information that would impact the lenders decision or it may have to again resort for traditional mode of submission.

To conclude, at the framework and programmatic level, the system of Accounts Aggregators is prepared to achieve its dual goal, first to consolidate the financial information for users and vest with them full control over its information/ data which is being shared through the ecosystem customers and second to digitalize the way in which financial information is shared with financial institutions thereby facilitating real time sharing of information and speedier provision of financial services. The ensuing status of this ecosystem will depend on several factors like participation of all the stakeholders, the security of the financial data, working of the consent architecture of the customers, different aspects of technology at the end of the Account Aggregators, etc.

More here:

Account Aggregation: Consent Driven Consolidation And Sharing Of All Financial Information Through One App ... - Inc42 Media