The increase in foreign ownership of banks in emerging markets is one facet of the ongoing consolidation of banking systems in both mature and emerging markets. The franchise value of banking license reflects the discounted value of the net profits. That bank would be expected to earn over time. For instance, telephone and electronic banking, have been widely used by foreign banks to gain market penetration in European markets and more recently in emerging markets, especially in Asia.
What if the history of India could be read through a glass? In Toddy to Tequila , Sandhya Mulchandani turns alcohol into an unexpected historical guide, moving from Vedic rituals and indigenous brews to Mughal courts, colonial trade and modern distilleries. Her subject is never simply drinking. It is faith, pleasure, prohibition, commerce, class, power and the people caught between them. Have you ever wondered what your drink says about the country you live in? Perhaps you are sitting somewhere with a drink in front of you. Nothing dramatic. No Mughal durbar. No colonial club with men in linen suits pretending the weather is not trying to kill them. You might be holding whisky. Or feni. Or beer. Perhaps a cocktail with a name that requires three attempts before you can pronounce it without embarrassing yourself. Perhaps it is toddy, poured from a humble container that has travelled a very long distance from the fashionable cocktail menus of modern India. Now ask yourself a sligh...
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