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Representative image NEW DELHI: The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), since its launch in 2016, has vastly transformed financial access in the country, enabling 300 million individuals and 50 million merchants to perform seamless digital transactions, and till October last year, 75% of all retail digital payments in India were made through UPI, according to a research paper released on Saturday. "Within a short span, UPI led to exponential penetration of digital payments across India and is used at all levels from street vendors to large shopping malls," says the paper, prepared by IIM and ISB professors The paper says that UPI has enabled underserved groups, including subprime and new-to-credit borrowers, to access formal credit for the first time. "In regions with high UPI adoption, loans to new-to-credit borrowers grew by 4%, and to subprime borrowers by 8%," the paper said, adding the average size of a fintech loan was Rs 27,778 - about seven times the rural monthly expenditure. The authors said fintech lenders scaled rapidly, increasing their loan volumes 77 times, far outpacing traditional banks in catering to smaller, underserved borrowers. The rapid adoption of UPI was possible due to affordable internet across the country. "The affordability of digital technology played a critical role, enabling widespread UPI adoption in rural and urban areas alike," according to the paper. The authors highlighted how credit growth was aided by UPI adoption. It said that a 10% increase in UPI transactions led to a 7% rise in credit availability, reflecting how digital financial histories enabled lenders to assess borrowers better. "Between 2015 and 2019, fintech loans to subprime borrowers grew to match those of banks, with fintechs thriving in high UPI-usage areas," the paper said. It also highlighted the fact that despite the credit surge, default rates did not rise. This demonstrated that UPI-enabled digital transaction data helped lenders expand responsibly. The authors said the success of UPI has global implications and India could play a leading role in helping other countries adopt the technology. Stay ahead in business with The Times of India . Check out Financial Calculators like SIP , PPF , FD , NPS and Mutual Fund Calculators.By Political Reporter-President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s top aide and Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Ezra Chadzamira has been taken to court over allegations of seizing an 8-hectare plot in Morningside, Masvingo, belonging to widow Farai Mazenge Mutsetse. According to Mutsetse’s High Court application, vital documents related to the property have vanished from Masvingo City Council’s files, leaving only a house plan. However, Mutsetse retained her own copies, including a full ownership history dating back to 1998, and proof of up-to-date payments for water, rates, and services. Chadzamira, who claims to have bought the plot from the Ministry of Local Government, has failed to produce any documentation to support his ownership claim despite requests from Mutsetse’s lawyers, Dube Banda Nzarayapenga. The widow alleges Chadzamira has disrupted her farming activities and taken over grazing land with unauthorized construction. This is not the first time Chadzamira has been accused of targeting widows. In 2016, he reportedly seized a mansion and a farm, Cresta Ibeka, from 66-year-old Yvonne Goddard, leaving her homeless. Mutsetse is seeking an urgent court order to stop construction, evict Chadzamira, and restore her rights to the land. She says the ordeal has caused immense emotional distress. The defendants in the case include Chadzamira, Masvingo City Council’s Housing Director, the Minister of Local Government, and Masvingo City Council itself. Sources say ratepayers may bear heavy legal costs due to the council’s involvement in Chadzamira’s alleged personal interests. The case raises fresh concerns about abuse of power and land disputes involving top officials in Zimbabwe. -Masvingo Mirror
For decades, women have been fighting the good fight, striving for equality in society, calling for a change to rigid stereotypes and exclusionary practices. So is it all over now? Now that the Tasmanian Club has graciously allowed women to enter the venue – on the condition they are by a ? You can probably guess the answer there. The intention is sweet, really. A group of more than 100 men, who are members of the all-male club, gathered at the annual general meeting in late November to determine the fate of women at the club. The question was asked: should we grant women access to this club, a club that was founded as a “traditional gathering place for friends” (read: men), where “decorum, decency and good manners are still very much in style”? The meeting was described as “one of the longest”, and “one of the largest”. A huge turnout, a rigorous debate. This decision was not made lightly. This is a Serious Issue. And in a true sign of the times, the motion passed! Yes, at long last, women be allowed in the gentlemen’s club—so long as their male partner accompanies them to the bar. What progression, what reform! The announcement of the “potentially contentious” motion was made in the club’s newsletter, , by Tasmanian Club President John Macleod. “We live in a time of change and the club is not immune to the change and challenges of today’s brave new world,” Macleod said. To be clear, the Club believes they are aligning to this “brave new world” by allowing women to go to the bar in the all-male Tasmanian Club. If this is the club’s way of contributing to the feminist cause, it is completely misguided. Because it has never been about this. Truth be told: women don’t want to come to your gentlemen’s club. The idea of equality, from the perspective of privileged groups, is as simple and one-dimensional as equal access. Let come to gentlemen’s clubs. Let see the art in the . Do we really need women-only gyms? What is a woman? And so on. It’s true, however, that equal access does play a part in the feminist cause. Every shared space is one that privileges white, cishet men: pubs, parks, public transport, sports games, social media. The patriarchy made sure of this. Equality is about giving spaces back, making these spaces safe for everyone – women, people of colour, queer folk, gender-diverse people and people with disabilities. I truly believe in having designated spaces for like-minded people to share experiences and ideas with one another. And it’s not discriminatory to do so. Anti-discrimination legislation in Australia provides carve-outs for , whereby discrimination on the basis of age, sex, race or disability takes place in order to improve access and opportunity for that particular group. Yes, men need designated spaces too, to connect with one another, share experiences and ideas. Unfortunately, it’s the culture of the designated spaces that exist – these elite all-male clubs – that perpetuate inequality, not the idea itself of all-male spaces. In other words, don’t change the rules at all-male clubs, change the . How can we be better humans? How can we support the women in our lives? How can we be part of the solution to gender equality? Granting women this conditional access to the Tasmanian Club is a distraction from bigger issues at play – like gender-based violence, the gender pay gap, women experiencing homelessness, and more. This decision is an illusion that they are progressing with the times, but peek behind the curtain, and you’ll find it’s the same old, same old. So keep your gentlemen’s club – we don’t want it.
Trump threatens to try to take back the Panama Canal. Panama's president balks at the suggestion