Best of BS Opinion: Financial reform and the rise of precision care

Here are the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

The Reserve Bank of India’s draft guidelines on advertising, sales practices and loan recovery signal a clear shift toward consumer-first banking. Scheduled to take effect from July 1, 2026, the proposals seek to address persistent conduct risks rooted in commission-driven sales and weak oversight. At the centre is an attempt to curb mis-selling, highlights our first editorial. The RBI plans to prohibit third-party sales incentives for bank staff, ban forced bundling of products, restrict loans used to finance product purchases, and outlaw deceptive digital “dark patterns”. The RBI has also proposed strict limits on recovery practices, banning harassment, threats, public shaming and excessive contact. The objective is to correct incentive distortions and rebuild trust as India’s financial system expands.

 

Meanwhile, a parallel institutional push is underway in healthcare. The launch of the Bharat Cancer Genome Atlas and the Bharat Cancer Genome Grid by IIT Madras aims to build India-specific precision oncology, notes our second editorial. The public database will map genetic variations in cancers affecting Indian patients and address the Western bias in global genomic datasets. Although genomic testing costs have fallen by 30-40 per cent, access remains uneven due to specialist shortages, limited insurance coverage and concentration of advanced facilities in large cities. Wider insurance coverage, diagnostics and rural screening will determine whether precision care reaches patients beyond metros.

 

Writing on global politics, Shyam Saran examines US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s address at the Munich Security Conference, which unsettled many in the Global South. Rubio described the decline of Western empires after the Second World War as a loss of Western resolve rather than a triumph of independence movements, framing colonial expansion in largely positive terms. The speech, Saran argues, reflects a worldview that privileges power and markets over collective norms. With India preparing to host the BRICS Plus summit, Saran calls for emerging powers to restate their commitment to a more balanced global order.

 

Corporate governance is also under scrutiny. Amit Tandon cites studies by Institutional Investor Advisory Services and the Indian School of Business showing that while India’s boards are more structured under the Companies Act, 2013 and Sebi regulations, effectiveness depends on culture and capability rather than compliance alone. Gender diversity and committee structures have improved, yet skill diversity remains limited. The reports argue that the next phase of reform must focus on director selection, independent thinking and active stewardship.

 

Finally, Arushi Bhaskar reviews In The Land and the Shadows, a book where Perumal Murugan turns to memoir. Drawing on his childhood in Namakkal district, where he worked in his father’s soda shop inside a cinema theatre, Murugan traces how films shaped community life in small-town Tamil Nadu. The book complements his earlier novel Current Show, blending memory with social observation. Beyond nostalgia, the memoir records shifts in occupations, entrepreneurship and mobility, offering both personal reflection and social history.

 

Stay tuned!