. the changing face of the banking sector aided by technological innovations can be seen from various developments in the recent past. the most noteworthy has been the usage of the atm technology. atms started as substitutes for bank branches allowing their customers to withdraw cash anytime and to extend their services wherever it would not be viable to operate a physical branch. the delivery channel revolution can be said to have begun with the atm. the phenomenal success of atms had made the banking sector develop more innovative delivery channels to build on cost and service efficiencies. as a consequence, banks have begun to introduce tele - banking, call centres, internet banking and mobile banking. 6. tele - banking is a good medium for customers to make routine queries and also an efficient tool for banks to cut down on their manpower resources. the call centre is another channel that captured the imagination of banks as well as customers. at these centres, enormous amount of information is at the fingertips of trained customer service representatives. a call centre not only cuts down on costs but also improves customer satisfaction. moreover, it facilitates 24x7 working and offers the “ human touch ” that customers seek. mobile banking can be regarded as “ the delivery channel of the future ”. this is because it offers portability and convenience to the user. it is just like having a bank in the pocket. 7. it would not have been possible for banks to give the full benefits of tele - banking, mobile banking, internet banking, card banking ( multiple delivery channels ) to all its customers without an appropriate banking solution. centralised cbs has been one such development which has revolutionised the banking sector. cbs can be defined as a solution that enables banks to offer a multitude of customer - centric services on a 24x7 basis from a single location, supporting retail as well as corporate banking activities, as well as all possible delivery channels existing and proposed. the centralisation thus makes a “ one - stop ” shop for financial services a reality. using cbs, customers can access their accounts from any branch, anywhere, irrespective of where they have physically opened their accounts. 8. cbs has now stabilised in the banking sector. most branches of commercial banks, including the rrbs, are being progressively brought into the core - banking fold. so far, 79. 4 per cent of the total number of public sector bank branches has adopted cbs. with this remarkable progress in the adoption of the cbs technology, let us pose a few

was laid out in the report of the high level committee on balance of payments chaired by dr. c. rangarajan, currently the governor of andhra pradesh. it recommended, inter alia : liberalisation of current account transactions, leading to current account convertibility ; compositional shift in capital flows away from debt to non - debt - creating flows ; strict regulation of external commercial borrowings, especially short - term debt ; discouraging volatile elements of flows from non - resident indians ; gradual liberalisation of outflows ; and disintermediation of the government in the flow of external assistance. the committee also recommended the introduction of a market - determined exchange rate regime while emphasing the need to contain the current account deficit within limits. the policy framework for the external sector based on the rangarajan committee report was implemented along with policy changes in the trade, industrial and financial sectors. under trade policy, there has been a virtual elimination of licensing, a progressive shift of restricted items of imports to open general licence ( ogl ) and a lowering of tariff barriers. industrial policy has been characterised by delicensing, removal of monopoly clauses defining large industrial houses and removal of most reservations for public sector enterprises. the reforms in the area of the financial sector were guided by the recommendations of the narasimham committee. alongside the deregulation of the banking industry, including entry for new private sector banks, the general thrust of monetary policy has been towards reduction in pre - emptions, greater recourse to open market operations, deregulation of interest rates and widening and deepening of financial markets. simultaneously, measures have been undertaken to strengthen the institutional framework in banking, non - banking financial companies, financial institutions and stock markets through prudential norms, capital adequacy stipulations, improvements in payments and settlement mechanisms and strengthening of the supervisory framework. institutional measures have also included recapitalisation of banks, improvements in debt recovery and, most important, the setting - up of the board for financial supervision and strengthening bank ’ s supervisory mechanisms. a second narasimham committee has given a road map for further reform of the banking sector. we have taken various measures to ensure that the banking system does not get into a maturity mismatch bind. with a view to encouraging banks to mobilise longer - term deposits, we increased the interest rate ceiling on fcnr - b deposits above one year while simultaneously reducing the ceiling on such deposits below