The reinstatement of Shivpal Yadav as party chief has only raised the hackles of the supporters of his young chief minister son and made them take to the streets in droves

Letters: Task cut out for SP

Business Standard

Emphasis on mere numbers in terms of corps, brigades and battalions may not result in creating a strong army

Letters: Lapses in defence

In the Indian context, the TfL model which has a mix of walking, cycling and other modes of transport may perhaps suit some of the Tier-II or Tier-III cities

Letters: Sub-urban transport

Some say giving Aadhaar details is invasion of privacy and they are happier giving up a free connection and rock bottom tariff than give their thumb impression

Aadhaar verification

After a recent notification about an extension of leaves during Durga Puja this year, the number of official holidays stands at 35 days

Right on top

Kaushik Basu, senior vice-president and chief economist of the World Bank, is among the well-followed on Twitter

Existential question

Click on graphic

On Thursday, the southwest monsoon began withdrawing from parts of western Rajasthan. Latest data show that as of September 17, rains have been five per cent below normal. This is marginally better than the six per cent deficit on September 13 as shown in Chart 1.By comparison, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted rains to be at 106 per cent of the long period average (LPA). Currently the LPA for the whole country is 89 cm. Rainfall below 90 per cent of the LPA is considered as deficit, while that between 96 to 104 per cent of LPA is considered as normal. Till last Wednesday, the country had received 76.6 cm of rainfall. But there is wide variation across regions. As shown in Chart 2, the deficit in the southern peninsula is to the tune of 11 per cent. The river basin-wise distribution of rainfall is shown in Chart 3. Cauvery river basin has received 23 per cent less rainfall than normal.While the withdrawal of the rains has been delayed by 15 days, based on current

StatsGuru: Tracking the monsoon

India needs to play its cards right this time

Indo-Nepal reset

The IIM issue has been fixed, but there is still a long to-do list

Mr Javadekar's agenda

The portal that connects citizens with the government, mygov.in, is on a high. Some internal number crunching has shown a strong connect between mygov.in and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's radio programme Mann Ki Baat. This is not just because Indians are sending their inputs and feedback in large numbers to Mann Ki Baat through the portal, but also for the frequent mention of mygov.in contributors by the PM himself on the programme. The PM has named as many as 51 people, who sent their inputs for Mann Ki Baat through mygov.in. This data corresponds to 23 episodes of Mann Ki Baat hosted till August 2016.

Rub-off effect

Ashishkumar Chauhan, chief executive officer of the BSE, was in Gurgaon to reach out to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). He said India had the potential to produce 100 Dhirubhai Ambanis and needed to do so if it sought to create millions of jobs over the next 10 years. "Only those who list can become Dhirubhai Ambani," he said. Encouraging SMEs to take the first step to list, he said, apart from the Reserve Bank of India governor, businessmen were the ones empowered to "issue currency". "Your share is your currency," he explained.

A hundred Dhirubhai Ambanis

A day after Uber started on-road testing for its first fleet of driverless cabs in the United States, the cab-hailing app's India president, Amit Jain (pictured), faced a bouncer. Addressing an industry meet where his company unveiled plans to hire a million drivers in India, he was asked if it had plans to offer a driverless cab service in India as well. After a moment's awkward silence, Jain brushed aside the question -the priorities for India, he reiterated, were different. As proof of its commitment to creating jobs, Uber had, a few minutes before that exchange, paraded aspiring women cabbies in front of a cheering audience and handed over the keys to brand new vehicles to two drivers.

Different priorities

With reference to T N Ninan's piece, "The minimum wage temptation" (September 17), perhaps by coincidence, N Sundaresha Subramanian's report, "Proxy advisory company finds Sun's pay cheque for Kavery Kalanithi 'excessive'" appeared in the paper on the same day.The concern regarding high wages affecting cultivation - and not just paddy - in Kerala is real. Kerala's dependence on "less fortunate" states for workers and the possibility of them outnumbering the non-resident Keralites  are issues being discussed in that state.On the protection of environment or the damage caused by wetlands to dry lands, these issues get exaggerated by certain constituencies for different purposes. If existing laws are implemented, Kerala would be environmentally safe for decades. The state;s environment protection problems are more related to the management of its forests and rivers than paddy fields and plantation crops.Taking necessary measures to prevent damage to ecosystems and natural drainage systems

Letters: Wage issues

The report, "Behind the Monsanto deal, doubts about GMO revolution" (September 16), draws attention to issues regarding pricing and benefits of genetically modified (GM) products.It is apparent the benefits and yields don't match up to the claims made by seed developers. Recent developments are changing the GMO landscape because there have been sharp increases in the amounts and numbers of chemical herbicides applied to GM crop. Seed developers fear more increases in the next few years. They admit that resistance and super weeds are problems, hence the introduction of next generation seeds - and naturally - at higher prices.Mergers of the kind between Monsanto and Bayer are taking place across the seed industry, giving the GMO industry a dominant role in the control and supply of seeds. The merger is also a sign of how influential the GM industry has become around the world. The truth of these mergers is restriction of choice and the squeezing out of competitors.GM crops cannot provide

Letters: GM - Questions persist

Taxis on the Yamuna

As president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amit Shah has brought more efficiency to the way it functions. Unbeknown to most party office bearers, there is now even a person who goes about the party headquarters at 11, Ashoka Road, checking each room to see whether the party leader to whom the room has been allocated is present. This person, a nondescript fellow, carries a register and records when party office bearers reach the headquarters and when they leave. After BJP leaders discovered this recently, they have started ensuring that they reach 11, Ashoka Road, early enough, sit in their offices till evening and also let it be known to the party chief if they are travelling out of Delhi. The new party building coming up at New Delhi's Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg is likely to introduce a punch-in system for party office bearers to mark their attendance. This is a big change from the days when Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh were party presidents. Interaction with party workers, l

A more disciplined BJP, courtesy Amit Shah

Charm is part of the personality of Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). But it was Charms, the cigarette brand, that he used to reach out to separatist Hurriyat leader Yaseen Malik when they met in Srinagar recently in jail, Malik's temporary abode. Yechury was ostracised by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party for suggesting that Hurriyat leaders are Indians living in a part of India and there should be no hesitation in talking to them.

Sitaram Yechury: Charms and the man

No tax when MF plans merge

Small is not only beautiful but rich as well in corporate India. Contrary to general perception, promoters of small and medium companies earn much more than their counterparts in large business groups and big corporate firms.Five of the top 10 earners in FY16 were promoters of either mid-caps or second-tier business groups. Their numbers would increase to seven if we include the Munjals of Hero MotoCorp. Kumar Mangalam Birla is the only entry from the top business groups largely due to the combined earnings from A V Birla's four group companies.While private sector companies in general paid around one per cent of their FY16 net profit to the board of directors, the corresponding ratio was 11 per cent for top payers in the mid-cap space.This figure was 0.2 per cent for Reliance Industries, 0.4 per cent for Infosys, and 1.6 per cent for A V Birla companies.Larsen & Toubro is an outlier among top corporates with remuneration of its top management equivalent to about four per cent of i

Top Management remuneration and corporate performance

But India's space agency still has a long way to go

ISRO's cryogenic leap

Each state's share should be linked to the rainfall received

Cauvery's troubled waters

Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi held a feast on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate Id-ul-Zuha

Business Standard

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