On Wednesday, Siddharth Nath Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national secretary and spokesperson for the day, was spoilt for choice. It had been a good couple of days for the Narendra Modi government as well as the party and Singh faced a problem of plenty - whether to highlight the US-India defence agreement and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, the India-US strategic dialogue and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the reduced prices of pulses or the decision to raise minimum wages for unskilled contract workers and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Eventually, the issue of price of pulses, politically the most emotive, as also the poor and worker-friendly step of increasing minimum wages took precedence as the party congratulated Jaitley for his efforts to bring the prices of pulses down. However, Singh soon found his efforts were a waste as television journalists were interested only in getting reactions to Justice S N Dhingra's inquiry report into the land deals in Haryana

A different point of interest

Business Standard

With reference to A K Bhattacharya's piece, "Arun Jaitley's Budget firsts" (August 31), I agree with the author that this year onwards, the annual Budget-making exercise will not only be unusual but different, too. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is learnt to be working towards incorporating far-reaching changes in its composition as well as timing of presentation from next year.As pointed out by the writer, the rolling out of the new indirect tax regime encompassed in the goods and services tax (GST) in lieu of a plethora of taxes such as excise, service tax, value-added tax, central/state sales taxes will result in a big shift in the budgetary exercise. The focus will shift to expenditure allocations from all these subsumed taxes.It's a different matter that the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry is of the view that at least six months will be needed from the date of adoption of the GST law by the GST Council. Also, there is still no unanimity between industry and s

Lettes: Jaitley must not hurry

With reference to the report, "India and US sign logistics exchange pact to cement defence ties" (August 31), the agreement signed between Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter in Washington DC has been hailed because it aims to make joint operations more efficient by facilitating the provision of logistical support, supplies and services to military ships and aircraft of both the countries.While Parrikar has clarified that there is no provision in the agreement for either party to set up military bases, it is not clear if providing the kind of logistical support envisaged in the pact would extend to US warships and their aircraft on combat missions bound for conflict zones.Unless providing such facilities is specifically barred in the agreement, it would be a significant shift in our time-tested foreign policy of military neutrality and would justifiably be seen as more than merely overcoming the "hesitation of history".Such a nature of cooperation w

Lettes: Come clean on terms

Govt must raise the ease of doing business in seed industry

A seedy affair

The UPI could propel banking into a new era

Towards a 'less cash' economy

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has first-hand experience of the fake auto components industry that flourishes in and around Delhi. At an annual industry event, the minister said that years ago, when he used to drive around in a Luna, he discovered that components made in Delhi were cheaper than those available in some other markets. "Many sellers would show me two sets of products and say one was original and the other was Delhi-made. So one knew that components made in Delhi were cheaper."

Delhi-made = cheap

The second India-United States Strategic and Commercial Dialogue held in New Delhi on Tuesday had a group of Indian journalists up in arms. They complained that American journalists, who had travelled with US Secretary of State John Kerry, were allowed to attend the opening session of the dialogue but Indian journalists, barring news agencies, were made to wait outside the event venue. As barbs about segregation and US journalists being favoured flew thick and fast, the Ministry of External Affairs clarified that the doors of the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan, the venue of the event, were open for all media wishing to cover the press conference that was held later in the evening.

Doors half shut

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has quietly shifted home - from 7, Circular Road to 1, Aney Marg. The shift was so quiet that when Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad arrived one evening to meet him, he found the chief minister was not there. He was told Kumar had moved permanently to his official residence, vacating the second bungalow that had been assigned to him. A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the Opposition in Bihar, said: "There seems to be little communication between the two brothers." (Kumar and Prasad are referred to as brothers, after journalist Sankarshan Thakur's book on them, The Brothers Bihari.) Janata Dal (United) leaders refused to concede that the Opposition had any part to play in the move. "The house on Circular Road will be the new office of the Bihar Vikas Mission and the CM will have an office there," one of them said. The BJP and its leader Sushil Kumar Modi, who had earlier served as Kumar's deputy, had taken on the CM for occupyin

Nitish shifts home quietly

With reference to the editorial, "Beyond a freight hike" (August 30), the Indian Railways is often envisaged as a microcosm of society and the lifeline of our economy. But excessive populism and bureaucratisation over the years has left it in a shambolic state.Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's proposal to do away with the Rail Budget is a welcome acknowledgement of growth as a process of change that requires flexibility, adaptability and the willingness to experiment. His proposal is in the spirit of the theme of this year's Rail Budget: "Overcoming challenges - reorganise, restructure, rejuvenate Indian Railways." But how the new institution plans to deal with the burden of legacy and carve out a niche for itself is unclear.While the setting up of a railway regulatory authority for organisational consolidation, decentralisation of operations and realistic pricing of fares, as proposed in the Rail Budget, is imperative, an equally strong political intervention is required to dismantle v

Letters: Overhaul Railways

With reference to Anup Roy's report, "Inflation leaves no room for rate cuts, says Rajan" (August 30), the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Annual Report for 2015-16 continues to lay stress on reining in inflationary tendencies in the economy even as achieving that remains a challenge. The projections are still at the upper limits of the RBI's objective of containing inflation at five per cent by March 2017.Inflation, the direct function of the demand and supply situation in any economy, was six per cent in July. With the government already having set an inflation target of four to six per cent (plus or minus two per cent) for the RBI over the next five years, Raghuram Rajan once again voiced his earlier contention that the room to cut policy rates could emerge only if inflation was projected to fall further.The report also reveals that the country's economic growth is still below the level it is capable of achieving. However, consumption demand led by a good monsoon, government wage incr

Letters: Change strategy

MSMEs can gain from ploughing back profits

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which plough back profits into the business tend to grow faster, compared with peers that don't. CRISIL's analysis of 3,000 rated MSMEs registered as proprietorships and partnership firms shows that 41 per cent had retained profits in 2014-15. The internal accruals allowed these units to manage a prudent mix of debt and equity to fund expansion/modernisation and meet increased working capital requirements. This enhanced their image with lenders, compared with peers which withdrew profits from the business, and allowed these units to raise 20 per cent higher borrowings.Better availability of capital, in turn, led to enhanced capacities and faster revenue growth. In fact, in the three years through fiscal 2015, revenue growth of the firms which had retained profits was double the rate logged by their peers. Operating profit margin (OPM) improved, too. In fiscal 2015, average OPM of the firms which retained profits was 52 per cent higher, compa

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be struggling to identify Hindi to English translators. Nearly all of BJP's press releases are in Hindi; the Hindi used in the press releases is also Sanskritised, and sometimes difficult to understand. Unfortunately for the party, its current translation of Hindi to English relies on web-based applications and is vulnerable to mistakes. The leadership is now mulling taking professional help for work that earlier its leaders used to handle.

Lost in translation

There's a mini-storm raging in Odisha over the appointment of retired teachers to temporarily fill up vacancies in schools. Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan criticised the state government's plan to fill the huge number of vacancies in primary and secondary schools and said teachers should not be hired like cab drivers and made to take classes "on call". On his part, state school and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra clarified the move was aimed to make the system smooth and ensure that studies in schools were not affected and alleged it was the Union minister who was comparing teachers with taxi drivers.

Of teachers and cab drivers

To prosper, railways must invest in improving efficiency

Beyond a freight hike

Entrepreneur and investor Mahesh Murthy has been lamenting the high salary expectations of entry-level executives in the start-up world. Last week, he posted a couple of CVs and tweeted: "Storm of CVs from failed start-ups. But arrogance still remains: ppl wth 2 yrs exp seeking 15L, 6 yrs seeking 35L!" Needless to say, the post went viral. A day later, he posted on LinkedIn, "At what point does the insanity stop? More CVs received after my last post: 23 lakhs for a 2-year person. 30 lakhs for a 3-year person. PS: It doesn't matter to me if they come from a failed start-up or the most successful megacorp. These expectations are ridiculous."

Great expectations

Due diligence in tackling legacy problems is the key

Truly transforming India

With reference to "Changing lending landscape" (August 29), the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) move to develop a robust corporate bond market is in line with the international banking trends. A strong and deep bond market will hasten the process of disintermediation (read corporates ignoring lenders). That would be tantamount to an indirect admission by lenders that they do not have the skill set to vet corporate loan proposals. It has taken more than 40 years for the RBI and Indian lenders to realise that they lack appraisal and follow-up skills in corporate lending and that the time has come to develop a vibrant bond market. Over time, lenders have been experimenting with their credit portfolio. Some banks had 30-70 per cent exposure to corporate/retail sectors. Some others experimented with the reverse exposure. That amply proves that lenders have not been able to realise their strengths and adopted a trial-and-error method. That has cost them in terms of a huge pile-up of bad assets

Letters: Vibrant bond market

With reference to "Changing the lending landscape" (August 29), without doubt, several financial sector reforms, structural and in relation to savings instruments and resources management, initiated in recent years by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will have long-term positive impact on India's economic growth. The inadequacy of dialogue between the government of India and the RBI and the resultant weaknesses in the measures initiated by the latter will remain an issue for pondering even after Raghuram Rajan leaves Mint Road.A wholesale revamp of bulk borrowing by both government and corporates and funds management by private and public sector organisations is overdue. The sector-specific or instrument-specific approach to funds management is doing more harm than good to the markets affected.To restore trust and reduce the damage already done by creating uncertainties in regard to public debt management and funds management by organisations like the Employees' Provident Fund Organisat

Letters: Lending scenario

Case study

Business Standard analyses one family's finances and suggests a way forward

I have an endowment plan. Could I take a loan against my life insurance policy? What is the procedure? Will this affect my maturity amount? Yes, you may take a loan against your life insurance policy, once it acquires a guaranteed surrender value (GSV). To initiate the process, you have to give a written request at the branch. The company will fill you about the eligibility. Based on your confirmation and the required documents, the loan shall be processed and the amount deposited in your account. Subsequently, you will receive a loan repayment schedule, with the details regarding interest rates, equated monthly instalments (EMIs) and loan term.The loan will not affect your maturity amount, provided you pay all future due premiums and your EMIs on time. In default, the company may decide to adjust the loan amount from the policy's cash value and lapse the policy.An agent approached me, saying he can offer me policies from two different insurance companies? Is this legal? If both the in

Life Insurance: Amitabh Chaudhry

RBI's measures are welcome but may not be enough

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