Arun Jaitley said: "We will let you know when we decide. You will come to know about the conclusion, not the process."

Letters: Govt to blame

Business Standard

We need a renewed sporting policy and increased monetary and budgetary support from both the Centre and the states

Letters: Unsporting policy

Customer confidence drops for India, rises for the US, China

Consumer confidence: concerns and spending intentions around the world (Q2, 2016)

The Charbagh Railways Station in Lucknow is famous for its historic building. But it has shot to fame for another reason

Rodent menace at Charbagh railway station

Sadhu-turned entrepreneur, Baba Ramdev was at an airport lounge waiting for a flight when he got a message

Ramdev's airport guest

Two rich yet too poor

On occasions such as Independence Day or Republic Day, many schools organise fancy dress competitions urging students to dress up as Indian leaders. While Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru are among the top choices, this time some students found new leaders to follow. Sushma Swaraj, minister of external affairs, is one of the new entrants on that list. Several parents took to Twitter posting pictures of their daughters dressed up as Swaraj. To one such parent, the minister responded that such was the similarity that soon she would be called a duplicate, while the girl would be regarded as the "original".

New leaders gain popularity

S S Ahluwalia, Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers welfare, has written a letter to the home ministry in which he has raised several demands for  Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, including a new Army regiment from the district. The regiment, Narayani Sena, will represent the Cooch and Rajvanshi population of the district, which is part of Ahluwalia's parliamentary constituency, Darjeeling. The state administration fears that the move might spark fresh demand for a separate state among the indigenous population of the district. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked the director general of police to conduct a thorough investigation.

A matter of concern

The death of Subhas Chandra Bose or Netaji has stoked controversy in the past. It got another lease of life when Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted this on Thursday morning: "Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was an icon of exemplary valour and sacrifice. We remember and pay him our respectful tribute on his death anniversary." The minister was going by the theory that Bose died in a plane crash in Taihoku, Taiwan, on August 18, 1945. But if there is evidence in support of his death in the plane crash, there are as many theories against it. Sometime back, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that some of the letters in the declassified files with the Kolkata and West Bengal police suggested that Netaji might have been alive after 1945. On Thursday, she posted that she was shocked by the "hurtful tweet by @arunjaitley ji". Jaitley removed the tweet later.

The debate continues

With reference to the editorial, "Reforming the public sector" (August 18), as there is a political angle to the issue, reform is easier said than done.In the past, governments have interfered with the day-to-day operations of public sector undertakings (PSU). Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office, there has been real change in the way several of PSUs are functioning or how they are being held accountable.But yes, if divestment in companies is delayed in the way it was in the case of IDBI, it's the government's coffers that will keep bleeding for no fault of the exchequer.The government should not become emotional or sensitive about sick companies. It should allow for their privatisation and let them be run professionally. The government also needs to re-evaluate its strategy, for example, with respect to Air India: whether it needs to be present in the aviation sector through the state-owned carrier, or let it be run by a private company. These are difficult questions the

Letters: Reform is not so simple

Apropos Apurva Venkat's article, "Wipro journey under Azim Premji" (August 18), what is remarkable about the company's growth from a $2-million oil manufacturing company to a $7-billion company with presence in 60 countries is that it is founded on strong values and is led by an authentic leader, Azim Premji, since 1966.Premji has lived up to the credo of his company all along: "In our way of working, we attach a great deal of importance to humility and honesty; with respect for human values, we promise to serve our customers with integrity." Those who know him or have worked with him vouch for his honesty, decency, fairness, simplicity, hard work and courtesy in dealings. He leads from the front. He follows the advice he gives to employees: "work hard, work harder".His philanthropic work is notable. The Azim Premji Foundation was established in 2001 and has contributed quite a bit to the field of education. His transfer of equity shares worth Rs 213 million to the foundation is believ

Letters: An authentic leader

A K Bhattacharya, in his column, "Selling reforms on Independence Day" (August 17), has succinctly analysed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speeches in three consecutive years. Modi's emphasis was on empowerment rather than the hitherto policy of entitlement.Bhattacharya has missed one important point in Modi's speech, though: ensuring accountability, responsibility and efficiency in the deliverance of various schemes. The public will have to ensure that public servants are accountable.Come Independence Day next year, Modi would likely silence his detractors, as his policies would start yielding results by then. Chief among them would be scuttling the generation of black money and prosecuting the guilty.When the Modi government would have been in power for five years, he would present its report card in his Independence Day speech that year.I hope that in one of his future articles, the writer will talk about what Modi would say in his next two speeches.Naresh Saxena

Letters: Modi's I-Day speech

Water transport of cargo

Confrontation between judiciary and executive must end

The appointments question

The court-ordered impost suggests confused thinking

Smog over diesel cess

Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director of Mahindra Group, is an avid Twitter user and is known to gather consumer feedback through the social media platform. Mahindra was at his wittiest on Parsi New Year day. He greeted the dwindling community with an interesting observation: "The 'P' in Parsi stands for productive. Never have so few achieved so much. Only wish they were more reproductive... Navroz Mubarak."

A 'productive' new year

The sedition charge against Amnesty International India was among the top trending Twitter conversations over the last two days. One such thread saw a social media slugfest involving the Tharoor clan. In a tweet, foreign affairs writer Ishaan Tharoor, son of member of Parliament and former union minister Shashi Tharoor referred to the episode as "The Erdoganization of India". Economist and commentator Rupa Subramanya waded in and reminded Ishaan Tharoor that the charge was slapped on the organisation in Karnataka, a state ruled by the Congress, of which his father was a member. Ishaan Tharoor responded that he was a 32-year old adult whose father should have nothing to do with his tweet. Brother Kanishk Tharoor intervened to take his side, while father Shashi Tharoor retweeted the exchange, adding that he found the sedition law absurd and had moved the Lok Sabha to amend it.

We are family

A top-level secretary in the government known to share his opinion on most matters economic without much hesitation, refused to comment on the monetary policy announcement by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week. Insiders said the secretary did not want a conflict of interest to arise, as he was also in the long list of contenders for the RBI governor's position. The government has kept contenders guessing about the new appointment since mid-June when the incumbent, Raghuram Rajan, made it known that he would not be seeking a second term as RBI governor and would go back to academia instead.

Silence is the best policy

With reference to Raghu Krishnan's report, "Brexit tremor hits Infosys" (August 16), the UK's decision to exit the European Union (EU) has highlighted the importance of country risk analysis in the export business. How did a company of the size of Infosys overlook Brexit, when it was known that there was a good chance of the UK leaving the EU at least two years ago?All export majors - whether in information technology or automobiles - should carry out rigorous country risk analysis. Recently, Bajaj Auto faced a receivables crisis for its exports to Nigeria. While payments were guaranteed through a letter of credit, the local government was restricting the outflow of dollars due to a currency crisis in that country. In such cases, local importers are not accountable as they have already cleared their dues in local currency.Country risk analysis has remained on paper and in textbooks. Indian companies should revisit their export portfolios and trim their exports to countries, which are e

Letters: Country risk analysis

With reference to the editorial, "The gamble on Pakistan" (August 17), Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reference to the alleged gratitude of the people of Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in his 110-minute speech on August 15 could undermine Pakistan's continued allegations of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan now stands exposed before the world. It never fails to parrot the same old story that it is helping the people of Kashmir in their "struggle for independence". What about the story inside Pakistan?Can the active role of Pakistan and its India-based stooges be denied in the current spate of violent protests across J&K, which have claimed the lives of many and injured protesters and police personnel alike? Such a volatile situation can't be allowed any longer. It is time to take the bull by its horns. Pro-Pakistan separatist groups must get their due now.The ball is now in the Modi government's court. It must rise to the occasion a

Letters: Active role of Pakistan

PM's claim of a turnaround lacks conviction

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