With reference to M J Antony's column, "Turning a mirror to judiciary" (May 10), one of the important reforms the judiciary should undertake is the application of information and communication technology for speedy disposal of cases and to free innocent undertrials from jail. The establishment of e-courts or virtual courts; computerisation at all levels of the courts, coupled with imparting training in legal e-literacy; video-conferencing are all in line with the spirit of e-governance and represent a major step towards modernisation of the judiciary.C V Krishna Manoj   HyderabadLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Applying IT in judiciary

Business Standard

PM Modi's diplomacy yet to match the level of breakthrough diplomacy as achieved by Dr Manmohan Singh

Mr Modi's high-profile diplomacy not matched by substance

Tamil Nadu assembly: Poll runners

The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) analysed self-sworn affidavits of 997 of the 1,107 candidates contesting from major parties

The cancellation of the Nepalese president's visit to India as well as Nepal recalling its ambassador from New Delhi are pointers to increasingly strained bilateral relations

Letters: Mitigate trust deficit

The aggregate decline in debt levels (Rs 6,862 crore) in 2015-16 is nominal, considering the total indebtedness of companies during that financial year

Letters: Look at the big picture

The way the argument has been substantiated with theoretical as well as empirical research is commendable

Letters: An absolute delight

After some punishing pre-poll campaigning, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to turn her attention to religion

Keeping the faith

Looks like the issue of rampant drug use in Punjab will be the key plank on which the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will pitch its campaign for the Assembly polls in the state due in 2017

AAP's poll plank

Who would have thought that even Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan needed a "recommendation" for school admission?

A recommendation for Rajan

Questions about PM's education should now end

A bogus controversy

Smart MSMEs must leverage the Smart Cities Mission

Which are the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sectors that would gain from the government's Smart Cities Mission?We believe MSMEs offering healthcare, information technology and IT-enabled services, education, logistics, transport and urban development-related services such as real estate and waste management will be gainers.An analysis of more than 340 CRISIL-rated MSMEs in these sectors shows them posting a healthy topline growth of 16-28 per cent in 2014-15.In January 2016, the government named 20 cities - out of 98 shortlisted for the mission - that would be the first to receive funds to execute their relevant projects.Being localised and of a relatively low value, we believe MSMEs are best placed to win contracts pertaining to the Smart Cities Mission, given their regional experience and local infrastructure.The next two years will also see the remaining 78 cities shortlisted, kicking off their projects after receiving funds. CRISIL therefore foresees MSMEs benefiting si

In medium to long term, rural looks promising: Sanjiv Mehta

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) reported muted volume and revenue growth for the three months ended March 2016 as the company, India's largest consumer goods maker, continued to feel the slowdown pangs in the sector. In a media interaction, HUL's managing director and CEO Sanjiv Mehta highlighted the way forward for the company. Edited excerpts:How painful is the rural slowdown for HUL?The rural market has slowed down. For several years, rural markets were growing twice the rate of urban markets. Then the gap began narrowing. It was more or less at the same level with urban in the last quarter and now it is growing lower than urban. So, the trend has been that rural is slowing. Rural contributes to 40 per cent of (sales) in our overall portfolio. So there is an impact.With the monsoon forecast being positive this year, do you see the tide changing?Monsoon should help especially in the areas where the drought has been severe. Also, the government has recognised the stress in rural areas and, t

The ban on sale and consumption of liquor in Bihar enforced by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has led to varied reactions from different sections of society. While some are unabashed in their criticism, women, in general, seem happy about it. On Sunday, Kumar was invited by a group of women from Maharashtra to advise them on effective enforcement of prohibition in some districts of their state. A delegation of Chandrapur Shramik Elgar Group, led by its president Paromita Goswami, met Kumar at his official residence. She later said Kumar has accepted the invitation to visit Maharashtra. The Bihar chief minister has already received invitations from Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh to campaign against liquor in those states.

Prohibition brand ambassador

Tejaswi Yadav, the country's youngest deputy chief minister, wants young men and women to take a more active part in decision- and policy-making. On Sunday, Bihar's Deputy CM - aged 26 - said: "In the Assembly elections, 45 tickets were given (by the Grand Alliance of the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Party and Congress) to men below 43 years and to 10 women. All of them won." He added that the state government would soon form a commission to promote youth (aged between 16 and 24), who comprise 16.8 per cent of Bihar's population. The young politician had another trick up his sleeve. He said during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi had managed to attract the youth, helping him achieve a landslide victory. "There is not much time before the 2019 elections. Young people played a pivotal role in the making of Narendra Modi, so we must highlight to them how the NDA government has failed," he said.

Tejaswi woos the young

Another round of poster war is underway in Uttar Pradesh where Assembly polls are slated to be held in 2017. Posters put up by the minority wing of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Gorakhpur district shows local MP Yogi Adityanath riding a tiger, while leaders such as state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi are seen riding donkeys. "Abki baar Yogi sarkar" screams the poster, borrowing a phrase from the immensely popular slogan, "Abki baar Modi sarkar", used by the BJP in the run-up to the general elections in 2014.

Poster war

With reference to "The soft skills trap" (May 3) by Ajit Balakrishnan, the concept of soft skills and English language is being wrongly clubbed with critical thinking and analytical reasoning. What is lacking is critical thinking and analytical reasoning. English skills can come way after that. As Vinod Khosla says, the ability to read and decipher a full edition of The Economist is more important than the ability to speak English. Communication matters, not language. This problem isn't confined to engineering colleges, but extends to business education. MBA education the world over has serious limitations. In India, thanks to the shortage of faculty, it is even more acute.Arun Bharadwaj  by emailLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Communication matters

With reference to "The soft skills trap" (May 3), actually we need better quality of the hard STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)-based skills. That's where we are getting beaten. In quantity, we are masters. Quality is where the rub lies. Soft skills can always be learnt on the job - from mentors, peer groups and bosses who have gone through the grind.Probir Roy  MumbaiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Quality vs quantity

With reference to "Emerging markets should go for gold" (May 9), Kenneth Rogoff has suggested the central banks in emerging market economies (EMEs) should buy more gold. He gives some reasons but there are difficulties with his arguments. First, he writes, "... there is a case to be made that gold is an extremely low-risk asset with average real returns comparable to very short-term debt." This isn't true if we consider data in a research paper by Robert Barro and Sanjay P Misra on "gold returns" (National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 18759 in 2013).Second, given that the long-term average real return on gold for more than two centuries is much less than the return on short-term bonds of creditworthy governments, it follows that a purchase of gold by central banks at this stage is likely to be followed by a sale at some stage in future. The purchase now can induce a higher price and the sale at a later stage can induce a fall in price. So the central banks' actions wil

Letters: Reliance on gold

With reference to "Will it be Clinton or Trump?" (May 9), for the US, 2008 will remain a milestone year. First, its economy was mauled by the same capitalism that had raised it to a pinnacle. Second, Barack Obama rose to become the first ever non-white president. His era did not herald a post-racial America as much as it did a racialised one, where millions of whites came to be as anxious about their racial status as their economic one. Donald Trump wrote a script to suit the scene. He tilts at the very free-flowing capitalism that helped him amass wealth. He then leverages the slow economic recovery post-2008 to blame a swathe of immigrants to fan sentiments of a white middle class that has been losing ground for long with few jobs for people without college degrees. If an Obama could occur in 2008, a Trump could well follow in 2016. Perhaps the saving grace for the US and other nations is that Trump was not around in 2008.R Narayanan   GhaziabadLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-maile

Letters: Trump's card

Draft norms for unmanned aerial vehicles are draconian

Business Standard

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Page 345 - Business Standard

Letters: Applying IT in judiciary

Mr Modi's high-profile diplomacy not matched by substance

Tamil Nadu assembly: Poll runners

Letters: Mitigate trust deficit

Letters: Look at the big picture

Letters: An absolute delight

Keeping the faith

AAP's poll plank

A recommendation for Rajan

A bogus controversy

Smart MSMEs must leverage the Smart Cities Mission

In medium to long term, rural looks promising: Sanjiv Mehta

Prohibition brand ambassador

Tejaswi woos the young

Poster war

Letters: Communication matters

Letters: Quality vs quantity

Letters: Reliance on gold

Letters: Trump's card

Stifling drones