The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government merged the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan, launched by the United Progressive Alliance government, with the Khelo India programme for the development of sports, on Wednesday. In the process, the present government dropped the name of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi from the programme. Not that this was the first instance of the NDA government renaming a programme that was originally named after Gandhi. The Rajiv Rinn Yojana was subsumed in another scheme - the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. The move to drop Gandhi's name from the sports programme has left the Congress fuming. Party leader Tom Vadakkan warned the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA government that "its clock is ticking".

Sports versus politics

Business Standard

There has been no let-up in the verbal duel between Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). After Kumar called for unity among the non-BJP parties to ensure a "Sangh-mukt Bharat [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-free India]" at a conference in Patna, former deputy chief minister and state finance minister Sushil Kumar Modi accused Kumar of using the "RSS ladder" to further his political career. "He should not forget that he was made a Union minister and a chief minister twice in the previous NDA rule, which was supported by the RSS," Modi said. When the BJP pointed out Kumar's earlier affiliations, the chief minister said, "We have no personal enmity or friendship; we are just against such divisive ideology."

Friends and foes

With reference to Sitharam Gurumurthi's piece, "Should the CRR be abolished?" (April 20), the timing of raking up such a baseless question raises doubt, more so because the cash reserve ratio (CRR) - retained at four per cent by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) since February 2013 - does not impact the lending rates of banks at all.None of the banks, not even the State Bank of India, fell in line with the announcements of the various cuts by the RBI in the repo-rate (aggregating 150 basis points) since January 2015. Profit savvy banks in a desperate bid to shore up their respective balance sheets in the public eye have largely been non-cooperative with the RBI. Of course, the SBI suffers from a self-imposed superiority complex and there has been no change in its attitude. At times, it even tries to equate itself with or surpass the position of the RBI.S Kumar   New DelhiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Del

Letters: A non-issue

With reference to the piece, "Should the CRR be abolished?", a discussion that was opened and shut four years ago has been re-opened by the writer Sitharam Gurumurthi without much clarity.As an ordinary citizen, who believes that monetary policy is a tool to attain price stability internally and rate stability externally, I am confused why prices are rising despite the country's central bank having at its disposal the legal tool of cash reserve ratio (CRR).Even if inflation is contained, it means the damage has been regulated, not obviated. It makes me doubt the effectiveness of the CRR in the context of its need for securing monetary stability.Gurumurthi laments that the State Bank of India (SBI) has an interest spread of more than 10 per cent. However, other than comparing the interest payout rate of its savings account and the peak lending rate of a singled-out product, no statistics have been furnished in the article. The margin is not calculated on the basis of individual products

Letters: Confusing analysis

Apropos the report, "Nirmala critical of Rajan's 'one-eyed king' phrase" (April 19), Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's advice to Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan applies to all public figures, be they officials, diplomats, ministers or politicians.As metaphors tend to carry an element of exaggeration, those in public life should be wary of using them, as the media and politicians in the Opposition scrutinise their every utterance. In 1977, when then Union minister George Fernandes called an Opposition leader a "congenital liar", then prime minister Morarji Desai reprimanded him, saying, "You could have expressed the same view by saying, 'she seldom speaks the truth'." In 2007, then Indian ambassador to the US Ronen Sen was censured by the Parliamentary Privileges Committee for calling critics of the Indo-US nuclear deal "headless chicken".More obnoxious than the use of metaphors is making contemptuous gestures in media glare. Restraint in speech and behaviour should b

Letters: Exercise restraint

I have two credit cards and the billing cycle is the same for both. Due to this, I sometimes find it difficult to fully pay the amounts. May I ask a bank to change my billing cycle?For all credit cards, the billing cycle is monthly in nature and there's a gap of two-three weeks between billing and payment due dates. Generally, banks allow a change in billing cycle at least once in the lifetime of a credit card. However, billing dates are necessarily once a month when the card payments must be made. Since you have two cards, you will  have two payment dates each month, on which you will need to pay.I have two credit cards. I want to transfer the balance to one and surrender the other. But, my bank is not permitting me to do so. What can I do?You have not mentioned whether both cards have been issued by the same bank or are from two different banks and which bank is not permitting you to do this. If they are from the same bank, both accounts are linked and treated as one in bank's record

Debt Counselling: Sanjay Agarwal

Click on graphic

India's balance of trade, shown in Table 1, continues to head into ever safer territory. That this is largely driven by oil prices is visible in Table 2, which demonstrates that from over a third of the import bill, oil now accounts for less than 18 per cent. Thus, the current account deficit, too, in Table 3, looks comfortable as a percentage of gross domestic product.However, there are warning signs. The trade balance has narrowed partly because imports have fallen, as Table 4 shows. But non-oil import growth, tends to fall significantly less in the context of low oil prices, as that table shows. And the weakness of Indian export growth, including non-oil exports, in Table 5, is a real worry. It is worth noting that other peer exporters have not seen this sustained exports decline, as Table 6 reveals. Perhaps the rupee's value holds part of the answer. While the rupee has declined against the dollar, as Table 7 shows, the Reserve Bank of India has also paused on its reserve-building

StatsGuru: Tracking India's key trade numbers

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

Case study

Realty check

Business Standard brings you a snapshot of average current rates and unit sizes in localities that offer property in the price range of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore. If you are looking at buying real estate, an idea about prevailing rates would come in handy

The government should take stringent action against this unfair trade practice by some airlines, else more carriers would follow suit

Letters: Unjustified hike

The article referenced above should be translated in English, Hindi and other vernacular languages and mailed to all railway station masters

Letters: Fine article on railways

Leaders of political parties in the states have not yet realised that the public is no longer carried away by ads

Letters: The real picture

Many Hindu temples in the state have reported a drop in the number of visitors after alcohol shops were forced to shut down

Worshipper's dilemma

Pratap had said the ambulance had been allotted to him to serve poor visitors, who might need medical help

'Life support' gone

Mamata said the Bharatiya Janata Party's abbreviation, BJP, could be expanded as Bhayanak Jaali Party

MB versus NM

Will Tesla alter India's view of electric cars?

The game changer

Fears from trade agreements are overstated

Focus on trade

Statspeak: The demanding customer

Shoppers are increasingly shopping on the go, with 40 per cent using smartphones more frequently this year, up from 36 per cent last year, according to Accenture's new global survey. Forty-eight per cent shoppers find it easy to purchase via mobile devices, while only 58 per cent of retailers have smartphone apps with purchase capabilities, the survey covering 10,000 consumers in 13 countries shows

Computing speed confronts physical barriersEvery segment of computing is likely to see a tectonic shift over the next few years. The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, an advisory issued by experts from the global semiconductor industry, makes it clear that computer design and architecture must seek new paths. Processing power will not increase at the same exponential pace any more. Moore's Law - the paradigm which underpinned research and development (R&D) for the last 50 years - is finally hitting physical limits. In 1965, Gordon Moore, then Director of Research at Fairchild Semiconductors, observed that the numbers of transistors on integrated circuits doubled every year. This implied that processing power (the number of calculations per second) would also roughly double every year. He thought this rate of doubling would continue for a decade. Mr Moore proceeded to co-found chipmaker, Intel, in 1968. In 1975, Mr Moore "downgraded" projections, estimating that d

Repealing Moore's Law

Tarun Vijay is the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Rajya Sabha member from Uttarakhand. His term ends in July. If the Congress government in the state had managed to save itself, the seat might have gone to the party. But nine Assembly members of the Congress led by Vijay Bahuguna rebelled, leading to the imposition of President's rule in the state. Such a circumstance means that for any Congress member, who was hoping to get elected from the state, the seat is no longer a possibility. If, as the BJP has planned, elections are held soon and its government is installed in state capital Dehradun, the party will get another seat in the Upper House of Parliament.

Uttarakhand Rajya Sabha seat no longer a possibility for the Congress

Who will the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominate to the Rajya Sabha? There are currently seven vacancies. The terms of four more members end in 2018. This includes former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and actor Rekha. There is speculation about whom the seven seats will go to: former journalists, musicians, artists? Or will they go to party leaders whom the BJP wants to keep out of the states? Some from the fields of film, journalism and industry have supported the BJP in recent years. Industrialist Subhash Chandra was keen to contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 but didn't get a BJP ticket. Actor Anupam Kher supported the party when it was facing heat from the Opposition on the "intolerance" issue. Some journalists might be nominated to provide "intellectual depth" to the BJP's Rajya Sabha contingent. In most cases Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has to fight a lone battle of wits for the BJP in the Upper House.

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