This refers to report, "Govt to get Rs 2,262  cr tax via black money window" (October 2)

Letters: Need transparency

Business Standard

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

Case study

As Bihar heads to the polling booths, a look at the profiles of the candidates

Reality check

Epic court battle over smartphone features continues

Apple vs Samsung

Many were wondering what was behind former finance and foreign minister Yashwant Sinha's complaint against the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sinha was critical of the 2014-15 Budget. He then made remarks on India's policy, and the lack of it on Pakistan. His latest criticism is of the way India is going about the United Nations Security Council expansion campaign.With his expertise in finance and foreign policy, Sinha believes he could have made a difference as the chairman of the New Development Bank BRICS, formerly the BRICS Development Bank, headquartered in Shanghai.When the suggestion was made to Modi, he turned it down, not just because Yashwant's son Jayant was a junior finance minister, also because Modi wanted to implement the Bharatiya Janata Party's retirement age of 75.

BJP age cut-off gets in Yashwant's way

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Khunti in Jharkhand on Friday to inaugurate a solar power project, which was expected to light up Khunti's civil court complex. The project (cost Rs 2.25 crore) will supply 185-kilowatt power and is the first in the country. Modi was expected to use a remote control to draw the curtain on the inaugural stone. But when he pressed the button on the remote, the curtain failed to draw back. He kept pressing it, but nothing happened. Finally, a man standing next to the inaugural stone, drew back the curtain himself and the complex was declared open.

A remote fails Modi

German reunification

A look at how Germany has changed since East and West Germany reunited 25 years ago on October 3, 1990

Workplace worries

What do employees want or are apprehensive about? Do employers worry about retaining talent? Are bosses able to gauge and address the concerns of their staff? A recent study by MetLife finds the answers

The logo of commodities trader Glencore is pictured in front of the company's headquarters in the Swiss town of Baar

Which was a bigger trauma for European stock investors: This summer's pummelling of Greek banks, or the last month in Glencore Plc?

How Glencore's crazy month makes Greek crisis look tame

India must secure headroom for its growth demands

Climate change & development

The new agency can make a difference to small finance banks

MUDRA Bank on a roll

The Securities and Exchange Board of India's (Sebi) overenthusiasm while trying to nail Sahara boss Subrata Roy, who is in Tihar jail since March last year, attracted a retort from judges this week. The Sebi counsel asked the judges to get Roy and his two directors in jail with him to surrender their passports to the court so that they did not flee the country. The judges asked: "Why do you want them to deposit their passports, when they have deposited themselves in prison?" After examining the records, the judges found that the request was redundant, as the passports had been surrendered long ago.

Redundant request

As Bihar inched towards a vicious political battle, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) did not support any particular party in the coming Assembly polls in the state, rubbishing claims that his recent visit to Patna was proof of his closeness with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Interestingly, the Janata Dal (United) had publicly supported the AAP during the Assembly polls in Delhi and also during AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's fight against Narendra Modi in Varanasi during the Lok Sabha polls. Kejriwal 's clarification came in the backdrop of Kumar's ally Lalu Prasad's recent statement that the Bihar polls was a fight between the "forward and backward castes". A section of the AAP was uncomfortable supporting a "secular" alliance prone to playing the caste card.

With friends like these...

An advertisement in a Hindi newspaper in Kolkata has caused much heartburn in the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Through the ad, around 300 prominent Marwari residents of Salt Lake city have appealed to their community to vote for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the Bidhannagar municipal polls. It was with the support of this community, representing 32 per cent of the voters in the Bidhannagar belt, that the BJP had trumped TMC in the Bidhannagar municipality in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Since then, organisational issues hit the party hard and it failed to win any of the 90-plus municipal boards in the state civic polls this April. Six months on, a repeat performance in the Bidhannagar municipal corporation polls looms large.

Action replay?

With reference to the edit, "A welcome correction" (September 30), Raghuram Rajan, governor, Reserve Bank of India, is best placed on Mint Road to take a right decision at the right time. He is an outstanding economist and a respected figure around the globe in the economist-administrator circles. Having been entrusted with the job that is demanding more than ever before due to growing uncertainties and complexities, it is necessary to repose faith and also stand by him for all his actions. Needless comments about his rigidity in cutting the key policy rates were born out of ill-conceived thinking. In a move now that has completely surprised the market, he has cut the repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.75%. In view of factors like deficient monsoon and its impact on crops that might trigger price rise, inflation would continue to cause worry. But it is also a point that the level of inflation has moderated considerably and with the US Federal reserve postponing its policy normalisation,

Letters: A decisive cut

This refers to the New Delhi Diary column, "Suresh Prabhu's stellar performance" (September 30). As a frequent railway passenger, I can see the impact and positive resonance in my train journeys. Ahmedabad-Mumbai trains would be running a little faster,now. A bullet train via Nasik from Ahmedabad to Mumbai is a positive move, which needs to be appreciated as there is no direct train from Ahmedabad to Nasik at this point. I understand there are plans for developing railway stations also. The way railway engineers have resurrected the Itarsi railway network in a short period of time is commendable. It would be pertinent to mention that a district like Nabarangpura in Odisha must be included in the list of places that need a railway station. Flag stations also need a hard look. The railway staff's children at flag stations do not have the facility of nearby schools. In digital India, if a stalwart like Nandan Nilekani can think of including these children in his pioneering initiative, Ek

Letters: On the fast track

A party spokesman for the Mahagat- hbandhan in Bihar has accused the National Democratic Alliance as being an amalgamation of parties of the rich, for the rich and by the rich. I therefore, assume that the Janata Dal United-Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress alliance is of the poor, for the poor and by the poor. All the top leaders of this 'secular' alliance must be living in huts, wearing khadi clothes, and walking bare-footed. Their entire sustenance is being met from their respective party funds as they neither possess any property (especially cattle) nor have any source of income.Arun Malankar 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: Poor choice

Sector-wise allocations in 2015The software & services sector, attracted the most investments, accounting for 24.59% of the total investments in terms of deal value with an aggregate of $3,927 million. The real estate sector was the second, attracting $2,402 million (15.04%) across 54 deals in 2015. Retailing, diversified financials and capital goods were the other top industry groups.

A snapshot of PE activity & deals

The aversion saw flight of capital from riskier assets such as emerging market equities and currencies

Worst quarter since December 2011

Tougher norms needed to make Sebi-FMC merger work

A wider ambit

Amtek downgrade has lessons for the rating industryEarly this week, JP Morgan Asset Management, an asset manager for individuals and institutions, lifted the cap it had imposed on redemptions from two of its debt mutual fund schemes after a sharp fall in their net asset value. The withdrawal of the cap may signal that the immediate problems for investors are over. But the incident, nevertheless, highlights a far more serious problem for those who invest in debt instruments. What had prompted JP Morgan Asset Management to place the redemption cap was the sudden withdrawal of rating of troubled component maker Amtek Auto's debt instrument, in which it had made investments. Another credit rating agency had cut its rating by 12 notches in one stroke. This was not an isolated event. Media reports have recounted several instances in the last one year of ratings being cut suddenly and sharply: Jaiprakash Associates, Bhushan Steel, Punj Lloyd, Monnet Ispat & Energy and Shree Renuka Sugars,

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