More than quotas, economic growth is the answer

Reserving jobs

Business Standard

Apropos Bibek Debroy's column, "Stationary stations" (Sept 22), a quick calculation shows that privatisation of railway stations makes economic sense if done wisely

Letters: Allow private players

The Income Tax Department's plan to send email enquiries instead of the usual practice of sending postal tax notices to the taxpayers concerned is a welcome move

Letters: A positive move

With reference to the column, "Small banks can make history" (September 23), the writer, Subir Roy, has succinctly explained the advantages of small finance banks

Letters: Not fit for housing sector

Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for culture, tourism and civil aviation, has been in a belligerent mood after his controversial remarks on women, culture and religion were reported by the media

Flight path

When Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi suddenly left for foreign shores on Tuesday in the midst of the Bihar Assembly poll slugfest, eyebrows were raised, with the Bharatiya Janata Party rank and file, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises minister Giriraj Singh, taking a dig at the Congress scion. Gandhi's last sabbatical of 56 days was severely criticised. This time, the Congress communications department was compelled to clarify that Gandhi would be attending a conference, 'Weekend with Charlie Rose', in Aspen, Colorado, along with eminent leaders "to deliberate on ideas and innovations". Rose is a celebrated journalist and co-host of CBS This Morning. The venue for the conference is a picturesque ski resort town and popular year-round destination in Colarado's Rocky Mountains.

Not another holiday

As the day's proceedings were about to begin in the West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday, some Left Front legislators walked into the House brandishing toy pistols and shouting slogans against the ruling TMC

Gunning for trouble

Administered interest rates are a bigger concern

Transmission loss

With reference to the report, "Govt's PSB reforms inadequate: Nayak", the crux of matter is that almost all govts at Centre have lacked will to pursue reforms

Letters: Expedite PSB reforms

The column, "More transparent bank licensing" (Sept 20), is a well-argued piece, which calls for more transparency on the part of RBI while providing licences to new banks

Letters: Bank licences on tap

With reference to the article, "Firms throwing their doors open to boomerang employees" (September 21)

Letters: A win-win situation

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was in Bihar on Tuesday to formally launch the 'third front' in the state's Assembly elections

Enemy's enemies

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi has a penchant for gadgets and the party old guard has been, at times, openly disapproving of the technological bent of his team

Rahul's Apple

Jimmy Patel, chairman of the US-based Asian American Hotel Owners Association has issued a statement welcoming Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US

Calming the protest jitters

A lot to learn from how some countries have tackled the challenge

The spectre of dengue

New encryption policy should keep in mind privacy concerns

A welcome withdrawal

Sunday's election puts the spotlight back on the debt crisis

Greek tragedy redux

Govt must examine why capital spend is on a decline

Spoilsport investment

At a summit of international investors, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said "the rain gods have not been as kind" to this government as they were to earlier ones. He said though a weak agriculture sector posed a challenge to the economy, the government was committed to improving its performance, adding that better results from other areas of the economy could still ensure an overall improvement in growth. "We have 55 per cent of our population dependent on agriculture, and the rain gods have not been as kind to this government in the last two years as they were to the earlier governments. Therefore, the agriculture growth was flat last fiscal and this," Jaitley said while talking about the hurdles to India's growth.

God is partial

When Lok Sabha member Idris Ali threatened to "tear off the tongue" and "chop off the limbs" of Communist Party of India (Marxist) District Secretary Gautam Deb, he was, in a way, carrying forward the legacy of some of his Trinamool Congress colleagues. A few months before the incident, an FIR was filed against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee for publicly threatening to "gouge out the eyes, cut the hands" of rivals. The first-time Trinamool MP had made the statement while addressing a meeting of his party workers in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district. A year ago, actor-turned-politician Tapas Pal, who represents the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency, was caught on camera exhorting his party men to kill Marxist workers and threatening to let loose his boys to rape their women.

Cast in the same mould

Senior Congress leader H R Bharadwaj recently blamed "sycophants" in the party for appointing him Kartanaka governor soon after the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Earlier this year, he attacked party president Sonia Gandhi, alleging she "shared no responsibility" and was in the "grip of sycophants and corrupt people". Then, in July, he blasted the party, saying  it was too weak to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party and claimed party vice-president Rahul Gandhi was out of touch with reality. Bharadwaj is not just angry with the Gandhi family - he appears generally upset with the party he represents. The former Union minister had last year disputed former Union finance minister P Chidambaram's contentions on the 2G issue and said if Chidambaram had attended to the treasury well as finance minister, the 2G scam could have been averted.

Business Standard

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