In Bihar, two Janata Dal-United (JD-U) members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) and one Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA have joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Sunil Kumar and Renu Kushwaha have quit the JD-U and Rashtriya Janata Dal MLA Braj Kishore Singh has joined the party. Before that, four more rebel JD-U members were welcomed in the BJP. Is this a blessing or a curse ? The coming week will tell, as Bihar inches closer to assembly elections and is awaiting an announcement by the Election Commission any day. There are two theories: One, it is best for malcontents to leave the party. But, obviously, they haven't left for political hibernation. So, somebody in the BJP will have to make space for all these new entrants.On the other hand, the number of those in the JD(U)-RJD who are competing for (fewer) number of seats will come down. The coming week will see more switching of sides.

Switching sides before Bihar polls

Business Standard

Realty check: Budget - Rs 1.5 crore &amp; Rs 2 crore

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Realty check: Budget - Rs 1.5 crore & Rs 2 crore

After coming to power in December 2013, the Vasundhara Raje-led government in Rajasthan had suspended a free pilgrimage train service for senior citizens in the state in the face of criticism from the Opposition Congress. It has now decided to resume the service and has invited applications from senior citizens in Rajsamand district. Those chosen through a draw would be taken on a 10-day trip to religious places such as Puri, Gaya, Rameshwaram and Vaishno Devi. Similar schemes are already in place in Madhya Pradesh (since 2012) and Uttar Pradesh (beginning 2015).

Seniors are special

Apropos the timely and lively editorial, "Don't scrap 1D" (September 8), the latest out-of-the-box idea of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) of shutting down Terminal 1D of the  IGI Airport in New Delhi and shifting all domestic flights to Terminal 3 in the next three months can only be termed as ill-conceived and irrational. The AAI's move seems to be largely centred around its tussle with the Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL) over the latter's alleged violation of the development plan that envisaged the shutting down of Terminal 1D and building two or three more terminals in its place.The proposal mooted by the DIAL to expand Terminal 1D so that it may more effectively cater to the expected growth of 30 per cent in domestic air travel seems more logical.The editorial justifiably suggests that alternatively, the AAI must look into the possibility of reopening the closed old international terminal, which might supplement the DIAL's effort to expand capacity without

Letters: An ill-conceived move

The Indian government is a welfare-oriented one with all policies aimed at the welfare of citizens. Government spending may continue as long as the country's fiscal health is robust and sound. To ensure this, the cost of welfare should not exceed the fiscal capacity of the state. We need to exercise financial prudence in policy spending. Greece is a burning example of higher social cost leading to fiscal collapse.With increased burden due to one rank, one pension and 7th Pay Commission directives, it is imperative for the government to ensure that finances are managed rationally. A wide-ranging fiscal reform, including rationalisation of food, fertiliser and electricity subsidies could be initiated. Implementing goods and services tax along with increasing direct tax should be emphasised.Badal Jain   JalgaonLetters 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 lette

Letters: Fiscal time bomb

With passenger growth, increase Delhi airport's capacity

Don't scrap 1D

Unearned privilege

While inaugurating the Delhi-Faridabad metro corridor last weekend, Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi said he had spent many years in Haryana and it was like a "second home" to him, next to his birthplace Gujarat. Now, netizens are an intrepid lot; social media was soon flooded with earlier instances when Modi had referred to other places as his "second home". In 2013, addressing a rally in Mumbai, he had said Mumbai was his second home. Prior to that, as Gujarat chief minister in 2012, he had referred to Himachal Pradesh as his second home. While attending an election rally in the state, he had said, "I would have loved to visit the state more this poll season had it not been for elections in Gujarat." So, where else did Modi have a "second home", some of them sought to know.

Second, third, fourth home?

Corporate chiefs gathered at a recent insurance conference joked that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had started giving tough competition to insurance agents. Citing the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, they said with these insurance schemes, the PM had collected more money from individual depositors than most insurance agents were able to do in all these years.

Smart selling

Before he was appointed the new German ambassador to India, Martin Ney told his wife he wished his next posting would be in a country that offered him either a bagful of adventure or a huge helping of challenge. When he was chosen for the India posting, his wife told him helpfully, "Now you have both." Narrating this episode at an event a day after he presented his credentials on September 2, 2015, Ney said his experience in the country showed that "German wives were always right". He then stopped for a moment and asked his audience if the same held true for Indian wives as well.

Always right

The concept of a single window service that came into existence in public sector banks on the lines of their private sector counterparts has led to blatant violation of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Clean Note Policy. This is because the same person deals with both the receipts and the payments at his/her counter and currency notes received by him/her for making deposits are simultaneously paid to the recipients, but without first subjecting them to 'checking' through note sorting machines, a mandatory requirement of the RBI.At times the quality of the currency notes vended through the ATMs of some of these banks is not according to their laid-down guidelines. The usual plea of the banks is that their ATMs are served by outsourced agencies, which are no longer under their control. This does not augur well for banks in the era of highly competitive banking. Often, no security guard is stationed at the ATMs.All is not well with the supposedly most innovative 24x7 service of these ban

Letters: Improve services

The recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission will soon be out and cadres will be jostling to get what they want. The question is, have the recommendations of earlier pay commissions to enhance the functioning of the bureaucracy been implemented?  If not, why?As a citizen, I consider no cadre more important than the others. We need good administration, policing, health services, revenue collectors and protectors of environment among others. However whether it is internal security, foreign relations or disasters, the armed forces are numero uno. So which cadre should be paid more? None. All cadres must get the same overall gross pay packet linked to their mode rank for the same number of years of service. Let people choose which service they prefer according to their likes and capabilities instead of the so-called 'preferred ones'.Some thought has to be given to how much should be paid out as salaries from the Consolidated Fund. Taxpayers should decide whether we need such a bloated bur

Letters: Pay parity

With reference to the report, "RBI to issue Rs 5 coin on golden jubilee of 1965 Indo-Pak war" (September 4), close on the heels of the talks between the national security advisors (NSA) of India and Pakistan getting cancelled, the Indian government's decision to release Rs 5 coins is unwarranted as this would aggravate the volatile situation prevailing now.At a time when Pakistan continues to violate the ceasefire agreement with India on the Line of Control by meeting Kashmiri separatists prior to the slated NSA-level meeting and terror elements from across the border infiltrate into Indian territory, one wonders why it has become so important for the Indian government to celebrate the aforementioned war. This is the time to inch towards peace talks and normalise relations with our neighbour.R Prabhu Raj   BengaluruLetters 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.inA

Letters: Ill-timed coin release

Elections to the Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU) are due on Friday and for the first time, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will not only contest the polls, but also bring its own brand of campaigning.DUSU elections have never been a staid affair and have produced national leaders as Arun Jaitley from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Ajay Maken from the Congress. But the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, AAP's student wing, made its debut by holding a rock concert for voters featuring celebrities like singer Shilpa Rao and composer Vishal Dadlani.The Congress is spluttering with rage and the BJP is less than impressed.Not much is expected from the Congress. But if the BJP does badly in a university where the original rock star was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated his campaign to become PM with a talk in DU which got a rapturous response, it will show how much help the party needs.

Stage set for DUSU elections

Sonia Gandhi

A proposal for extending Sonia's term by a year could be moved at the CWC

Sonia's term as Cong chief set to be extended

As the quota fires in Gujarat seem to die down, Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) convenor Hardik Patel is planning the next round of agitations. This could start next week. Last week, he called a meeting of core supporters and decided to form a coordination committee for future action. One option is to take the agitation to other cities where Patels are present in large numbers. He is also planning to tie up with other communities like Jats and Gujjars and more meetings could take place this week. India needs to brace itself for more such caste-based assertion.

Next round of Patidar protests on anvil?

Days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the elections for the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city civic body, the stage is set for the next fight: The election for the mayor and deputy mayor (reserved for a woman), scheduled to take place on Friday. The BJP had won 100 wards out of 198 at the BBMP polls held on August 22. The Congress had bagged 76, Janata Dal Secular (JD-S) 14 and others 8.The twist in the tale is that the 260-member BBMP Council includes 62 other members from Bengaluru with voting rights. These are members of the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha, legislative assemblies and legislative councils. If the BJP loses the election for mayor, it will be a big loss of prestige. The JD-S has said it would support the Congress in the mayoral elections. Could be a sign of things to come.

Race for Bengaluru mayor's post

Christian Gaertner, a managing director at Bank of America Corporation in London, is going to join a German technology start-up

BoA chief joins start-up

Click of graphic

There has been some hope of late that consumer demand is reviving. This could be driven by employee compensation, which, as Table 1 shows, has displayed sharply increasing growth in recent quarters. However, urban consumption might not be matched by growth in rural consumption; as Table 2 shows, rural wage growth has stagnated after sharp rises till end-2013. Fast-moving consumer goods, as estimated by Nielsen in Table 3, could be growing marginally faster - but not reaching the sharp rises of a few years ago. Passenger car sales, as shown in Table 4, are not showing declines - and the trend looks to be upwards.Two-wheelers, meanwhile, seem to display the opposite trend in Table 5, a hint again that rural demand is not recovering. Revenue growth of big listed retailers, in Table 6, however, does seem to show a slight recovery after several bad quarters. One relatively unambiguous signal for recovering demand is in the aviation sector, visible in Table 7.

Business Standard

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Page 402 - Business Standard

Switching sides before Bihar polls

Realty check: Budget - Rs 1.5 crore & Rs 2 crore

Seniors are special

Letters: An ill-conceived move

Letters: Fiscal time bomb

Don't scrap 1D

Unearned privilege

Second, third, fourth home?

Smart selling

Always right

Letters: Improve services

Letters: Pay parity

Letters: Ill-timed coin release

Stage set for DUSU elections

Sonia's term as Cong chief set to be extended

Next round of Patidar protests on anvil?

Race for Bengaluru mayor's post

BoA chief joins start-up

StatsGuru: Tracking signs of recovery in the consumer sector

Case study