DNA seems to be the hottest buzzword in Bihar ahead of the state Assembly polls. First, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while attacking Nitish Kumar at a rally in Muzaffarpur on July 25, said there was "some problem with (Chief Minister) Nitish Kumar's DNA", referring to his frequent change of political allegiance. Kumar took umbrage and described the remark as an "insult" to the people of Bihar and decided to send the PM DNA samples of the state's electorate. Now, Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has thrown his hat into the ring and alleged at a press conference last week that the "DNA" of the pre-poll alliance of the Janata Dal (United), Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress is "dhoka (deceit), nautanki (drama) and ahankar (arrogance)".

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With the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government on an overdrive, blaming the Congress for stalling the passage of the goods and services tax (GST) Bill and the economic progress of the country, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was heard commenting that the government was projecting the GST as the panacea for all ills. If one were to go by the way the BJP was pushing the GST, the former health minister said, it seemed the new tax regime could even reduce the country's high infant mortality and maternal mortality rates. Incidentally, the Congress has repeatedly said it is the "architect" of the GST.

Tax and health

With two new offers coming up for the purchase of its overseas properties, the Sahara case was back in the Supreme Court. The judge compared the assets to an "attractive bride", who had multiple suitors. However, he said, the Sahara counsels were like possessive fathers, unwilling to let go of their beloved children. The group had said it did not want to sell any of its properties and submitted proposals worth several billion dollars for their development.

'Attractive bride'

With reference to the report, "One rank, one pension comes at a high cost" (August 17), politicians should have evaluated the issue before making it an election agenda last year. So that the Indian Army remains young and fit, soldiers start retiring between 34 and 37 years of age. In any civil profession, this age bracket would be considered the prime of youth.The Bhagat Singh Koshyari committee, which examined the one rank one pension (OROP) issue and submitted its report in 2011 when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power, estimated that the money needed for OROP was Rs 8,300 crore. However a mere provision of Rs 500 crore in UPA's last Budget and Rs 1,000 crore in the National Democratic Alliance's Budget last year for OROP show that both the ruling coalitions were not sincere about the scheme.The demand for OROP is legitimate and does not deserve this kind of procrastination. The leadership at the Centre must not treat the most apolitical segment of our polity in this m

Letters: Stop procrastination

With reference to the editorial, "Seven steps forward" (August 17), an institutional mechanism for tackling non-performing assets (NPA) of public sector banks (PSB) is in existence. These are the asset reconstruction companies (ARC). But this arrangement has made lenders complacent in their recovery efforts.  If the government or the Reserve Bank of India strengthens this mechanism, it will add to the complacency.The government had started inducting private sector professionals into some PSBs, but Financial Services Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, in his interview to this newspaper (August 17), has stated that top posts in PSBs would now be filled from the existing pool of executive directors in those banks.The government had earlier advertised for the posts of CEOs.  Nothing prevented EDs from applying for those posts. In the same way, the government should continue advertising for future vacancies where existing EDs may also apply. If their track record is good, they will be automatically e

Letters: Avoid complacency

Apropos the report, "Exporters worried as orders plummet" (August 8), Indian exporters have overlooked the fact that  the modern market environment needs to be closely monitored for conducting international trade successfully. It is obvious that quality products at cheaper prices will be in greater demand. The advantages of geographical location or being a global power does not guarantee commercial safety.Indian exporters are trying to draw comfort from the past when our foreign trade was next only to China's while overlooking the competitive aptitude of smaller countries. Any commercial activity is risk-oriented, but closing down units and dispensing with labour to minimise costs is not a practical solution; this exposes the unwillingness of exporters to face the market. Instead, labour should be made incentive-oriented. This will create enthusiasm among the workforce and ensure their loyalty.Import trade in raw material should be  channellised to produce quality products for the expo

Letters: Change attitude

In the run-up to the Paris climate talks, India will once again try to make the point that it does not occupy its rightful "carbon space". As Table 1 shows, India's per-capita carbon dioxide emissions are well below all other large economies, and less than a third of the world average. This reflects its abysmally low per-capita energy supply, shown in Table 2. Even so, much of India's emissions comes from the energy sector, as Table 3 shows. When seen historically, the inequality is severe.According to calculations by the Kirit Parikh Committee on Low-Carbon Growth Paths, shown in Table 4, the US itself had over a quarter of cumulative emissions between 1850 and 2010; Europe 40 per cent and India less than three per cent. The Committee recommended that considerable renewable energy capacity be built by 2030. That would dwarf sub-critical coal capacity - though, as Table 5 shows, the reverse would otherwise be the case.Finally, does climate change matter to Indians' daily lives? Two rec

StatsGuru: Making sense of the numbers behind India's climate stance

A year after Narendra Modi took office as prime minister, the ministry of tourism claimed an 8% increase in foreign tourist arrivals and a 10% increase in foreign-exchange earnings. This was in tandem with a slew of measures to induce more tourists to come to India: Through e-visas, through expansion of visa-on-arrival facilities and making immigration formalities more tourist-friendly. While the gestures are noble, the fact is that in the 11-year period between 2024 and 2014,  arrivals in India were already showing a year-on-year annual growth of over 10 per cent. What is more, foreign exchange earnings, in dollars, increased more than 10% (on a year-on-year basis) in seven out of the past 11 years.

Tourist arrivals keep up the tempo

Thanks to the robust inflows into equity schemes, mutual funds have become a key driver of stocks. Last month, mutual fund managers net-bought shares worth Rs 5,400 crore. A similar quantum was invested by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). Although the data on monthly buying and selling of stocks for FIIs is not available, mutual fund fact sheets provided a peek into domestic funds' stock market activity. Here is a list of the top 10 stocks bought and sold by fund managers. The buying list is dominated by banking stocks, especially in the private space. On the other hand, stocks such as IDFC, Larsen & Toubro and Tech Mahindra feature in the most-sold list. IndusInd and Infosys were among the top stocks bought by HDFC Mutual Fund, while Reliance MF was seen preferring Axis Bank and PVR.

What's on MF fund managers' radar?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his maiden Independence Day address, had made several promises to the nation. This year was no different. Business Standard looks at some new promises the PM made this year and the fate of some he had made in 2014:2015: START-UP INDIA & STAND-UP INDIA"There are 1.25 lakh (125,000) banking units i.e. branches... in the country. Under 'Start-up India', more schemes will be formulated, but every branch must resolve to disburse loans for start-ups to the tribals in the locality where there is any tribal habitation. Where there is no tribal habitation, the branch can provide loans to a Dalit or a tribal, give financial support to them and thus enable 1.25 lakh Dalit entrepreneurs to come up. Banks should promote start-ups of women entrepreneurs and help them financially."RURAL ELECTRIFICATION"The target of providing electric poles, electric wires and electricity to 18,500 villages which have no electricity would be achieved within the next 1,000 days. I

PM's promises

This week will see another important meeting,  if it happens. India has received no confirmation so far, but the National Security Advisor of Pakistan Sartaj Aziz (left) is to travel to New Delhi to meet A K Doval, the Indian NSA.As can be imagined, there is much to talk about. Apart from the Gurdaspur attack, and the arrest of one terrorist from Kashmir, there is the question of taking the India-Pakistan dialogue forward. Ufa in Russia saw a handshake between Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif. Kashmir was not mentioned by Pakistan then, and India agreed to break the logjam. But since then, it has been pretty much downhill. The only ray of hope was that the NSA talks seemed to be on course.We will know later in the week if these are still on track. Narendra Modi is to visit Pakistan sometime at the end of next year for the Saarc summit. Obviously, there will be preparatory visits before that. The NSAs will decide if the two PMs will meet on the sidelines of the UNGA. So, there is a lot to

NSAs of India, Pak to meet

India will play host to the second summit of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) on August 21 in Jaipur.The first FIPIC summit was held in Suva, Fiji, in November 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was there on a bilateral visit. FIPIC was formed at that time, with India and 14 Pacific Island countries as members.These countries are Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.Why are these countries so important ? Just as in Africa, India is competing with China to secure their affections. Trade with the countries during 2014-15 was small in volume - about $ 300 million between the Pacific Island countries and India, with exports around $ 200 million and imports around $ 100 million. The largest country for bilateral trade is Papua New Guinea because of the oil and gas. But, Fiji is also important.These countries are crucial for two other reasons - climate cha

With Pacific islanders

First Indian Prime Minister to visit in almost 35 years

Modi in UAE

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

Case study

But no overtures to reach out to Opposition

A political speech

Evaluating public sector bank rescue plan

Seven steps forward

I have a joint home loan with my father. Can I take another joint loan with my husband? Will I get tax exemption on both?The tax law does not restrict the number of housing loans or joint housing loans for an individual. Of course, if you own more houses, you also have to pay taxes on the rent earned. Even if not rented out, you are required to pay tax on the notional rent. You will be able to claim interest as a deduction from the income taxable under the head 'income from house property', provided you are a co-owner. Where the house is self-occupied, the deduction on account of interest is limited to Rs 200,000 a year, provided the loan is taken on or after April 1, 1999, and the construction is completed within three years. Otherwise, the interest deduction will be limited to Rs 30,000 against the self-occupied property.My father recently sold  land in the village and wants to use the money to buy property in the city. Will he get long-term capital gains exemption?Tax laws exclude a

Taxation: Kuldip Kumar

Global passenger car original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are attempting to moderate costs for new vehicles by innovating and adopting novel retail models, such as digital car showrooms like Audi City, BMW Brand and MINI Pop-upstores. A new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, finds that investments in digitisation worth $500 million to $5 billion are expected from multiple vehicle OEMs and dealer groups in Europe and North America in 2016. In fact, 20 to 30 percent of the conventional dealership space will be allocated for digital technology. Digital spending is anticipated to account for roughly 70 per cent of marketing and advertising budgets of dealerships and OEMs.European and North American OEMs have been making significant investments to digitally integrate various aspects of the car retailing process. The report says around 50 to 60 percent of sales leads will originate from digital channels by 2016.

Digital to lead automobile sales strategies for OEMS

What will the workforce of tomorrow look like? A significant portion will be independent contractors seeking flexibility  from their work, finds a talent trends report HR Game Changers released by Randstad. The report says India is fast moving towards contract staffing with small-and medium-sized businesses as well as large businesses opting to hire staff on a contract basis.The ease of staying connected has facilitated alternative work arrangements such as remote working, which has become more commonplace around the world. More than 75 per cent of respondents surveyed agree they need to create greater flexible working options such as variable work hours or working from home.Ensuring a cohesive, multi-generational workforce will be a top priority for most organisations. And, one of the most daunting challenges employers will face is how to manage an age-diverse workforce - according to 70 per cent of the talent acquisition leaders surveyed in India.

The rise of freelance and contingent workforce

The Adaptive Corporation by Alvin Toffler. This path breaking book was published in 1985. Topless meetings. The TVs Moped. Ratan Tata. Chongqing, China. It claims to be the first in the world and China to set up such exclusive sidewalks for mobile phone users The Walt Disney Pictures logo is the adaption of the Neuschwanstein Castle also known as "New Swanstone Castle" which is a 19th century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as an homage to Richard Wagner. In the latest Tom Cruise movie Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation. Andrew Carnegie Affair. Ashley Madison, the online dating service company. electronics company that manufactures electronic materials, electronic components, and recording and data-storage media. It was famous for its cassette tapes.There were seven all correct entries for quiz No.421. Saswata Pal from Kutch, Gu

Answers to the Strategist Quiz (#421)

India dominates the supplier landscape in analytics catering to a large part of the total global demand. Given its headstart, mature delivery models and domain expertise, India would maintain its dominance in the near-to-medium term, says a NASSCOM, Hansa Cequity report

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