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Shatrughan Sinha, veteran actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP from Patna Sahib in Bihar, has been supping with his party's rivals. Earlier,  Sinha met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and posted a series of tweets proclaiming his admiration for the man. Some days later, he had a dinner meeting with Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and his close lieutenants. He was also critical of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who suspended 25 Congress MPs for disorderly conduct. On Friday, he tweeted that no one should hurt the pride of the people of Bihar. It, seemingly, endorsed the Bihar CM's criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for bringing up the "CM's DNA" in one of his speeches. While Sinha deleted the tweet in no time, the party has informally asked its MPs to stay away from him. Even during the monsoon session of Parliament, ruling alliance MPs were careful not to interact with or be seen with Sinha. The actor also added grist to rumour mills by chatting with Opposition MPs

What's cooking?

At the 114th annual general meeting of the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), some shareholders appeared peeved at the management for not paying dividend for two consecutive years. A shareholder said, "We are not fully utilising Deepak Parekh. HDFC pays more dividend than the profit it generates. Our (IHCL) culture is totally different from that of HDFC." The eminent banker, who was visibly amused, is one of the independent directors on the board of IHCL.

Dividend plan

Non-stop protests by Opposition Congress members during the just-concluded monsoon session of Parliament and their persistent demand for accountability from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government presumably gave some of them a sore throat. An MP disclosed his colleagues were supplied with ginger candies by Congress President Sonia Gandhi when the protests were underway; she was ably supported by MPs Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party and Dimple Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, who distributed Strepsils throat lozenges.

Too much sloganeering

With reference to the column, "A question of readiness" (August 14), the author seems to be in the mould of a soldier-scholar.I have two issues with the column. One, the whys and whereofs have been skimmed over, when these are, in fact, the crux of the matter. If a problem is no nearer to a solution for a long time - 40 years in the case of 'One Rank One Pension' - surely it cannot be only on account of lethargy, irresponsibility, mischief, red tapism among policy-makers, politicians, bureaucrats, the military, civilians, strategic thinkers and writers.Conspiracy theories are not enough. Something else must be happening and it behoves us to step back and see what that might be. There are other longstanding issues no nearer to a solution, for example the scheme for interlinking of rivers and the Ayodhya imbroglio. When problems linger for long they get overlaid by other unrelated issues, opinions get hardened and solutions that much more difficult to find.Two, the author misses out on a

Letters: Set a time frame

Apropos the column, "A question of readiness" (August 14), that pitches for 'One Rank One Pension' or OROP, the armed forces are considered as a service, not a mere job. Bickering over pension and taking to the streets paints a pathetic picture of the Indian armed forces.High salaries, coupled with the pension component of government services, including the armed forces, has led to disparities in society. Appeasing pensioners with further financial benefits will lead to more disparity. Thanks to the earlier pay commission, salaries have increased significantly, but without a corresponding increase in productivity. OROP will only lead to more payout from the exchequer, which otherwise could be used for other productive purposes.Dr A Sridhar Raj    HyderabadLetters 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: Stop bickering

With reference to the editorial, "Beyond the banks" (August 12), at a time when margins are shrinking, it is prudent for companies to mobilise finance through bonds and commercial paper at rates less than the base rates of banks. Despite sluggish credit growth and accumulating bad loans, the Centre seems languid about taking appropriate action to address the issues. The government and the banking regulator need to come up with radical reforms to save the banking sector.Business entities and other segments of the economy that depend exclusively on banks for their credit requirements are facing high interest cost, which is hampering their profitability and growth, besides their capability to service debts on time. As such, banks are contributors to the rising loan delinquency. One can't overlook the difficulties they are facing in lowering lending rates. Banks are under pressure due to rising cost of funds, operating expenses, provision for bad assets and declining yield on assets. The c

Letters: Radical reform needed

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China's devaluation

Members of Parliament of the Left parties were not amused at the publicity former Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav managed to garner in the media for his protest highlighting the woes of farmers. Yadav, with 90 supporters, was arrested on Tuesday. With Parliament transacting little business, news channels turned to what Yadav and his associates, such as lawyer Prashant Bhushan, had to say on the arrest. Some Left MPs said they had taken out over half a dozen such protests in the past one year with thousands converging from across the country to attend them. But they did not get such round-the-clock media coverage. Their protests were mentioned, if at all, in news bulletins of television channels and city pages of newspapers for having caused traffic snarls.

Media bias?

Sometimes during corporate annual general meetings (AGM), shareholders come up with requests that seem frivolous to others present. For instance, at the 114th AGM of the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), some shareholders raised the issue of beverage coupons given too late, while others asked why shareholders were not given free accommodation for at least one night at one of the Taj properties. A shareholder also asked why IHCL was not hosting the AGM at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. Cyrus Mistry, chairman of IHCL, which operates Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, said, "It would be too expensive for IHCL to hold this meeting at a Taj property."

Expensive idea

An editorial in Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana has criticised the way Indian media covered the hanging of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon. Slamming newspapers that published an alleged conversation between blast mastermind and Yakub's brother Tiger Memon and his mother before Yakub was hanged, the editorial said underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who coordinated the bombings, had become a source of television rating points (TRP) for the media and that it was not right to turn him into a "super hero" for the sake of TRPs. The editorial said it was unfortunate that India was living in fear of terrorist threats while the US, which launched an attack on the hideout of Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and eliminated him, didn't have to face another terrorist strike after that.

Caution needed

With reference to Sukumar Mukhopadhyay's letter, "Think of RBI's future" (August 11), the writer's misgivings about government nominees on the monetary policy committee (MPC) in that they may, in the absence of the veto power of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, exert influence and secure unfair advantage for corporate bigwigs appear far-fetched.The government has indicated that it has no intention of seeking a majority in the MPC through its nominees. There is much merit in RBI governor Raghuram Rajan's view that putting the decision-making power in the hands of one individual has its risks and that decisions of a committee are less likely to be fallible. If the majority of MPC members are from within the RBI or are appointed with the consent of its governor, the latter does not need veto power to ensure a decisive say for the central bank in formulating the monetary policy. Neither the Bank of England governor nor the US Federal Reserve chief enjoys such a veto power.There is

Letters: Misplaced misgivings

With reference to the article, "Bringing the youth back into agriculture" (August 11), the writer highlighted the importance of attracting future generations into agriculture lest we have vast arable lands and not enough farmers.Why can't we learn from our experience with free markets in secondary and service sectors? The same stretch of land can yield many times more with the use of quality seeds and modern technology than if it were tilled by semi-skilled farmers using outdated means. Will agriculture not become more productive and lucrative if farming is taken over by corporations with deep pockets and a professional outlook instead of farmers with limited means? The opportunities created this way will prove more effective in attracting the youth to farming.Mayank Sharma  PuneLetters 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

Letters: Learn from free markets

In the article "Towers of Babel" (Et Cetera, August 11) the writer has concluded his piece with the former US Democrat Senator Evan Bayh's words that ring so true in the context of India's current political situation. "There is too much partisanship, and not enough progress - too much narrow ideology and not enough practical  problem-solving. Even at a time of enormous challenge, the people's business is not being done," Bayh had said. After he said these words he quit his Senate seat, but none of our elected legislators has the courage to do so even if they feel disgusted with the prevailing situation.While the positions of President, state governor, judge and Prime Minister have been maligned in the past, at least that of the speaker of the Lok Sabha and chairperson of the Rajya Sabha had retained their dignity. But after the watching the scenes in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday afternoon, I wish the helpless Lok Sabha Speaker, Sumitra Mahajan, resigns in disgust.Naresh Saxena  New DelhiLe

Letters: Resigning is better

Ultra high net worth households (HNH) have seen a compounded growth of 22 per cent over the last five years according to Kotak Wealth management's report Top of the Pyramid 2015. Further 44 per cent of HNHs are in emerging cities and small towns with the maximum amount of their incomes going into investments in primary businesses and spending. Brands of luxury and uber premium labels take note.

How the ultra rich spend their money

Companies have found new ways to raise money

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