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Apropos Mihir S Sharma's piece, "Like frogs in warm water" (July 25), India faces danger from three sources

Letters: A return to fascism

This is with reference to the report, "Agri ministry: Old schemes renamed, other misleading claims" (July 23)

Letters: Ensure implementation

This refers to editorial, "Low on innovation" and Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy's comment that there has been no earth-shaking invention from India in the last 60 years

Letters: Donate generously

While some MPs are finding innovative ways to utilise the time freed by the Opposition uproar and consequent adjournment of Parliament

Calm down

Salman Khan's Eid release Bajrangi Bhaijaan has crossed the Rs 200-crore mark, proving his might at the box office

Aamir leads, but Salman not far behind

For the first time in many years, domestic investors were the dominant force in the market during the June quarter. This is because foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought stocks worth only Rs 2,100 crore, compared with Rs 23,750 crore pumped in by mutual fund houses. Here are the stocks preferred by mutual funds and FIIs in the BSE Sensex and BSE 500

What caught FII, MF fancy

The new CEO's next challenge is to grow margins

Infosys' unusual quarter

Council's action welcome, but more needs to be done

Problem at Teri

With the first three days of the 21-day Monsoon Session of Parliament being washed out due to protests from the Opposition Congress, some ministers in the National Democratic Alliance government said they were using the free time in innovative ways. Speaking at an event in Delhi, Piyush Goyal, minister of state for coal, power and renewable energy, said he had so much time, thanks to the repeated disruptions, that he had been able to clear all the files lying on his "in" tray. He also said he had been able to catch up with old friends. As the audience erupted into gales of laughter and applause, the minister added, "I would, however, request all to aid in the smooth functioning of the House so that important matters are discussed and resolved."

The upside of downtime

Everybody loves a good fight. Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury took a thinly-veiled jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government, joining the chorus demanding the resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj before any discussion in the Rajya Sabha has taken place. Yechury said: "This government is very efficient on all counts for sure. It claims to be more productive than the United Progressive Alliance government in all respects. It took the BJP just one year to do the number of scams that the UPA did in its 10 years. It's a very efficient government indeed."

Mark of 'efficiency'

A Chinese Whispers item in Thursday's edition said Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had to issue a rejoinder on Wednesday to one of his tweets earlier in the day - that spoke of sandalwood remaining unaffected even when snakes cling to it -and say that by "snakes" he wasn't referring to foe-turned-friend Lalu Prasad but friend-turned-foe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has come to ally BJP's rescue, questioning the strength of the Janata Parivar bond by picking up from where Kumar left. "At the time of announcing the pact with the Janata Dal (United) and naming Nitish Kumar as chief ministerial candidate of their alliance, Lalu Prasad had said he was ready to drink poison. Now, Nitish Kumar calls him a snake. So, they are poison and snake to each other," he said on Thursday.

Of snakes and poisons

This refers to the article, "Broken promises, but better governance" by A K Bhattacharya (July 22). I could not agree more with the columnist. I, like many in India, am an ardent admirer of Arvind Kejriwal and his team. He has brought in a whiff of fresh air in a scam-infested country. He and his team, barring a few black sheep who entered the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) by dubious means, are doing their best to fulfil the promises made before and during the election campaigns. Kejriwal has rightly identified corruption as his number one enemy.Today, when a citizen enters a government office wearing an AAP cap, the files move faster. The piece reminds me of the debate over ends and means. There is no harm if some promises are broken to benefit people from economically weaker sections. For instance, within a month of the AAP's poll victory and the formation of its government in Delhi, water tariffs were raised but, as the columnist points out, the impact was felt only on a relatively tiny sec

Letters: Of ends and means

This refers to the editorial, "No more disruption" (July 22). One hopes the political leadership takes this sane suggestion in the right spirit. The report on the disruption of Rajya Sabha proceedings is even more agonising because the name suggests that the conduct of the members of the Upper House be exemplary so that legislators down the line could learn lessons from them.Post Independence, the parliamentary democracy in India started off with practically no Opposition. Dissenting voices within the Congress - some individual leaders whom even the party could not accommodate or were branded socialists or communists - performed the role of the Opposition in Parliament. Later on, the evolution of the Opposition in the states and at the national level was not very strong, as the formulation was dependent on the ego of the leaders or economic, geographical or linguistic interests in regions. A weak Opposition undermined the unaccountability of governments.Time is running out for the poli

Letters: Meaningful opposition

This refers to the column, "Disproportionate action?" (July 21). I don't know whether to laugh or feel sorry when a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is sought - with the expectation of an impartial, quick outcome - when one of its former chiefs himself is being investigated. The same agency that chargesheeted police officers and politicians in fake encounter cases has not been following up with prosecution in the usual manner, allowing instead the judiciary to take a decision. Not only the CBI, but other enforcement agencies also, seem to toe the party in power, be it in the states or at the Centre. The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act has been applied to activist Teesta Setalvad and some non-governmental organisations. What about the political parties, religious entities and education institutions that get such contributions?An ordinary citizen doesn't always consider a policeman to be a protector. Getting an FIR filed itself is a difficult job. Bail pleas and pro

Letters: Confusing signals

Why do Indian firms fail to invest in R&D?A sharp recent speech by Infosys co-founder N R Narayana Murthy has once again raised the question: what ails Indian innovation?Mr Murthy pointed out that, for all its renowned institutions and their brilliant graduates, world-beating innovation has been minimal. The numbers bear this out.  India in 2013 made a bare 21,000 patent filings, compared to 734,000 by China and 501,000 by the US. This picture is supplemented by India's ranking in the Global Innovation Index (constructed by Cornell University, INSEAD and WIPO) which has fallen from 66 in 2013 to 76 in 2014. Meanwhile, the four other BRICS countries improved their ranks. Nor can this be blamed on insufficient funds for research alone. The index includes an "innovation efficiency ratio" which compares innovation input with output. If you have little by way of resources (input), you can make up a bit by getting more out of them (output). Here China achieves a highly impressive second

Low on innovation

Leave further changes to an empowered GST Council

Get on with GST

The Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh has a new source of worry - declining liquor sale across the state. So all district magistrates have been directed to assess the situation and suggest corrective measures. The government's move to boost the sale of liquor in the state comes just a few months after it imposed a blanket ban on fresh licences for liquor shops on highways and refused to renew the licences of existing shops. Figures collected by the state government that time showed that drunken driving was the second biggest contributor to road casualties in the state. Stung by mounting road accidents from drunken driving, the government had also ordered invoking the Gangsters Act on all those selling illicit liquor.

Spirited move

A Congress MP was seen on Wednesday waving a placard that read, "Sushma should sack", on Parliament premises. A senior minister of the National Democratic Alliance government strode up to him and asked him what he really meant. Without batting an eyelid, the MP said, the message was obvious - it was meant to urge the government to dismiss External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj over allegations that she gave undue favours to Lalit Modi, the former Indian Premier League commissioner. The minister retorted, "I aver your politics is as bad as your grammar."

The grammar of politics

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad has given a shutdown call in Bihar on July 27 to press for the release of the caste census figures. No problems with the date except that his foe-turned-political ally and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced he would release a report card on the achievements of the state government on that day. For Kumar, the report card release is an annual ritual, which was advanced this year in view of the coming Assembly polls. It didn't help either when on Wednesday Kumar tweeted, "Jo Rahim uttam prakriti, ka kari sakat kusang chandan vish vyaapat nahi, lapte rehet bhujang." (Loosely translated, it means bad company doesn't harm good people, just as sandalwood remains unaffected by poison even when snakes cling to it.) Of course, Kumar later cleared the air saying by "snakes" he wasn't referring to foe-turned-friend Lalu Prasad but friend-turned-foe Bharatiya Janata Party.

Mixed signals

Apropos the report, "Mamata launches 2016 poll campaign" (July 21). Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched her 2016 Assembly poll campaign by predicting victory for her party and promising supporters a bigger rally next year. Calling the three Opposition parties in the state - the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - "ha-ja-ba-ra-la", a Bengali phrase meaning 'in a state of disarray' that appears in the book of nonsense verse by Sukumar Roy, Banerjee indicated they would be no match for her party in the polls.BJP President Amit Shah seems to have given the Assembly polls a walkover by directing the party's state unit to focus on the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. This indicates an underlying bonhomie between the BJP and TMC. The BJP has been unable to pass important bills in the Upper House and the TMC has been embarrassed by the ongoing Central Bureau of Investigation investigation into the

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