This refers to the report "Is Maggi OK? Some states say yes, some no" (June 4). There seems to be no joy yet for Nestle India, the makers of Maggi noodles, with the Centre filing a complaint with the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission to protect consumers interests. With army and navy canteens directed to set aside the stock of Maggi noodles and many retail outlets taking it off their shelves until further notice, the sale of the popular snack has taken a big hit.However, with initial tests in Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa and Chandigarh proving that the lead content in Maggi was within permissible limits, many fans of the instant noodles will heave a sigh of relief. The authorities concerned would do well to bring other food products under the scanner too.N J Ravi Chander,  BengaluruLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201  ·  E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must ha

Letters: The Maggi debacle

Business Standard

This refers to Ashok Lahiri's article "A land of megapolises?" (June 3). The current setup in Delhi is absurd. How can a secretary to the Delhi government break the chain of command and write three levels above, bypassing the chief secretary, minister and chief minister. This is total indiscipline and needs to be discouraged.When the Delhi Development Authority does not respond to grievances what is a citizen supposed to do? Such inert institutions must have local political oversight to deal with grievances. Smooth governance requires all the matters to go through the Delhi government to the chief minister and, if needed, to the Lieutenant-Governor (LG). The LG should also not break the chain of command and write only to the chief minister if chaos is to be avoided.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) all declared from the rooftops that they wanted statehood for Delhi. What is the problem in implementing it then? Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to

Letters: Losing control of Delhi

This refers to the report "Will the gold for cash scheme pay off?" (June 4). The straight and honest answer is yes. Once upon a time, a review committee at the national level concluded that 'cooperation has failed, cooperation must succeed!' I have no reason to think that the move to unearth at least a part of the estimated domestic stock of over 20,000 tonnes of gold is just another game the government is playing. The move has in its background the need to reduce gold imports, the intention to account money being invested in gold and gold jewellery, and the noble objective of making a dead asset live and productive.Celebrated economists and analysts have recently argued that after all, even if you succeed in making people deposit gold in banks, banks will have to 'import' gold when gold deposits mature. This argument does not hold good, as such an eventuality may not arise. Once a floating stock of a decent quantity of gold is built up and once the scheme becomes a reality, the contin

Letters: Believe in gold

First brickbats, then bouquets. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was criticised by rivals and party colleagues for his decision to keep mid-day meals egg-free. Now, animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has decided to bestow him with a special award for his "healthy" decision. A strict vegetarian, Chouhan recently shot down a proposal to re-introduce eggs in anganwadi meals. "Thanks to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, anganwadi meals will continue to be served in the state without cruel and cholesterol-laden eggs - a compassionate and healthy choice that has earned the CM a 'Pragatisheel Award' from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India," the NGO said in a prepared statement.

The egg drop

Many were surprised when Rajiv Mehrishi, secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, was not named the Cabinet Secretary. This was especially after he was brought from Rajasthan to the Union finance ministry last year at the instance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The position of Cabinet Secretary will be held by Uttar Pradesh cadre officer P K Sinha. Now, there are whispers that Mehrishi could be named one of the three election commissioners (EC) in New Delhi once he retires in August. The other two positions are occupied by Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi and Election Commissioner Achal Kumar Jyoti.

EC post for Mehrishi?

The Congress, which found itself out in the cold in Delhi after it failed to win even a single seat in the 2015 Assembly polls, is using a tried-and-tested way to stay relevant.A pre-recorded message greeted cell phone users in the capital on Thursday. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken reminded Delhiites that it was the Congress that made the capital one of the greenest cities, bringing in CNG for public transport and low-floor buses during its regime. He added the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government had ruined all its good work - the capital is now counted among the most polluted cities in the world. Maken then urged citizens to celebrate June 5 (World Environment Day) as 'Public Transport Day' and refrain from using personal vehicles so as not to add to the growing air pollution.

Grand old plan

Top five PE deals this yearThe top five deals this year accounted for 40.51% of the total investment in terms of deal value. The largest deal of this year was Centerbridge Partners investing $1,157.5 mn in Senvion for 100% stake from Suzlon Energy, while Alibaba Group, SAIF Partners investing $635 mn in Noida based One 97 Communications for 27.60% stake. This was followed by a $400 mn investment made by Tiger Global, Steadview Capital, Accel, DST Global , ABG Capital , Falcon Edge Capital, GIC Special Investments and SoftBank in Mumbai based ANI Technologies for 13.42% stake.

A Snapshot of pe activity & deals

China's government has been talking up its markets

Shanghai's shock fall

Why no changes to Delhi ministries even after devolution?

Shrinking the Centre

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj believes the best way to get noticed is by not drawing attention. At a press meet organised to celebrate the completion of a year by the Narendra Modi-led government, she was asked why she kept a low profile. Swaraj said her predecessors had maintained a similar stance and spoke very little on domestic matters. When asked what goes into making her the most successful minister in the Modi Cabinet, Swaraj said her success mantra was: "Stay away from the media and do your work".

Work more, talk less

Addressing a seminar organised in New Delhi by the Vivekananda International Foundation, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar gave an unassailable reason for making in India. He said the eyes of the Ganesha idols that were manufactured in China and sold in India were becoming narrower. Parrikar said he often received statues of gods, especially Ganesha, as gift and one day he happened to turn one of them back and notice a 'Made in China' sticker. That experience purportedly brought home the importance of the government's flagship initiative. The minister was addressing a seminar on "Design and Make in India - Electronics".

Why 'Make in India'?

Now, if the advertising managers in some companies had the moolah they needed to buy advertising space in newspapers to support their messages, their public relations (PR) support teams would not be so desperate. In one of the mails, an executive from one of the lesser-known PR firms wrote: "The spokespersons will not hesitate to be part of any negative/speculative/controversial stories and give their quotes." So much for publicity.

Dial a quote

This refers to Ashok Lahiri's article "A land of megapolises?" (June 3). With the coming to power of the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi, the issue of powers of the state government has come to the fore.The author quotes many instances from across the world that seem to justify the case for curtailed powers of the government of a National Capital Region as compared to other states and provinces. But is that enough justification for continuing with a similar approach in Delhi? It is necessary in a democratic country like India to give adequate weight to basic democratic principles while taking care of the needs of a national capital - especially one that is a really large megalopolis with people from diverse backgrounds coming there from all over the country. It is also necessary to avoid being paranoid about the security of the central government as if a state government is expected to be hostile. The aspects of governance in Delhi to be kept under the central government should be

Letters: Law of the land

Apropos the report "Govt committed to roll out OROP, says Modi", (May 31), the debate on the "one rank, one pension" (OROP) scheme has become emotionally over-charged to the point that any voice advising caution about OROP is immediately tagged as anti-national. Often, the demand for OROP is linked to the short career spans of the men in uniform. Though there is hardly any shortening of career for three- and four-star officers, other officers are made to retire at younger ages if they fail to make it to the next higher grade, like a major retires at 52, colonel at 54 and thus rising to 60 for Lt Generals. There is a justification for providing that officers retiring earlier than the age of 60 will still get pension as if they served up to 60 years; this will take care of the shortened career to some extent. This, however, does not justify OROP, which basically means that the armed forces' pension will be inflation-indexed and get full benefit of subsequent pay commission awards.An argu

Letters: The tension over pension

Here's why RBI decided to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points on Tuesday

Monsoon clouds future rate cuts

Interview with Governor, Reserve Bank of India

Growth is weaker than what the headline numbers suggest: Raghuram Rajan

India Meteorological Department on Tuesday revised down this year's monsoon forecast to 88 per cent of the long-period average

Monsoon watch

CRR is the proportion of total deposits a bank has to keep with RBI as cash

Will Rajan heed bankers' demand to cut CRR?

Slowdown in demand| Slowdown in two-wheeler demand continued in May despite marriage season| Rural demand, which generates half of total sales, continued to be weak| Demand for scooters in urban markets also seeing slowed demand| Hero blames slowing rural economy and moderating wages for the fall in sales| Honda's share grows to 26%, while Royal Enfield continues with robust growth

Domestic sales of two-wheelers

The aim was to deliver power at competitive prices by achieving economies of scale

Ultra Mega Power Projects: The Cost Calculus

Banking stocks have grabbed a lot of investor attention due to outperformance in the past year. In 2014-15, the BSE Banking index rose 40 per cent compared to 25 per cent gains in the Sensex. Here is a list of the top 10 banks in terms of largest number of retail shareholders.State Bank of India tops the list, followed by ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. Smaller banks like UCO Bank and Axis Bank, too, are on the top 10 list. J&K Bank (not in the list) saw the highest increase in the number of shareholders in percentage terms.

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