Neeraj is a manager (sales) in a real estate company. His wife, Ishita, is a homemaker

Case study

Business Standard

This refers to the report "Major firms creating slowdown to hit back at PM: Ambit report" (May 21)

Letters: The BJP growth model

Nitin Desai's article "The wrong land war" (May 21) is interesting

Letters: The keyword is 'utilise'

Apropos Nitin Desai's article "The wrong land war" (May 21), it cannot be denied that the main hurdle in infrastructure development is land acquisition

Letters: When land costs

Taking a jab at his sartorial preferences, Congress party member Raj Babbar called Prime Minister Narendra Modi "paridhan mantri" (dress minister)

A dressing down

Bureaucrats have been the fall guys in the ongoing tussle between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant-Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung

Waiting period

A regulatory body in the middle of finalising a definition that is pertinent to mergers and acquisitions recently held consultations with lawyers

No definition

A new Facebook initiative will transform news media

Instant change

Real interest rate of 2.5 per cent hurts revival

Reputation risks

Strengthening digital marketing content strategy is a priority for marketers across APAC

Digital imperatives for APAC marketers

The Aam Aadmi Party government's first 100 days in power in Delhi have been a mixed bag

Tracking the AAP govt's first 100 days

In memory of S V Raju and the Swatantra Party

Liberalism's last lion

Expedia Summer Travel Report 2015Where  are they headed24% Europe20% West Asia and Africa18% Asia16% US & Canada12% Australia, New Zealand, Fiji10% Central & South America4% Scandinavian countriesFunding the holiday63% Indians have a dedicated vacation fund37% are planning to fund the vacation through sources like credit card, debit card and vacation loan, of which:17% plan to use credit card5% will opt for holiday loans2% plan to borrow money from friends and familyThe holiday companion?32% Family travellers25% Vacation with spouse18% Vacation with friends10% Going solo; Delhiites (15%), Mumbaiites (14%), Hyderabadis (0%) 			3%	Vacation with parents1% Vacation with in-lawsGetting vacation ready24% shop for suitcases, clothes, shoes, swimwear and sunglasses23% plan to get a mobile plan or a local SIM card to be connected to social median Puneites highest in planning for a connection at 33%; Bangalorians least at 19%19% go for a personal makeovern Mumbaiites (24%) and Delhiites

The Indian vacationer

Govt wise to get early approval for stake sales

Moving on disinvestment

Transport minister should realise risks of raising expectations are always high

Nitin Gadkari's ambition needs a dose of pragmatism

Chinese Whispers has been bringing you snippets from the Narendra Modi-led government's plans to celebrate its first year in office. As it turns out, the Congress has decided to steal the government's thunder by holding press conferences of its own - as many as 135 of them. Senior Congress leaders and former Union ministers have started visiting state capitals and key towns, attacking the government on its performance. Spread across the week ending May 26, these theme-based press conferences - on the social sector, finance, agrarian crisis and the threat to communal harmony - will culminate in the release of a booklet on, you guessed it, the "failures" of the government.

An eye for an eye

As the members of Opposition parties continue to flay Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his frequent tours abroad, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who has been engaged in a game of one-upmanship with Modi, has remained uncharacteristically quiet. One reason, say observers, could be that Yadav himself has taken flak for his frequent trips abroad. In fact, he is currently on an official tour in France with a battery of top officers to explore prospects of joint ventures in the field of perfumery. Last month, he visited the Hannover Trade Fair in Germany. Of course, Yadav has repeatedly said the result of a foreign tour should be measured by the investment it helps attract.

In it together

Infosys founder N R Narayana Murthy largely batted for Prime Minister Narendra Modi while delivering a lecture on economic governance on Wednesday, asking everybody to rally behind him, but was critical of some sections of the government machinery. At a lecture organised by the Competition Commission of India, he said Indian bureaucrats had no respect for the stakeholder when it came to policy decisions - something he put down as British colonial legacy. When there were murmurs of protest from the audience, in which many government officials were also present, Murthy requested them to allow him to make his point with the help of data. He cited the example of a recent policy related to the number of employees that could be housed in a campus, which adversely impacted the company he co-founded.

For and against

This refers to the Chinese Whispers item "Outside support" (May 21). Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal must be happy with some political parties supporting his face-off with Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung as to who controls the bureaucracy in the Delhi government. But this unexpected development needs to be considered as groundbreaking, provided it is guided by the perception that Kejriwal's stand is constitutionally sound and not by their own self-serving notion that the enemy's enemy is their friend. Generally, parties are used to supporting or opposing an issue not on the basis of whether it is good or bad, but for serving their own political motives. It will, therefore, really go to the credit of parties if they change the inter-party equations for a good cause.Tarsem Singh  HoshiarpurLetters 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

Letters: Politics for a good cause

This refers to Nitin Desai's article "The wrong land war" (May 21). The author has correctly analysed the land law issue and needs to be appreciated for his cogent views and suggestions. This debate has been unnecessarily politicised. The real reason for both the Congress' and Bharatiya Janata Party's keenness to have a land Bill that is violative of the rights to property and livelihood of millions is not general industrialisation or infrastructure, but a few sweet spots that are now sought by the industrialists and land cum construction mafia - such as land adjacent to industrial and freight corridors, special economic zones, solar parks, real estate in emerging areas and so on.For a reasoned debate, it might have been better if the author had also given the impact of land acquisition delays in project implementation in terms of percentage of project cost and not of number of projects. It is true that previously there was resistance to large-scale land acquisition compared to now. Th

Letters: Land in trouble

Rohit Kothari's review of my book ("Gujarat's self-styled Hercules", May 20), while being embarrassingly gauche, does score on one point. A criticism consistently levelled at me during my career was that I believed my stand was always correct. Actually, it has never been "whatever I say is right" but that "whatever is right becomes my stand". I took considerable pains to find out what action would yield maximum good, a position that changes continuously with real-time coordinates. If the action was within my powers, flexibly interpreted, I never consulted my superiors, taking full responsibility. As all my calls have been the correct ones, public interest was served but left my superiors, particularly politicians, angry. This is ethical management. Kothari, too, finds it "repetitive and irksome". I worked, not for the politician, but for the people they claim to lead. Is that such a bad thing?Kothari also credits the prevailing "Gujarat ethos" for my successes. Then why were these majo

Business Standard

Business Standard

Page 441 - Business Standard