But it will be tough to retain investor interest

TCS leads IT upswing

Business Standard

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s membership enrolment exercise has come under severe criticism with some tweeple accusing them of enrolling all and sundry without their knowledge. One unsuspecting AAP member is a certain Atal Bihari Vajpayee (https://twitter.com/shwetankbhushan/status/425256216692944896/photo/1). The post shows the 90-year old former prime minister as a member. His membership number is 90018000951. His address is given as 6-A, Krishna Menon Marg. Advani and other senior leaders are, understandably, a worried lot.

The newest AAP 'member'

The central government may be choosing to stonewall the Aam Aadmi Party's protests in the heart of the capital but the hapless civic body that comes under it does not enjoy that luxury. On Tuesday, an official of the New Delhi Municipal Council, when asked about some key lease renewals, bluntly said he and his organisation were too busy "looking after the toilet and water needs of the chief minister and cohorts in the Rail Bhavan area" to pay attention to anything else.

Khas facilities for Aam Aadmi

Arvind Kejriwal may have decided to avail of the hospitality of New Delhi's pavements for a cause but at least one representative of the hospitality industry thinks it makes business sense for hotels to target the aam aadmi in India. So said Manav Thadani, the Asia-Pacific head of global hospitality consultant HVS while commenting on trends in the hospitality business and the growing market for domestic tourism. He admitted that his reference was a reference to the Delhi chief minister's protest in the capital. Or as he put it, "The day won't be complete without mentioning the aam aadmi!"

Aam hospitality

This refers to the report "India aims to better business ease rank with online portal for project clearance" (January 20). It is a matter of great concern to see that an entrepreneurship endeavour will take almost a year to come to life even after so many years of economic reforms, and after the so-called licence raj was abolished. While we appreciate the concept of project clearances through a single portal, only digitisation will not help. We must also orient the attached government machinery with the right kind of investment-friendly outlook and bring the desired change in the mindset. It is disturbing to know that this forward-looking project is facing stiff opposition from some government departments for not so valid reasons. The government must act firmly on such issues and drive the project to its desired completion. It does not sound encouraging to be ranked 134th out of 189 countries in the "ease of doing business" index when we project our country as the most desired investme

Letters: Online progress, offline lags

This refers to the report "Delhi in disarray as 'anarchist' CM takes his govt to street" (January 21). Delhi, as a regular state, is a misnomer. It can neither superintend law and order in its precincts, nor is it free to enact laws without the approval of the Centre, reducing it to a large municipal corporation akin to Mumbai. Delhi, with a budget of Rs 35,000 crore, compares the Mumbai corporation under its Commissioner at Rs 28,000 crore. Chief ministers of Delhi were content with titular trappings and a mute witness to the capital's spiralling crime graph. The Delhi citizen was falling between two stools since the police reports to the home ministry, under a vague chain of command. The current chief minister of Delhi rides on the wave of change and decides to upend a failed setup that his predecessors had tolerated in silence. Questionable though his methods, the objective is as important. A unified responsibility over law and order can only help the citizen. Either empower Delhi a

Letters: Crime & commitment

Arvind Kejriwal's unprecedented agitation is unbecoming for the status of a chief minister. Kejriwal should realise that he is not only the leader of a political party, but also the chief minister of Delhi who is expected to look to the interest of not only his party members but also the captial's population. His confession to being an "anarchist" is childish to say the least. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders should know that mobilising people is easy but controlling a crowd is difficult. Who will be responsible if the frenzied mob goes unruly and indulges in arson, stone throwing and so on? The traffic in the capital has been thrown out of gear and the "aam aadmi" are the utmost sufferers. In a democracy, one cannot enforce the whims and fancies of few people on a vast majority of common men, and hold the entire state to ransom. If creating chaos and inconvenience for the common man is the yardstick of success, then AAP can be proud of its struggle.E M Adithyan  EdapalLetters can be

Letters: Childish anarchy

On Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, offered to set up an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and an All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in every state if the party won the parliamentary election. The move is possible, considering India has an IIT each in 15 states, an IIM in 13 states and an AIIMS in seven states. Modi will have to sanction the setting up of 13 new IITs, 15 new IIMs and 21 new AIIMS if he wants to fulfill his goal. Over the past 10 years in power, the UPA government has set up eight new IITs, six new IIMs and six new AIIMS across the country. Manu Balachandran looks at the new institutes added and the additional seats created during the UPA's tenure

Not a tall task

MNCs' royalty pangs

Narendra Modi's speech had surprising omissions about his economics

What Mr Modi didn't say

Pakistan's Commerce and Textiles Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan was having a tough time explaining to journalists in New Delhi last week the difference between the Most Favoured Nation status, which India and Pakistan were jettisoning, and Non Discriminatory Access, the new term to describe trade relations. But he was eloquent when it came to describing how the new government under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is viewing its relationship with India. Resorting to Urdu, he said "Hamari koshish yeh hain ki hamara mushtakbil aur aanewale naslon ki mushtakbil shaandaar or chamakdaar ho" (we are trying to ensure that our future and the next generation's are both beautiful and shining).

India-Pakistan Shining?

When Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the "false promises" by the Opposition, i e the Bharatiya Janata Party, praising its exemplary "marketing skills" with his widely reported comment, "They are like those who are good at selling combs to the bald," he had his audience in splits at the All India Congress Committee session last week. But not everyone understood the joke. Gandhi continued with an attack that may have been directed at the newbie Aam Aadmi Party, saying, "Some new people have come now who have already started giving a haircut to bald people." Even as the stadium broke into laughter, it was clear that the Hindi idiom was lost on Finance Minister P Chidambaram. He was seen asking Sonia Gandhi's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel, whose explanation included gestures indicating the combing of hair, after which the finance minister, who hails from Tamil Nadu, joined the general laughter.

Cut out

Till recently, realtors were concerned about plummeting sales owing to the slowdown with a hope that things would improve after the general elections this year. But now, developers, brokers and agents say they have a new fear to tackle - the Aam Aadmi Party's recent drive to curb corruption. This is no surprise, given the rampant illegal cash transactions involved in real estate dealings. Though brokers and developers agree -  on the record - on the need for more honest practices, they say - off the record - they may have to shut shop if they have to give up their more questionable practices as a result of AAP. And it's not only local brokers who are worried, even franchisees of international realty corporations fear shrinking business if anti-corruption practices are implemented.

In-built fears

With consumer price inflation stuck at about 10 per cent, it is noteworthy that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided last week to print another Rs 10,000 crore of cash to buy back government securities. The RBI believes that a fiscally reprehensible government need not pay a real yield on its debts; its earnest talk of "liquidity provision" notwithstanding. As if the cash reserve ratio was the devil's tool. Any student of economics will tell you that printing money without a commensurate increase in production or productive capacity leads to inflation. It is remarkable that nowadays even double PhDs, including governors and chairmen of central banks, seem to think and act otherwise. The amount of money printed by RBI since 2008 stands at about Rs 5,50,000 crore. The RBI's own holding of gilts as a percentage of outstanding government debt exceeds that of the US Federal Reserve, according to The Economist. The press coverage around so-called "spats" between the finance ministry and R

Letters: Financial tiffs

This refers to the report "Policy change aimed to boost Delhi housing" (January 20). If only the Delhi Development Authority and the government of Delhi could reclaim the 200 acres of land at Sainik Farm that is occupied by 40 families who have built unauthorised farmhouses, then the government could build flats there, and accommodate 40,000 families. If they were to build a "chawl" then they would be able to accommodate 70,000 poor families. Will any of the political parties announce this in their manifesto?Amar Bhasin  Cherrybrook, AustraliaLetters 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: Reclaiming some land

Before rejecting the Arthakranti tax proposal in his article "How 'Arthakranti' taxes the system", (January 15), Rajiv Shastri should have done in-depth research. Since every citizen will have to open a bank account and all transactions would be made through the bank, the system will be transparent. Introducing the "zero duty" concept, imposing banking transaction tax at two per cent, and allowing cash transactions of not more than Rs 2,000 will have a massive impact on the generation of black money. It will also lead to a cut-down in hundi and hawala operations, and reduction in commodity prices.Furthermore, this process will reduce corruption and bribery since little liquid cash will be available in the market. There is also a possibility that the introduction of fake notes will be limited, thereby minimising funding in terror networks. In fact, the poor will be more relaxed paying small taxes since they will not only directly receive the cash in their accounts against all the social

Letters: Analysing 'Arthakranti'

CRISIL has analysed the growth performance of 3,850 micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) rated by it across India from 2010-11 to 2012-13 (refers to the financial year April 1 to March 31). The analysis reveals that the average sales per enterprise of these CRISIL-rated MSMEs grew from Rs 1,668.80 lakh in 2010-11 to Rs 2,505.30 lakh in 2012-13, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.53 per cent.The top 10 states, where enterprises registered the highest growth, are Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, in descending order. Enterprises in these states grew at a higher CAGR of more than 15 per cent. It is interesting to note that the top three states are from northern India. MSMEs in these states enjoy the benefits of being close to a large market and the fast-growing urban centre of Delhi NCR. They also benefit from a strong agricultural base and a growing population across northern India, whic

North Indian states lead the way in MSME growth

Coal India is the jewel in government's PSU crown

StatsGuru: 20-January-2014

Today, Prashant Joshi, managing director and head, private & business clients (India), Deutsche Bank, answers your questionsI recently approached a bank for a housing loan but it allowed only 40 per cent of my take-home salary as loan. I need a higher amount. If I apply for the loan jointly with my wife, how much more can I borrow?Most banks' lending policies on home loans estimate a borrower can pay between 40 and 60 per cent of his income towards equated monthly instalments (EMIs). As a thumbrule, this means if you have a monthly salary of Rs 50,000 a month, the bank estimates you can pay Rs 25,000 as monthly EMI. This works out to a loan amount of Rs 25 lakh, to be sanctioned at a rate of interest of 11 per cent a year and a loan tenure of 20 years.If your wife has a regular source of income, that can be clubbed to yours' to enhance the amount one is eligible for. But, typically, the thumbrule of 40 to 60 per cent of total income is applicable.I want to open a Public Provident F

Banking: Prashant Joshi

Link innovation

Jatin Desai

Subjecting all ideas to the same performance engine criteria for incubation, evaluation and experimentation can backfire, says a new book

Link innovation with strategic intent

The boundaries between advertising and content are expected to blur, creating a larger marketplace for native ads

Business Standard

Business Standard

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