Business Standard analyses one family's finances and suggests a suitable way forward

Case study

Business Standard

Budget: Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakhBusiness Standard brings you a snapshot of average current rates and unit sizes in localities that offer property in a price range of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. If you are looking at buying real estate and your budget falls within this range, an idea about prevailing rates would come in handy

Realty check

Time to build on India's achievement of eradicating the disease

Success with polio

National parties' economic vision offers little hope on reform

Same side of the coin

So you thought the first thing that Narendra Modi did as soon as he hit Maximum City to address his mega rally was share a cuppa with his "brethren", the tea vendors? Nothing of the sort. Instead, the man who wants to be the prime minister first dashed off to a five-star hotel in the suburbs for the inauguration of his statue. The work in question isn't quite the same as the huge one he has planned for Sardar Patel, but a life-size likeness set in wax that is now housed in a private museum in Lonavala. Why the urgency to see a statue when so many photographs of the man appear on a daily basis? Apparently, Modi was very particular that the man making the piece had the Gujarat chief minister's vital stats right - or, should we say, politically correct. "No more than 38 inches at the girth," he is reported to have instructed the statue maker even though the latter admits Modi is, ahem, a more rounded personality.

Rounding off

A press conference at the Planning Commission on the Aadhaar project was attended by its chief Nandan Nilekani and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, but it was the latter who had to face an uncomfortable question. That too, one that had nothing to do with the Aadhaar project. Ahluwalia was asked what he thought of Nilekani's political ambitions and whether he would campaign for him. Ahluwalia, who has been a supporter of the Aadhaar project and Nilekani, said yes, he would. However, the reply soon turned controversial as the journalist followed up  with a statement masquerading as a question to the effect that Ahluwalia would campaign for Nilekani but not Rahul Gandhi. The usually articulate Ahluwalia eventually did manage to talk himself out of potential trouble, but not without some effort.

Aadhaar & campaign politics

The backlog of important legislation in Parliament has become a staple of media reporting when every session begins and ends. Most of this is attributed to regular disruptions and walk-outs by opposition parties. But a quick scan of parliamentary questions suggests that MPs themselves are not so cognisant of the urgency of Parliamentary work either. Many think little of raising minor issues that nevertheless require to be answered, taking up the bureaucracy's time. For instance, in the last session of Parliament, a Congress MP from Kerala asked whether the government proposed minority status for those who practised the Jain religion. The brief answer from the minister of minority affairs was that the proposal was under "active consideration".

Minority report

This refers to Rahul Jacob's column "Our rights, whose responsibility?" (Country Code, January 18). The Congress is run by a prime minister who, at the twilight of his career, attributes the economic slowdown to the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Central Vigilance Commission et al. The Bharatiya Janata Party's chief minister of Gujarat, by never having a Lokayukta, runs a full-fledged state to meet minimal poster quality. The Aam Aadmi Party, led by its chief minister burning the midnight oil to recruit a Lok Pal for a state, is left with no time to ponder on macro economics. The conclusion is that with no constitutional oversight institutions breathing over your shoulder, one can run a state with a "caged" variety, and in pursuing a picture-perfect Jan Lok Pal it would indeed be a tall order to run even a municipality; Delhi just being a larger version.R Narayanan  GhaziabadLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar

Letters: A tall order

The article on Whistling Woods ("Subhash Ghai's school faces uncertain future," January 15) was one-sided in defending Subhash Ghai. Vanita Kohli-Khandekar has failed to take note of several important points. First, why should Ghai, who is known to spend lavishly on his films, approach the government for land and not spend his own money if he wanted to start an acting school? Second, why should he require 20 acres of land for an acting school, that too in Mumbai where land is so scarce and costly? Why could he not be satisfied with a smaller piece of land, say, one or two acres, and buy it from his own resources? Third, why should taxpayers' money be wasted on ventures that have nothing to do with the welfare of the common man? This is a clear case of greed and abuse of relations by Ghai for which he must be made to bear the consequences.V K Gupta  PuneVanita Kohli-Khandekar replies: On the point that the article is one-sided, Business Standard spent more than three weeks trying to get

Letters: School for scandal?

Suchitra Sen's inner strength came through in her roles

Silver screen's Iron Lady

Investors looking for higher returns are increasingly turning to riskier but potentially more rewarding opportunities such as real estate and hedge funds, according to BlackRock

Investors get high on risk

Populism trumps biodiversity in the Western Ghats

A range of options

New round of oil and gas auctions may not excite investors

Poised to fail

On Wednesday, the day his Twitter account was making the news, Shashi Tharoor was the chief guest at an evening programme to launch a book of poems by Hamsa Moily, the youngest daughter of M Veerappa Moily, Union minister for petroleum and natural gas. The suave minister of state for human resources has been no stranger to controversy ever since he joined the government, the first one being linked to the Indian Premier League and Sunanda Pushkar, now his wife, and also the centre of the current controversy involving a Pakistani columnist who is allegedly stalking and/or having an affair with Tharoor. So, though Tharoor was about 35 minutes late, he showed no signs of discomfiture at a development that had transfixed the Twitterati all day. He talked at length on the fine art of writing poetry and even quoted from Hamsa's collection.

Poetic twitters

M Veerappa Moily is a poet and writer but at the low-profile book launch of his daughter's collection of poems at his residence, he made it a point to say he had not used his political connections to invite Tharoor as chief guest or Pavan Varma, the writer and former diplomat, to write the foreword for the book. Varma, who is now a part of the Janata Dal (United), took up Moily's clarification to say his presence should not be read as an alliance brewing between the JD (U) and the Congress. "I am here because I like what Hamsa Moily wrote." To which the ever-articulate Tharoor couldn't miss the opportunity to say they were all "allies in… good writing".

Allied interests

Akhilesh Yadav, who is receiving brickbats, especially over his handling of the refugee camps following the Muzaffarnagar riots, would be surprised to hear accolades from a veteran socialist politician from the Opposition. Observing the many sons of regional political satraps involved in the run-up to the 2014 elections, an old-timer wryly observed, "There is Ram Vilas Paswan's son Chirag Paswan, a failed actor, and he is calling the shots in the Lok Janshakti Party." Then, he continued, "there is Lalu Prasad's son Tejaswi Yadav, a failed cricketer and he is the shining light for the Rashtriya Janata Dal nowadays." But then, "there is also the likes of Mulayam Singh Yadav's son Akhilesh Yadav. What sets him apart from the other two is his vinamrata [politeness], the way he still respects his elders. Chirag and Tejaswi, on the other hand, expect their seniors to greet them instead. It's not just the respect, the other two neta sons have hardly any education to speak of." Dismissing the

To the manner born

Apropos Rajiv Shastri's article "How 'Arthakranti' taxes the system" (January 15), the impracticability of changing the tax system could not be overemphasised in the current environment where the economy is at its worst. Radical changes in the existing tax system can only be made gradually. However, a debate can be initiated on the abolition of income tax, at least on individuals to start with. The loss of revenue, thus, could be more than compensated by reinforcing the compliance of other taxes, viz excise, value added tax, service tax and so on. The surplus of employees from the income tax department could be effectively used to implement a two-tier system of vigilance to ensure 100 per cent compliance. The introduction of the long overdue Goods and Services Tax should be made a prerequisite for this to happen.Naresh Saxena  New DelhiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mai

Letters: Tax revamp

This refers to the editorial "Still no room for RBI" (January 16). It is a great relief to know that consumer inflation dropped from 11.2 per cent to 9.9 per cent, while wholesale inflation declined from 7.5 per cent to 6.2 per cent. But the question that lingers in the minds of policymakers is how far these figures are sustainable, especially in the background of persisting political instability, laxity in the pursuit of economic policies, declining trend in industrial production and uncertainty over the extension of adequate support for agricultural production. The Reserve Bank of India cannot take policy decisions merely based on the current trend - as it did in its last policy review. It would be better to wait for some more future trends in the inflation index.T V Gopalakrishnan  BangaloreLetters 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: Virutes of waiting

This refers to the report "Khobragade case fallout: MEA urges FinMin to overhaul servant policy" (January 14). What is baffling is the need to have servants when diplomats are posted abroad. Servants, as a concept, is alien not only to the US but other affluent nations as well. Only the wealthy can afford them, and those who avail of their services pay the prevalent minimum wages. A whole range of devices are now available to perform routine household chores. Where is the need for a servant and why should the tax-paying citizen bear the cost for it? Even in India, the cost of maid services is mounting. Many middle-class families have vacuum cleaners, washing machines, microwave ovens and dishwashers to reduce their dependence on servants. Robotic technology has brought in another array of remotely-operated gadgets such as the Roomba - a robotic vacuum cleaner that automatically cleans and plugs itself for charging. Many Indians who go to other countries on work visas live this way. Unf

Business Standard

Business Standard

Page 635 - Business Standard

Case study

Realty check

Success with polio

Same side of the coin

Rounding off

Aadhaar & campaign politics

Minority report

Letters: A tall order

Letters: School for scandal?

Silver screen's Iron Lady

Investors get high on risk

A range of options

Poised to fail

Poetic twitters

Allied interests

To the manner born

Letters: Tax revamp

Letters: Virutes of waiting

Letters: Technological help

The top line is expected to grow by 10-12%: Sanjiv Bajaj