This refers to the editorial "Say yes to trade" (December 4). We must remember that free trade is one of the "gifts" of democracy. The deployment of technology leads to the conservation of natural resources. Free trade also allows us to have better awareness about quality, reliability, safety and fair wages. It also inculcates a respect for fair trade practices, and honouring commitments made at the time of sale.M Abraham Mathew, Bangalore

Letters: Gifts of democracy

Business Standard

This refers to the editorial "Say yes to trade" (December 4). One should appreciate India's move of not compromising the food security Bill at the Bali ministerial talks. Undoubtedly it is the government's responsibility to stand firm and secure the right to food security and the right to sustenance of farmers. The priority must be the 67 per cent of India's population who are going to benefit as envisaged in the Bill, and not the vested interests of strong exporting economies of the developed world. It has been estimated that a successful conclusion to the talks in Bali could add millions of jobs across the globe, of which many would be created in developing countries. It is also anticipated that this Bill can shape up the destiny of millions of subsistence farmers in developing countries, who are victims of the farm lobbies of developed nations.Vivek George, Alappuzha

Letters: The food security angle

We may soon get a permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC). It remains to be seen how much of his duties would be advisory and how much operational. The right moment to have a chief of defence staff was after the Bangladesh war when Sam Manekshaw was made a field marshal. By now the entire structure would have matured in time for modern battles. Organisational structures at headquarters do not win battles. It is the structure of the armed forces that needs to be recast. Do we need a separate "Army", "Navy" or "Air Force"? What is so striking about a strike corps that differentiates itself from the others? Can just one armoured division and mechanised infantry change a status?T R Ramaswami,  Mumbai

Letters: The CoSC factor

The questions raised in Abheek Barua's article "The Modinomics euphoria: questions" (December 4) are valid. Even if we discount the success in Gujarat to the efforts of one man, the question that needs to be considered is how plausible is it to replicate the success factor of one state in the entire nation? And even if it's possible, then it needs not just one, but two to three successive terms before we can actually see the ideas of "Modinomics" in demonstration. What investors currently want is fast approval of their proposals. For this we need to move away from approvals by multiple ministries, and form a single powerful ministry that has access to all the required authorities to fasten the approval process, instead of making investors run from pillar to post. Tax laws also need to be made more lucid, simple and adaptable depending on different sectors such as energy and infrastructure. If one man can work well to garner the continuous support of all factions for a longer period of

Letters: Ideas and time frame

The astronomical prices of potatoes and onions have ensured that they have acquired the status of rare commodities. So much so that a Kolkata hypermart recently started a scheme offering potatoes at Rs 4.90 per kg for shopping worth Rs 1,499 and above, and onions at Rs 9.90 per kg for shopping worth Rs 2,499 and above. Since anything that's too good to be true probably is, here's the rider: buyers can only buy up to two kg of each commodity at a time.

Commodity offer

Here's an idea of what businessmen think of the current business environment in India. Hero MotoCorp Managing Director Pawan Munjal skirted a question about growth projections for the two-wheeler industry for the coming financial year even though, as someone pointed out, the business plans would have been ready considering the next financial year was just three months away. Munjal parried this by retorting, "Or I can say it's a quarter of a year away. Given the uncertain situation, if you can tell me by how much GDP will grow next year, I could try to share some estimates with you."

Certain uncertainty

Nielsen had recently analysed the FMCG industry across  39,000 brands, in existence well before 2011. It classified these as 'stand outs' based on whether they sustained market share beyond the category average at an all-India level (1 per cent). Less than 10 per cent of them continued to beat  the market (How do brands continue to stand out). The study also revealed that out of 8.4 million stores, just 2.3 million contribute to 80 per cent of the market.Sixty per cent of purchases were influenced at the store, underlining the need for visibility and availability. The perception of luxury alone can lead to an uplift in sales. Offering something extra in the form of additional merchandise or discounts can create a sense of luxury and sway sales 5-20 per cent of the time. But Nitya Bhalla, executive director, advanced analytics, warns that the brand should not be seen as a discount brand year-around.SKU rationalisation becomes crucial in the downturn, because companies can mistakenly dis

Sense of luxury can sway consumer

The tasks before the nation just keep increasing even as the time available to complete them is shrinking with elections round the corner. The finance ministry is engaged in bringing down the current account deficit, and the Reserve Bank of India with inflation. But the gross domestic product has an unlikely saviour in the high ground level inflation that props it up by at least 20 per cent. Political parties are not behind. If one attends to majority concerns, the other nurses the minority affairs. The media is equally eager to share the nation's judicial burden. Their studios have been refitted as fast track courts that can come with same-day judgements on crimes of every description. Everyone is doing their best to unwind the tangled web of a nation beset with problems.R Narayanan,  GhaziabadLetters 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

Letters: Election fair

This refers to the report "Pvt email ids expose offices to snoop threat" (November 27). It is an irony that India being an information technology superpower is yet to develop desi social networking sites on the lines of Facebook and Twitter. Why blame government officials for using private e-mail ids on websites such as Google and Yahoo when even the Prime Minister's Office, the Election Commission, and politicians use social networking sites. China has taken steps to make the internet less American-centred. It has a Twitter-like social networking site - Sina Weibo - that has millions of users. China also developed a search engine called Baidu. Then why not India? The National Informatics Centre, in association with the Indian Space Research Organisation, should offer e-mail services to the general public. Why can't Indian information technology giants such as Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, and Infosys among others, offer the same to the public? If we have the resources to launch th

Letters: Desi websites

The finance ministry's austerity drive apparently cuts so deep that the signature Mumbai-Bangalore Economic Corridor was almost a non-starter for want of a few crores of rupees. The British government, which is jointly developing the project, had requested a token grant of Rs 5-6 crore from the Indian government as a goodwill gesture before signing the deal. But the finance ministry initially sat on the proposal citing an expenditure freeze until pressure from the ministry of external affairs loosened the purse strings. Another example of squeezing growth-inducing capital expenditure just to meet the fisc target?

Penny wise

US has failed to challenge China's air defence zone

Assertions in the air

Virat Kohli was brought in by the Delhi State Election commission to increase the voter turnout and urge voters to come out and vote during the elections on Wednesday. But it turns out that the Delhi lad, whose advertisements have been used by the commission over the past month, will not be present in Delhi to cast his vote. Kohli has already reached South Africa to play three One Day matches and two Test matches. The commission would have done better to ask dropped cricketing superstars Virender Sehwag or Gautam Gambhir, to lead from the front since they are likely to cast their vote.

Election googly

People attending the Healthy Gujarat conference in Gandhinagar had a first-hand experience of the concerns raised over the security of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Medical professionals arriving at the inaugural function were frisked at least three times before entering the main hall. The frisking became so rampant that security personnel even held up a senior government officer who was supposed to welcome Gujarat Revenue Minister Anandi Patel on stage. While Patel stood waiting for the officer to welcome her, Modi's personal security guards were seen busily subjecting him to a thorough pat-down.

Security overkill

India must lead in brokering a WTO deal at Bali

Say yes to trade

This refers to the report "Tata says bye to banking" (November 28). Internal reasons and complexities seem to have discouraged the Tata Group from entering the banking space. The reasons have, however, come as a blessing in disguise for the group. The very nature of the banking business has become competitive. Those who have opted out of the banking race will eventually celebrate their decision, and those who have been granted licences will regret their diversification. It is not the Reserve Bank of India's mandates that would mar their prospects. Shrinking net interest margins, continuing defaults resulting in higher level of non-performing assets, poor legal solutions, are enough to kill the industry. If ever some banks has succeeded (read HDFC Bank, Axis Bank) in this space, it is difficult to copy their strategies. Public sector banks (PSBs) may have a large chunk of business but, the private sector banks have scored over them. That has happened because of the high-value/low-volume

Letters: Banking precautions

Planning investor roadshows is not easy. Investment bankers have to prepare for many things, such as lining up potential big investors, analysts' presentations and so on. If, however, a government stake sale is involved, one more variable gets added - the availability of the family of the department of disinvestment (DoD) officials. A banker who is visibly critical of the government's handling of public sector stake sales recalls how he and his team had to plan a recent roadshow in such a way that a DoD official travelling from Delhi could meet his son studying in Ahmedabad.

Roadshow-cum-family reunion

At a Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers' conference in Mumbai, senior officials of various companies explained their views via PowerPoint presentations. But Ambuj Sharma, additional secretary, ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises started his speech explaining why he does not need any presentations. "Being a government official, I cannot have any written presentation in case we have to go back on our promise. We should be able to retract anytime we want," he said, sending a wave of laughter through the audience. That probably explained why even Praful Patel, minister for heavy industries and public enterprises, did not need a presentation and spoke extempore a couple of hours later at the same event.

Power point

After the bench had heard the case regarding the unique identity project for several hours, one of the judges interrupted to ask what Aadhaar means. The answer - that it means foundation or structure - was given almost in chorus by the battery of lawyers present. Since defence advocate Shyam Divan was questioning the constitutional validity of the project, Justice Bobde joked that if this current Aadhaar goes, there will have to be a new aadhaar. To everyone's surprise, it was the Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran who was quick to counter by saying the country would become "nir-aadhaar". That literally means "without foundation", a term that has so many implications in the current political dispensation that the proceedings immediately resumed without comment.

Aadhaar's foundation

Last week, while hearing a petition regarding the unique identity or Aadhaar project, a bench of two judges, B S Chauhan and S A Bobde, engaged in a long debate over whether the states that have made the number mandatory for people to avail themselves of government schemes should be impleaded in the case. The defence advocates opposed the suggestion, arguing that several government agencies were involved already, so including the states would delay the judgement even further. But the judges were not convinced. Then they spotted Soli Sorabjee, who was representing one of the petitioners. Bobde threw the ball in the senior advocate's court and said they would go by whatever he decided. Sorabjee pointed out that he was not on the bench, so the matter was not for him to decide. But the judges insisted, calling him the "Bhisma-Pitamah" of Indian law. It is difficult to say whether Sorabjee was flustered or pleased by the comment, but he gave his opinion all the same, agreeing with the judge

Business Standard

Business Standard

Page 652 - Business Standard

Letters: Gifts of democracy

Letters: The food security angle

Letters: The CoSC factor

Letters: Ideas and time frame

Commodity offer

Certain uncertainty

Sense of luxury can sway consumer

Letters: Election fair

Letters: Desi websites

Penny wise

Assertions in the air

Election googly

Security overkill

Say yes to trade

Letters: Banking precautions

Roadshow-cum-family reunion

Power point

Aadhaar's foundation

Sorabjee as 'Bhisma-Pitamah'

A big step forward