In the September 2013 quarter, China's gross domestic product grew a robust 7.8 per cent year-on-year. But an unexpected fall in exports in September, easing growth in factory output and retail sales and high inflation have added to the economic gloom. Amid all this, however, the richest 400 in that country have become wealthier by $150 billion this year, according to Forbes.

China's rich get richer

Business Standard

In November, as Chhattisgarh goes to vote, Chief Minister Raman Singh will be banking on his inclusive-growth model to win a third term. Under Singh, Chhattisgarh has been spending more than 50 per cent of its budget on social security schemes, the highest among all states of the country.However, in spite of the liberal spending, the state continues to remain one of India's most backward. It performs below the national average in terms of infant mortality rate, access to drinking water, sanitation and availing of banking facilities.Even if part of Chhattisgarh's poor performance is blamed on its parent state Madhya Pradesh (from which it got separated in 2000), the state has not taken advantage of its rich mineral resources. This is reflected in low revenue generation, where Chhattisgarh is placed in the bottom half. This has led to an over-dependence on central funds.The GDP growth of the state has been uneven. But in both 2010-11 and 2011-12, the state had shown higher growth than th

Chhattisgarh in numbers

That the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government headed by Akhilesh Yadav has failed to deliver on industrial development and investment is old news. But it is Akhilesh's father Mulayam Singh Yadav who could well prove to be his undoing. On Friday, a Chinese delegation visited UP to explore investment possibilities and visited Noida, Greater Noida and the Yamuna Expressway. The same day, speaking at a function in Lucknow to celebrate the birthday of veteran Congress leader N D Tiwari, Mulayam said the Chinese were untrustworthy. He even related some events to buttress his point. The following day, the newspapers carried both news items together. Any bets on the outcome of the China visit?

Red stars over China

Maybe it has something to do with the anxiety within the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) after the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a first information report against former coal secretary P C Parakh. On the eve of Karva Chauth, the north Indian festival that requires wives to fast for the welfare of their husbands, the IAS wives association organised a dinner outing. This time, the dress code was prescribed - lehenga choli or seedhi pallu sari for the women and Indian ethnic outfit for the men. The venue was Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth's residence since his wife happens to lead the wives' association.

A moveable feast

Ordinary people aren't the only ones wary of lawyers; judges can be intimidated by them as well. A judge recently approached a property dealer to rent out his south Delhi flat after he was allotted an official residence on being promoted to the elite panel of Supreme Court judges. Since his flat is in a good location, he quickly got a tenant but he hastily turned down the deal when he discovered that the would-be tenant was a practising lawyer.'

Judging the lawyers

As a citizen and also as one having spent decades in the government, I congratulate the prime minister (PM) for having openly come out  and said that he, as the coal minister and as PM, had approved the allocation of 15 per cent equity in  coal blocks to Kumar Mangalam Birla for appropriate reasons. I do not agree with the view that the matter should have gone back to the screening committee. The PM's bold and correct stand is a boost for the bureaucracy. The PM (and coal minister at the same time then) has every right to go against the committee's recommendation. He is both the competent and final authority. He can set aside the recommendation of any executive authority below him if there is a reason to do so. The committee is only a recommending authority that is a part of the procedure for the allotment of coal mines. The Supreme Court has time and again held that procedures are to be interpreted liberally and not strictly.Even the screening committee in the finance ministry for det

Letters: Competent authority

This refers to the editorial"A reason for unreason" (October 20). When science and seances are combined and the government becomes a bounty hunter in its desperation to search for gold, are these not enough reasons to have some fun and laughter? What is surprising is that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is swayed by tales of hidden wealth like some Indiana Jones mission based on the dreams of a sadhu.The ASI and other official bodies should go by hard evidence, documents and authentic historical records to verify before going on such treasure-hunting expeditions with public funds. Are we regressing in this age of science? Lastly, if we do discover this "El Dorado", the question still remains whether the government is going to melt it, flog it, share it or ignore its historical and antique value?H N Ramakrishna  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: lett

Letters: All that glitters...

After repeated criticism of the irrelevant application of the western concept of "core inflation" in the wholesale price index (WPI) the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave it up. Instead, it has used the term "non-food manufactured products inflation" from the Annual Policy Review for 2013-14 onwards. I am surprised to find, in some recent statements of the authorities, a reference to the core inflation again now in the consumer price index (CPI), obviously relating to non-food products and services. The CPI should be considered core inflation with about 60 per cent of the weights assigned to the two groups: food, beverages and tobacco and fuel and light for all-India and 70 per cent and 45 per cent for rural and urban areas, respectively. Their shares may be even higher now in total consumer expenditure since 2010. It is time the RBI shifts its focus to CPI, even though it may continue to take cognisance of trends in other indicators such as WPI.A Seshan  MumbaiLetters can be mailed, fa

Letters: Core inflation

A price index for agri commodities: A Business Standard and Indicus Analytics initiative

Indicus price monitor

RBI policy will have to deal with the thorn of inflation

StatsGuru: 21-October

Bhargav Dasgupta, managing director & CEO of ICICI Lombard General Insurance, answers your questionsI am a medical doctor. A friend has suggested I buy an indemnity policy. I would like to know what risks are covered and how this policy differs from the usual death cover.You can avail of a professional indemnity policy, which covers professionals for any shortcomings or disputes related to their discharge of duties. This would cover you against claims made by patients or relatives of patients pertaining to diagnosis or treatment. Also, if there are any legal proceedings, the expenses incurred on defence of the case - for example, payment of fees to the attorneys - would be covered. An indemnity policy is different from a death cover. In the case of a death cover, a lump-sum amount is payable in the event of death of the insured. An indemnity policy is a liability policy and is applicable to a professional.I am 26 and have been working for three years . I only have a term plan for ~

General Insurance:  Bhargav Dasgupta

India Inc more transparent than emerging market peers

Shining a light

Measure the cost of subsidised fuel properly

Clarity on parity

So who is this "competent authority" mentioned in the hugely controversial first information report filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Kumar Mangalam Birla? Everyone guesses, of course, but reporters seeking a specific reply from a CBI official were bluntly told, "Use your intelligence." Persistent questions as to why the investigation agency hadn't specified what it meant by the term, yielded an even more forthright reply: "The CBI had used its intelligence."

Cagey parrot

Petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily's recently sent out a circular requesting ministry and oil company officials to follow his example and take public transport to work as a fuel conservation measure. Although many have complied - and some have taken it further by cycling to work -  others are probably not following the spirit of the diktat to the full. Realising this, Moily took a dig at one of his officials whom he met at the gate of Central Secretariat metro station on his way out.  "Did you take a car to the metro station or what?" Moily asked him sarcastically.

Spirited response

After he announced his retirement from Test cricket, Little Master Sachin Tendulkar's popularity has, in fact, been soaring. Political parties and non-governmental organisations have privately held meetings to see if they can rope in Sachin  to promote themselves. A student wing, affiliated to a leading political party that does not want to be named, has already started tapping its leaders and Sachin's close associates to engage India's cricket icon not for the party's electoral campaign but to propagate the importance of civic duties.

Sachin's second innings

This refers to the book review "Progress and inequality" (October 18). Charan Singh has brought out the focus of "The Great Escape" in a self-contained essay that can perhaps double up as an executive summary of Angus Deaton's book. There will be many Indians such as me whose families would have escaped from poverty, thanks to their parents' foresight about education as a tool for survival.The Indian experience is that every geographical area with opportunities for education has come out of abject poverty much faster. Kerala, Goa, Pudussery and Punjab are examples where progress in human development indicators were more on account of improvement in literacy than industrialisation. Looked at from a different angle, industrialised and urbanised states neglected education from a selfish interest to retain the uninterrupted flow of cheap labour from rural to urban areas.The observation that "aid - generally politically motivated and conditional - is not effective and is 'likely to perpetua

Letters: Escape from deprivation

This refers to the editorial "Papering over the cracks" (October 18). The fiscal discord within the US, its $17-trillion external debt is little different from the fiscal travails of other world economies in stasis, except that the dollar is the world reserve currency. If quantitative easing was the invading phase of the monetary tsunami epicentred in the US, a default would have been its receding phase that would have been catastrophic. Worldwide, there are trillions in overnight repos between banks that use US Treasuries as collateral for interbank loans and if these instruments become "suspect", then financial markets would collapse. The sad part is that the US lawmakers from both sides of the aisle intend to carry their squabble forward to another day. The dollar itself appears fragile. Perhaps it is time the global exchange gets a basket of mature currencies to replace a wayward nation's dollar.R Narayanan  GhaziabadLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business

Letters: Reserve currencies

This refers to the report "25 mn small borrowers' data now a click away"(October 16). The microfinance industry has worked hard to create credit data on such a large number of borrowers. The Reserve Bank of India deserves appreciation for ensuring the setting up of credit bureaus under the Credit Information Act and coaxing and cajoling banks to share and seek information. Such data help create the credit histories of borrowers. Negative histories help banks and microfinance institutions avoid sticky loans. While India ranks 132 among 185 countries in the Doing Business (2013 World Bank) rankings, our rank is 23 under the Getting Credit parameter, due to the working of our credit bureaus. Improvement would come once we initiate action on collecting data from retailers and utility companies in our credit bureaus.Y P Issar  KarnalLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: lette

Letters: Kudos to credit bureaus

Gold continues to have a grip on the Indian consciousness. In Sasaram, Bihar, a yagya is on to pray that the gold, reportedly buried somewhere in Unnao in village Daundiya Kheda is found and India becomes wealthy. In a mosque in Uttar Pradesh, at the time of 'dua', everyone prayed that the gold would be  found. In Prayag, near Allahabad, 200 families claim to be related to King Ramrao Baksh who had the gold buried, and say they have a claim on it. They are in the process of submitting their genealogy in an affidavit to the Allahabad high court. Their total number runs into 4,000 people. And now the same 'seer' Shobhan Sarkar, who claimed he dreamt of the buried gold, says there is a bigger gold treasure of around 2,500 tonnes buried in Adampur village in Fatehpur district!

Golden opportunity

Government digs for gold, and India explodes with laughter

Business Standard

Business Standard

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