Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan may not have an official twitter account but someone has set up a parody account on the microblogging site under the handle The Governator that has a modest following of 3,000-odd and some mildly amusing tweets. The CV reads: "RBI Governor. Hottest man in the Delhi-Mumbai bureaucracy corridor." After Deutsche Bank awarded Rajan its 2013 Prize for Financial Economics late last month, one of the tweets read, "Hey Deutsche Bank, thanks for the award and all. But don't worry, you aren't getting away from any rural lending targets". Another said if he had known that it rains so hard in Mumbai, he would have never taken the governor's job. Yet another said he was removing Maharashtra from the list of most developed states for the disruptions caused after the rains, an oblique reference to the report of a panel headed by Rajan that recommended a controversial multi-dimensional index to determine the backwardness of states.

* The Governator *

Business Standard

Ministers and their bureaucrats rarely agree on policy and a small example of this was on display at a conference hopefully titled "Development of Indian Mining Industry - The Way Forward", organised by industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Minister of Mines Dinsha Patel was supposed to deliver the inaugural address but was unable to attend at the last minute. So, Arun Kumar, joint secretary in the ministry, who was scheduled to chair a session afterwards, was requested to fill in. Kumar obliged but right at the start he firmly clarified that he was not there to read out Patel's prepared speech or convey his thoughts. "Whatever I will say will be in my personal capacity though I happen to be the joint secretary," he announced.

My way forward

This refers to the editorial "An ostrich-like approach" (October 7). Higher education in India has failed to pass muster in global rankings. The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) must share a part of the blame. The entirely misplaced sense of runaway superiority of the IITs came about since the urge to acquire the "Brand IIT" overtook the desire to imbibe skills. As a result the coaching industry earned money many times more than the funds, grants and running expenses of all the higher technical/management institutes of the country put together. We need premier institutions to lead us to newer horizons, to expand and conquer. The new human dimensions needed to be identified towards this can not be assessed at one given time but would need continuous evaluation. But the existing worn pathways up to the portals of these tall institutions will not take us to any new destinations. The low rankings of these institutions on a pan-global scale cannot, thus, come as a surprise. We now nee

Letters: Brand over substance

In the balance sheet of the central bank included in the Weekly Supplement to the RBI Bulletin the deposits of the central government have been shown to be Rs 1 billion (Rs 100 crore) in the last few weeks. This is despite the addition of large amounts, by the middle of September, due to advance tax payments. This was not the case during similar periods in the previous financial years. Thus, the data for March 15, 2013, showed the deposits at Rs 450.77 billion (Rs 45,077 crore) reflecting the advance tax payments. But it did not tell the whole story. A part of the deposits was invested in government securities, so much so the cash position of the Centre was underestimated. A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) official said that government's approval was awaited for revealing the full picture. Now it would appear that the situation has taken a contrary turn with the entire cash holdings barring the statutory minimum of Rs 1 billion booked under government securities. The difference in the RBI

Letters: Cash holding confusion

This refers to the editorial "A guide to 2014" (October 7). Though there is a general tendency to look for voting patterns for the parliamentary elections in the Assembly polls, the search may prove to be a wild goose chase. Unless there is a nationwide disenchantment over a particular issue such as the one that prevailed in 1977, when the Janata Party came to power or the Bofors issue in 1989, when V P Singh came to power. The mindset while choosing an MLA, who is frequently needed to resolve the local issues, and the one while choosing an MP, who is required to play an important role in dealing with national issues, are entirely different.K P S Chauhan  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-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Different mindset

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

Indicus price monitor

StatsGuru: 7-October-2013

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

Case study

Business Standard brings you a snapshot of average current rates and unit sizes in localities that offer property in a price range of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore. 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

Tracking the procedures, time taken for obtaining necessary licences and permits in various cities

Building a warehouse

Is the free-look period applicable only for life insurance?No, even health policies will now get a window of 15 days from the time you receive your policy, to return it if you do not want it. In this case, the insurer will return the premium paid. However, costs like administration and medical examination will be deducted from the premium to be returned.Is the free-look period applicable to all types of health plans?Yes, it will be applicable to both indemnity and defined benefit plans. The former one reimburses you the cost of hospitalisation up to the sum insured, whereas a defined benefit policy pays a lump sum on diagnosis of specified illness. Even a personal accident cover will now allow a free-look period.

Tipping point

Global ranking will help Indian universities

An ostrich-like approach

Issues at stake in the coming Assembly polls

A guide to 2014

Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily's decision to use public transport one day every week - purportedly to decongest the roads and save the nation up to $5 billion (Rs 31,000 crore) - has been the talk of the town lately. It raised a few eyebrows when the minister asked his ministry and public sector officials to use public transport on Wednesdays. When a reporter asked Petroleum Secretary Vivek Rae about his plans, the mood among government officials became clear.Journalist: Sir, which bus are you taking?Rae: Number chaar sau bees (No 420).A note for our international readers: Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code covers offences relating to cheating and dishonesty and 420 is a popular slang word used for fraudsters.

Team spirit

Worried over negative publicity to the government when its chips are already down most United Progressive Alliance ministers have started making elaborate arrangements to face the media. But sometimes things don't go as planned. One such incident happened recently when minister of state for sports and youth affairs Jitendra Singh was asked to speak to the press on a topic on which he was not well-prepared. Singh did not want to take any chance. He immediately summoned his OSD and said that he should have been apprised of the talking points before being asked to face the media. The harried officers went into a huddle with the minister, keeping the pressmen waiting and emerged a good 10 minutes later with all the details in place. Firefighting is not just the Congress high-command's prerogative it seems.

Fire, fire

All judges get impatient if the voluminous documents submitted by the petitioners aren't properly arranged. At a recent hearing involving a large corporate house, a judge almost lost his cool since he had to go back and forth to a stack of files given by the litigant. Stopping short of adjourning the case over improper arrangement of the documents, the Judge told the corporate's counsel, "Of the huge ill-gotten money you have made you should have spent some money on getting the files in proper order."

Stacking up problem

This refers to the report "Maharashtra plans another city 50 kms off Mumbai" (October 4). This is an appropriate occasion to recall the projects announced in the past. Two days back the railways announced the tendering for a project to link Airoli to Kalwa. Two years back the state had announced plans to build habitations in various locations in the mainland up to Pen. The existing slender rail service between Vasai and Panvel needs upgradation. Further, there are other older projects such as the Mumbai Vision - a consultancy report on behalf of a business chamber that envisaged block-by block redevelopment of the city, adding several transport links between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, one of which was a road cum rail bridge between Nava Sheva and Sewree.The road portion has met with several hassles and the rail portion has been unceremoniously dropped. The widely-commented Dharavi redevelopment plan continues to be in limbo. A year back when the state government arranged a meeting with th

Letters: Previous plans

The editorial "The real shutdown problem" (October 4) is very pithy and is a brilliant exposition of the central ill that is bedevilling the US lately. All said and done, the US directly and indirectly is the economic engine of the world. It is anachronic that in an economy as evolved as the US and a mature democracy, the politicians continue to be inconsiderate and apathetic towards the welfare of the people and in doing so they do not form a part of the solution but the problem, by confrontation. During the 1992 crisis in India, the then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao said to the members of the opposition, "let us not be confrontationist in our approach". However, our politicians did not learn and specialise in confrontation at the detriment of the nation's security and economic well-being. While "wiser counsel" will certainly prevail in the US, I earnestly hope that the average Indian politician also learns about the effects of his/her commissions and omissions on the economy, aft

Letters: A matter of approach

This refers to the report "Maharashtra plans another city, 50 kms off Mumbai" (October 4). Navi Mumbai was created to decongest Mumbai. It has become more congested now. The floor space index (FSI) policy is a hindrance in decongesting Mumbai. More towers are built and that puts pressure on the existing infrastructure in the vicinity. The FSI policy should be scrapped. If the government is serious, then it should begin with building a new Mantralaya in Uran. The existing Mantralaya building could be used for other purposes. In the garb of redevelopment, Mumbai is becoming more congested, by allowing more FSI to build pencil towers that are dangerous since they may not be able to withstand high-intensity earthquakes. Mumbai falls in the seismic zone-III region. Therefore, efforts should be focused on building horizontal houses instead of towers.Deendayal M Lulla  MumbaiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delh

Letters: A seismic shift

In the controversy surrounding who is to blame for the controversial ordinance of the government that sought to protect convicted politicians, Business Standard explains how a government Bill/ordinance is drafted. In the present case, the ordinance belonged to the law ministry:

How a government Bill reaches Parliament

Raghuram Rajan has inducted several new people in various committees, which will oversee a host of critical issues ranging from issuance of new bank licences to a new monetary policy framework as well as financial inclusion. In what is being seen as a move to induct new but vastly experienced people into policy making and the regulation framework, Rajan has tried to balance the need for new thoughts and experience. RBI watchers say these appointments represent a significant step forward in central banking governance and policy actions.  Here is a brief snapshot of 10 of these personalities.

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