Indians aren't the only ones who have noticed Manmohan Singh's anaemic track record as prime minister; global opinion seems to be veering that way as well. In a recent column on Indonesia's faltering economy, the Financial Times' Asia editor David Pilling drew parallels with India's lost opportunities and made the striking point that, "Mr Singh was once hailed as the superman of Indian reform. In his second term, he has turned back into Clark Kent."

The Clark Kent of reforms

Business Standard

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is in the process of selecting the executive director who will handle the crucial Integrated Market Surveillance department. Several candidates are said to be in the fray, but one officer who has recently joined the regulator on deputation is said to be the front runner. Some old Sebi hands who had also applied are miffed. But the front runner is said to be close to powers-that-be. There's little others can do but allege a "fixed match".

One-horse race?

Last month in Parliament Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did something he had never done before. In an unprecedented attack on the Opposition, he exchanged sharp words with Bharatiya Janata Party Leader Arun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha. Last week, the prime minister once again did something for the first time - he met every journalist individually on board in his special Air India One aircraft on return from the G20 summit in St Petersburg, Russia. Before addressing the press conference, Singh went up to each journalist and shook hands. Interestingly, even Singh's critics wanted to freeze the moment on camera and eagerly availed themselves of this opportunity.

PM's novelty

This refers to R Gopalakrishnan's column "Contradicting the bosses" (InnoColumn, September 6). While companies use creativity extensively to accelerate the progress at the beginning and survive during their decline stage, a prolonged dependence on status quo during the maturity stage might prove to be fatal as Xerox Corporation discovered when it lost its market leadership in the sixties. At an individual level, suggestion schemes are launched to gather innovative solutions. But the success of such schemes depends on the perceived fairness of the associated rewards, their appeal to the employees and their timeliness.Creativity is generally a team effort and Japan has shown how small group activities add to the profitability of the organisation. Also, effective use of communication meetings with the section or departmental employees requires a listening and open-minded boss. The objective should be to seek dissent with the boss' view to promote more ideas such as Alfred P Sloan Jr, pres

Letters: Creating creativity

Malavika Sangghvi's "Letter to Sonia" (Trending, September 7) describing the undulating landscapes, mouth-watering food and simplicity and warmth of the people of Italy makes fascinating reading and makes me nostalgic about the two visits I had paid to that country years ago. But I am surprised when she wonders at Sonia Gandhi turning her back on the beauty and glory of her motherland to be amid all the horrors of present-day India. Has the author forgotten the well-known saying, "It is better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven"?R C Mody  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: Hell or heaven?

This refers to Subir Gokarn's column Public Sector: Act V? (Muddy Waters, September 9). The lag in infrastructure and capital goods development is clearly hurting India's development. The other unnoticed lag is in developing innovative technologies that match domestic resources to urgent needs, the way Israel has done with water and defence management. The public-private partnership and pure private models' problems often trace back to three issues. The first is the overly optimistic market projections that make people quote absurd rates while rent-seeking instincts urge them to accumulate projects, much like land bank. The second is that of implementation getting lost in the maze of rules of land acquisition, forest and tribal protection and rehabilitation. The third is the fundamental dynamic of the broader consuming/user class having modest rupee income while the cost of projects such as land, capital goods, interest and energy is in dollar-equivalent terms. There is not a sufficien

Letters: Developing infrastructure

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

Indicus price monitor

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

The prospects of strikes on Syria and turbulence in Libya that drove up global oil prices have once again focused attention on what the IMF calls the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, or MENAP. In the years after the Arab Spring, fundamental economic problems remain, the IMF said in a recent report. For oil-exporting economies, for example, GDP growth from oil has declined sharply, as Table 1 shows. Table 2 shows which country has exported how much in the recent past - there has been a great deal of political volatility, especially regarding Iran's and Libya's output. Current account balances have taken a hit, as Table 3 shows. Meanwhile, for several oil exporters, the prices have to be as high as possible in order to break even fiscally, as Table 4 shows.Meanwhile, much of the non-oil-exporting MENAP continues to struggle with growth, as Table 5 reveals. And the unemployment problem that helped spark the Arab Spring has not gone away either, according to Table 6. Table 7 shows w

StatsGuru: 9-September-2013

Will a home loan taken from a friend/relative be eligible for tax-deduction?Yes, you can claim deduction on the interest on the loan under Section 24, which is up to Rs 1.5 lakh a year. However, you cannot claim deduction on the principal amount under Section 80C, as that will be applicable only if you take a home loan from a recognised financial institution.Which document will help the borrower claim deductions?Interest payment to friends and relatives can be claimed under Section 24 but only against a certificate received from them. In the absence of the certificate, you would not be eligible for the deduction.

Tipping point

G20 summit discusses tax avoidance - and Syria

A maturing group

A big step forward for the financial sector

Pension benefits

Where does a businessman visiting the capital catch up with old friends? One or other of the members-only clubs in the city, you would think. Not Rahul Bajaj; he was recently spotted in the Rajya Sabha visitors' gallery. Bajaj had been a member of the Upper House till 2010 and confessed to Business Standard that he "tremendously enjoyed his stint" in Parliament. He rarely comes to Delhi nowadays, he said, and when he does, he comes to Parliament to meet "old friends". After catching a bit of the debate on the Constitution amendment Bill which will introduce sweeping changes in the method of appointing judges, Bajaj, clad in a white kurta-pyjama, headed to the Central hall where he caught up with friends right across the political spectrum - ministers Jairam Ramesh and Kapil Sibal, Congress senior leader Janardan Dwivedi to Opposition leaders Arun Jaitley and Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Samajwadi Party's Ramgopal Yadav and Naresh Agarwal. The industrialist who is known f

Hamara Rajya Sabha

Despite the Maharashtra government's move to pass an ordinance banning dance bars, the dancers have not lost hope. They are meeting in groups in the suburbs to either individually or jointly seek the blessings of Ganesha during the 11-day long Ganesha Chaturthi festival. They are, however, neither dancing nor singing before the elephant god but making special offerings for him to protect their livelihood. And the chorus "Ganpati bappa moraya" is getting louder.

Dancing to Ganesha's tune

The former Dabhol power project, now called Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd, has been closed since July 15 for want of gas. The power generation utility is spread over 1,500 hectare of land near the Arabian sea in the scenic Ratnagiri district. Not surprisingly, given the uncertainties over the gas pricing policy, employees are really worried about their jobs. So worried that some of them have privately suggested using the project site to carry out work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme. That way, they don't have to worry about assured wages.

MGNREGA for Dabhol

This refers to the report "Markets dance to Rajan tune" (September 6). The new Reserve Bank of India governor has taken some excellent steps. The foreign exchange and share markets were looking for a reason to be happy. The ills of the Indian economy, however, go well beyond any central bank's ability to fix; it requires a performing and fair government. If one refuses to acknowledge reality, one will swing between irrational exuberance and nihilistic pessimism. Tinkering with foreign exchange regulations, new banks, foreign direct investment in pension or insurance, even telecom re-allocation will not cure the real issues - un-competitive manufacturing, high prices for land, energy, lack of job opportunities, etc. It is great that south Mumbai real estate prices are one of the highest in the world, or that Indian corporate chiefs earn $27 million annually. However, the reality is better reflected in the fact that China's biggest bank's market cap is 14 times that of India's biggest ba

Letters: The real problem

A few days back, a relative tried to book a refill of an LPG cylinder from her cell phone. The system refused her request saying that the number wasn't registered, though I had completed the registration myself. When I went to the dealer, I found that the number had "mysteriously" been changed. The number would in all probability have been deliberately changed to allow someone else to book refills beyond his/her capped entitlement. My relative utilises only a part of her subsidised entitlement. Such accounts must be coming in handy as proxy accounts for consumers with heavy usage of LPG. Thus, the new booking system also stands defeated. It is possible there are some other safeguards such as requirement of signed requests from the customer for registration and changes in the registration of personal data. But it appears they are observed more in breach than in compliance, possibly because there is no effective inspection of the processes followed by the dealers. I think the subsidies b

Letters: LPG gap

The food security Bill has received a lot of flak from experts and commentators alike. It will not only be ineffective in feeding the poor, but will also cause our fiscal deficit to rise significantly. The government has three sources of funding its welfare schemes. First, it can borrow from international institutions or domestic lenders. Given that the cost of borrowing has spiked recently, the government will be less willing to use this tool for fear of hurting the fiscal deficit. Any more blows to the deficit target will mean a ratings downgrade and an economic hara-kiri. Second, the government can turn to tax hikes. Merely pursuing the rich will not be enough to fund the huge cost of the Bill. This means that a massive tax burden will have to be shouldered by the middle class. Given the implausibility of these two options, the government will likely resort to the last available recourse - printing notes through the Reserve Bank of India. This option will inevitably lead to inflatio

Letters: Inevitable inflation

Q&A with Kamal Nath, Parliamentary Affairs Minister

Business Standard

Business Standard

Page 688 - Business Standard

The Clark Kent of reforms

One-horse race?

PM's novelty

Letters: Creating creativity

Letters: Hell or heaven?

Letters: Developing infrastructure

Indicus price monitor

Case study

Realty check

StatsGuru: 9-September-2013

Tipping point

A maturing group

Pension benefits

Hamara Rajya Sabha

Dancing to Ganesha's tune

MGNREGA for Dabhol

Letters: The real problem

Letters: LPG gap

Letters: Inevitable inflation

'PM will face CBI if summoned in coal scam'