There are people and there are tweeple. While the verdict of the people comes every five years, tweeple judge in real time. Tweeple's influence on or their reflection of people's mood is yet to be clearly established, but the virtual group's importance is growing with the ruling party recently anointing Shashi Tharoor as its "tweeter-in-chief". As BJP's Narendra Modi steers ahead of him in the number of followers, Business Standard brings you the most popular personalities on Twitter:

Modi tweets ahead

Business Standard

Adaptive cruise control systems use laser or radar to maintain a set distance from other vehicle on the highway

Car tech countdown to 2018

This refers to M J Antony's column "30 million and counting" (Out of Court, July 3). One of the reasons for the increasing number of pending cases in the judiciary is the long breaks it gets, adding up to more than three months. Compared to other countries, our judges have among the largest off-the-court days - the Supreme Court of Ireland has 74 days, Australia has 52 and Canada 11. The 230th Report of the Law Commission of India on Judicial Reforms recommended the vacation period be brought down by at least 10 to 15 days. Further, the report suggested that if judges work even half an hour extra, it will help reduce pending cases.Y G Chouksey  PuneLetters 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: Justice on vacation

Taking stock of the state of financial inclusion in India

StatsGuru: 8-July-2013

Indicus price monitor

Apropos the report "Govt banks writing off more loan than they recover" (July 5), the reporter has painted a dismal picture but an incorrect one, primarily because of the manner in which banks, particularly the public sector banks (PSBs), handle their non-performing assets (NPAs) and recovery portfolios. By and large, PSBs concentrate on recoveries during the course of the year while major write-offs and prudential write-offs are done only in the last quarter. Therefore, the data for write-offs for almost all banks would be high in the fourth quarter compared to the recoveries.Secondly, upgradation is also a major component of NPA reduction. Taking the example of just one bank, the cumulative data of cash recovery plus upgradation for Bank of India during 2012-13 was ~2,006 crore against a write-off plus prudential write-off of ~2,413 crore (according to a presentation to analysts). This may still agree with the title of the report, nevertheless the bank's position is not as precarious

Letters: NPAs-The real picture

This refers to Madhukar Sabnavis' article "Both older and younger" (July 5). In my childhood I spent quite some time climbing trees, but I do not see children, including my kids, doing so today. And as schools, too, are converting the teacher-pupil interaction  towards the smart class, there is a change in how parents and children perceive childhood. The article displayed the negative side of the social fabric and human psychology but it seems to be good news for the corporate sector since it can expect healthier and more enthusiastic workers in the near future.Vinay Singhal, GurgaonLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201  Â·  E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Coming of age

This refers to the report "India's navigational satellite sent to orbit" (July 3). The team of scientists that has worked on the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) -1A projects deserves special thanks. India has now achieved a position equivalent to the US and Britain who are already masters in space science. The IRNSS-1A will be able to evaluate radio waves extending up to 1,500 km from its boundary lines, touching most parts of the South Asian subcontinent. Being developed as one of the best navigational satellites, the IRNSS-1A will have an eagle's eye in space for fulfilling India's security needs. The global positioning system installed in the IRNSS-1A is capable of providing precise data on public transport systems, mobile towers, trains and so on. Although space missions are costly, keeping in view the advanced level of achievements in geo-stationary orbit and geo-synchronous orbit, India must continue to interfere in universal space research and development pro

Letters: India's eye in the sky

The next time the Centre meets the Empowered Committee (EC) of State Finance Ministers to discuss the Goods & Services Tax (GST), both sides will miss some key negotiators. The states will no longer have on their side former EC Chairman Sushil Modi and former Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Raghavji, both with a good understanding of the GST and most active in GST meetings. The Centre might also miss its Joint Secretary V K Garg who resigned from government service recently. Garg had more experience dealing with the states on GST than his other colleagues. But since Raghavji, the most vocal opponent of GST, is no longer part of the EC on account of his resignation, officials from the finance ministry may not find it too difficult to deal with the states.

GST's missing links

An engineer started from Pune to Dehradun in search of his missing parents. Having heard on TV that state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) was the only service available in the mountains, he got himself a SIM card quickly after filling in multiple forms and submitting documents. With the SIM firmly in socket, he headed for the search. After reaching Uttarakhand, he tried to activate the SIM but failed. A day later, he got a call from customer service asking him why he had not activated the SIM. Puzzled, the engineer said he tried dialling the given number several times to do so but with no success. The caller replied, "But for activation you have to make the call from the home network." Which left the engineer wondering whether he should continue the search for this parents sans a phone or go back all the way to Pune to activate the SIM.

Active BSNL

Footballers are not known for their intelligence but FC Bayern Munich's latest recruit Mario Gotze (pictured) managed to breach even that low standard and nearly ignite a brand war as a result. The 21-year-old showed up at his official presentation to the club wearing a Nike t-shirt. Nothing wrong with that except that rival sportswear brand Adidas happens to be Bayern Munich's official shirt sponsor and a stakeholder too. The club confirmed that it had apologised to the sports manufacturer but not before Adidas had expressed its discontent on the issue.

He just did it!

The Egyptian democratic transition was incomplete

Tahrir burns, again

Food security should not be treated as a political ploy

Short-circuiting debate

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

Case study

Emerging markets lead in current and planned use of mobile payments with China and India showing the most aggressive adoption

Emerging markets lead in mobile payment services

Muted top line but margin gains to drive profit after tax

Q1FY14 earnings preview

In contrast to its policy paralysis earlier, the government has recently taken a slew of economic policy measures

Polls in sight, policy in overdrive

The Congress' "sudden hurry" in pushing through the food Bill as an ordinance and that, too, on the cusp of the monsoon session, expectedly has the Opposition up in arms. In his overzealousness to counter the Opposition attack, Congress communication department chief Ajay Maken said, "This may be a life saver, life changer for many people... So delay even by a single minute or day, God knows how many lives it could cost!". This rationale of the Congress found few takers among the journalists he was addressing and Maken had quite a time fending off the barrage of questions. "Why was the Congress waiting for nine years?" "Of the 60 years of post independence the Congress has been in power for close to 50 years - you waited for 50 years and now, the Congress is talking of a single minute delay being costly ?"

Counter attack gone wrong

The neighbourhood post office is trying to adapt and survive

India Post Bank?

The human body is as capable of producing electricity as any mechanical device

Harnessing man's super power

The sector can afford no more regulatory disruptions

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