While the Congress may be desperate to get the food Bill passed, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar's statement that he is not in favour of the ordinance route has left the Congress denying all talks of divisions within the government. However, there is a section within the party that is not too displeased with Pawar's views, since "the Bill will bring about legal entitlement of the right to food to be discussed threadbare in Parliament".

The right to debate

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The ongoing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Executive in Goa has been making news for all the wrong reasons and, quite expectedly, #Goa and #LKA (Lal Krishna Advani) are among the top trends on Twitter. Advani's absence from the opening day of the Goa meet citing "ill health" had provided much ammunition to Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury who derided the "Namo-nitis" that is spreading and afflicting senior BJP leaders, in an obvious reference to the growing schism between Advani and Narendra Modi. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javdekar, however, dismissed her comment as "Congress' Modi phobia". But when news of veteran leader Advani skipping the meet altogther "on doctor's advice" came in, the BJP was left red-faced with much explaining to do. Twitter is abuzz such comments: "Only people who fake sickness to avoid unpleasantness or punishment: school kids and Indian politicians", and "LKA sick with envy".

Doctor first

India should have showcased its soft power at Venice

Missing a biennale

Real estate was overdue for buyer-friendly regulation

Something to build on

Govt raises import duties again, misses the point

Golden tangle

This refers to the report "Realty regulation Bill gets go-ahead" (June 5)

Letters: Homeowners' perils

This refers to the editorial "Rescuing Infosys" (June 2)

Letters: Experience counts

This refers to the editorial "Open up accounts" (June 6)

Letters: Under the RTI scanner

At the height of his powers as Chancellor of Germany, Adolf Hitler virtuously never drew a salary and the Nazi Party propaganda machine relentlessly publicised this fact to show how the FÃ¼hrer put the interests of his country before his own

Cut-price struggle

Warning: Visitors to the office of the West Bengal state lottery department may find themselves temporarily hired

Visitors may be hired

Journalists are often in a hurry to report to their editors about the latest news developments

First, the Boss

Top five PE deals this yearThe top five deals accounted for 35.02% of deal value. In the largest deal, Blackstone Real Estate, Embassy Property, HDFC Property Fund and GIC Special Investments invested $367.64 million in Vrindavan Tech Village

A snapshot of PE activity & deals

Will conventional engineering continue to rule the roost despite newer and niche courses coming up in future?

Student's corner

The rupee's depreciation against the US dollar has continued. As on June 4, 2012, the rupee stood at 55.67 against the dollar. A year later, it closed at 56.45 on June 4, 2013. The most affected segment due to rupee depreciation has been higher education abroad. Since June-July is the period when students are expected to pay the full fees for admission in an international institute, a snapshot of the cost for pursuing an MBA from top five universities (according to 2013 QS Rankings) in the US

Rupee depreciation makes foreign education costlier

India is not working hard enough on climate change

Dropping the green ball

But RTI is not the tool to impose transparency on parties

Open up the accounts

Narayana Murthy's return to Infosys is not a cause to celebrate. It shows failure of the team in which he had reposed trust to take Infosys further when he decided to retire. His decision was hailed as an example for others who stick to their post till death. The choice of a non-information technology (IT) man, K V Kamath, as Murthy's successor was evidently a bad one. Running a private bank in India with patronage from the government is quite different from running an IT company in the international domain, where competition is fierce. In any case, Murthy should have stuck to his decision to retire from Infosys. Nobody is indispensable.Sudhir K Bhave, MumbaiLetters 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: . . .  is no reason to celebrate

This refers to the editorial "Rescuing Infosys" (June 2). While success is never guaranteed, failure seems to be just steps away. N R Narayana Murthy not only founded Infosys Technologies, but also nurtured the company to great heights during his three-decade tenure. While he handed over the reins to S D Shibulal and company, he would have expected the information technology giant to continue on top of the business. But that was not to be, and its pioneer position was challenged. In Indian industry, where changes occur every fortnight or every month, probably Infosys was found wanted or less prepared. In his second coming, Murthy might not be able to repeat his earlier success story, but he would surely change a few things necessary to regain the company's market leadership position. What is commendable is that this time around, he has brought his son along with him so that a young mind brings a fresh perspective to the table. Indeed Murthy's conviction is exemplary and must be applaud

Letters: Murthy's second coming

Fluctuations in oil prices may raise questions about a public sector oil company's profitability and its under-recoveries from the government for selling petroleum products at a subsidy. But what's the hardest question Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) Chairman and Managing Director R S Butola had to face at a press conference to announce the company's results? It came from an angry journalist from a regional language newspaper about the complimentary leather bags that were piled up at the entrance to the venue for journalists to pick up if they wanted to. He was aggrieved that IOC's staff personally gave the bags to some journalists and not to others. "Why were only selected journalists given big gifts and small newspapers discriminated against? Is this suitable behaviour for a public sector undertaking? Even the Directorate of Advertising & Visual Publicity recommends a 20 per cent discount on advertising to small newspapers. Then why this?" he demanded. A politically correct Butola p

Out of favour

For senior bureaucrats, a posting in Northeast India is hardly considered a route to the fast track, as a result of which the region is perennially short of good officers. Worried by this trend, the chief minister of a prominent northeastern state floated an idea of making it mandatory for all senior bureaucrats to spend a fixed tenure in the region. This was discussed at a meeting with a prominent Cabinet minister. But the big question is whether the bureaucrats will ever agree to it without conditions attached.

The slow track

Leading lights of Indian business who were on the board of Ranbaxy in 2004 as independent directors are under the scanner for turning a blind eye to what was happening in the company - something for which it has had to pay a penalty of $500 million to the authorities in the US. But these men have something more in common. What bound these men together was the Radhasoami Satsang - most of them happen to be followers of the movement that is headquartered at Beas in Punjab. P S Joshi, for instance, was the Satsang's doctor in the early part of the 2000s. Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna, who was chairman as the time of the whistle-blower revelations, has an even closer relationship with the organisation. His father was the secretary to the Satsang when it was headed by the father-in-law of Parvinder Singh, the Ranbaxy promoter who wanted to transform the company into a multinational corporation.

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