Fall in gold price will likely result in a $1.37-billion dip in value of gold reserves with RBI

RBI's gold reserves take a beating

Business Standard

Who'll buy commercial vehicles when manufacturing is frozen?

Nothing moving

Exports need free trade and reform, not old, bad schemes

No new ideas

Yogendra Kumar Sapru, the man who spearheaded the legal battle against Novartis on Glivec's patentability, may not mind having his name altered in certain circumstances - or so he says. Recently, when addressing a press conference in New Delhi's Press Club of India, Sapru's initials on the name-card on the dais erroneously appeared as Y P Sapru. The founder-chairman of the Cancer Patients' Aid Association took this in good humour and was quick to say, "If it has to be P instead of K, then P must stand for patients and not patents."

Patently for patients

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) is in such a hurry to establish itself in the Indian market after the split from Hero MotoCorp that it openly declared plans to launch at least one new product every quarter to take on its former partner on home turf. HMSI's Vice-President (Sales & Marketing) Y S Guleria mischievously rubbed in the point when he welcomed the media at the launch of its new mass-market motorcycle offering, Dream Neo. "We know we are ahead of schedule. We are also not tired of launching new products in the market. We just hope you are not tired of attending media briefings of HMSI in such quick succession," he said, with tongue very much in cheek.

Tired and tested

It seems that Guleria is not the only senior HMSI executive with a sense of humour. Persistently questioned about the company's export plans at the same press conference, India President and Chief Executive Officer Keita Muramatsu eventually retorted, "We are not exporting bikes to Africa in a major way now. At present, we have only exported an expat from Kolkata to manage our operations in Nigeria."

Expat 'export'

This refers to the report "FM assures US investors of more reforms" (April 18). It's difficult to guess when will the reforms, which  the finance minister keeps talking about globally, see the light of the day. First, Anand Sharma, during Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's visit, assured of a single-window clearance mechanism for all Australian companies' projects in India. Then, Manish Tewari said action has been taken on single-window clearances. Next, Ajay Maken assured of the same. Lastly, at the Confederation of Indian Industry's annual general meeting, Sharma again stated that everybody liked the colour red, but no one liked red-tapism. The mining industry in India is keen to import mining equipment and technology from Australian companies, and this requires the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS') approval. However, DGMS is not willing to accept the Australian and international standard/lab reports, though India is a signatory to the UN Convention Agreement to acce

Letters: Acting on reforms

Apropos Akash Prakash's article "Moving towards revulsion" (April 11), there are clear signs of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) rejecting assets, since their faith in the revival of India's growth has been shaken. The Indian equity market is now perceived as lifeless. First, domestic investors viewed investing in the stock market as a risky affair. After the Great Recession, they moved their money in property, gold and other safe assets. However, there is a huge variation in the way returns are estimated by domestic investors and FIIs given the difference in interest rates in India and abroad. Second, unlike the US and Japan that are pumping liquidity into their markets to overcome unemployment and growth, India was considered a good destination. But in the last two years, thanks to the 2G scam, the coal block irregularities and the intent to disallow investments through round-tripping, besides the downside risks to growth on account of the fiscal deficit and inelastic imports i

Letters: A lifeless stock market

This refers to the report "JD(U) sets Dec deadline for BJP to name PM candidate" (April 15). The secular-communal politics has outlived its utility in electoral battles; nobody votes for a person or a party merely for the secular tag. The new planks for electoral success are development and governance, to which Modi's successive victories in Gujarat can be attributed. And according to the recent opinion polls, no other leader in the BJP or any other party matches Modi's popularity and mass appeal.M C Joshi  LucknowLetters 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: Modi-Kumar dispute

Complaints should not derail India-EU FTA

Full speed ahead

New gas pricing formula defies economic rationality

A problematic move

Direct benefit transfers (DBT) may be one of the most important projects that the United Progressive Alliance is banking on in the run-up to the general elections next year. Mysterious, however, are the ways of the Prime Minister's Office in this regard. Normally and understandably, the media is kept off the radar of inter-ministerial letters. But a letter to the secretaries of various ministries from the prime minister's Principal Secretary Pulok Chaterji, asking them to take steps on the roll out of DBT for liquefied petroleum gas in 20 districts from May 15, found itself in the hands of the media in the form of a statement much before it reached the designated ministries. "Strange, but what we understand is that the letter reached the departments concerned after a statement was issued for the media," a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Direct transfer to media

Public relations (PR) executives can be smart marketers, too. An SMS from a PR executive for a global property consultancy said: "Morning. Do let me know if any story in mind [sic] where our client can participate. Just reply 'yes', we will get back. Have a nice day". It could be called the ultimate click-and-mortar model.

The 'yes' man

Recent developments in the Indian pharma industry, especially over compulsory licensing of life-saving drugs, have left multinationals jittery and encouraged them to change their public relations strategy in India. Till recently, the focus was on wooing government; now the attention has shifted to the media. This week, three major multinationals, caught in patent rows, did their media rounds one after the other explaining their stand. Their attempt is no longer limited to winning the battle over intellectual property-related issues, but to spruce up their consumer-unfriendly image and show that they care.

PR tonic

This refers to Ajai Shukla's column "How weakness buys strength" (Broadsword, April 16). While Russia, and then China, stood up to the US and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation with their home-built and reverse-engineered armaments, India's military has remained trapped in a mindless exercise with every finance minister adding this line to his Budget speech: "In case our defence services need more resources, funds will not be a constraint". Using the army for quelling internal troubles, such as in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, has made the political leadership hostage to the army's preferences. The inept indigenous public sector defence industry has made the import lobby stronger. India's defence lacks both effectiveness and accountability, and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd is not the only example. The top brass is more interested in sprucing up cantonments than partnering the indigenous defence industry and educational/research and development institutions. There is no point co

Letters: Indefensible inaction

This refers to the editorial "A missed opportunity?" (April 16). Reducing eligibility criteria for promotions is short-sighted on the part of the top management of public sector banks. One practical solution would be to recruit professionals from the private sector to fill in the vacancies. But the remuneration package comes in their way of tapping the pool of talent available. The remuneration system of banks has in-built deficiencies so long as there is a benchmark of maximum ceilings in terms of the package.K V Rao  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: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Pay PSU bankers more

Apropos the editorial "A missed opportunity?" (April 16), public sector banks (PSBs) need to recruit people in bulk to fill the vacancies on account of large-scale retirements. With new technology and competition from foreign and private sector banks, what PSBs need is a major generational leap on the human resources (HR) front. These banks must attract large numbers of young graduates and post-graduates from tier-I and tier-II management colleges through well-structured campus placements. They should also take effective steps to train, develop and retain them. At the same time, an overhaul of HR policies, particularly on strengthening the performance appraisal system, rewards, incentives and the compensation structure, the retention policy, career planning and job-rotation policies, is a must.I K Kilam  FaridabadLetters 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: A complete HR overhaul

Do you think it is a good move by AICTE to allow companies to set up engineering institutes?

Student's corner

Wooing investment

Gold, oil prices may bring only temporary relief

Not a solution

The official photo released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on the much-publicised talks on the India-EU free trade agreement that took place in Brussels is pictured above. A careful look at EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht's photo reveals that the colourful design of his tie is made up of miniature snake-charmers. That could, of course, be an indication of the talks, but the question is: who is the snake-charmer and who is the snake?

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