Subramanian Swamy's many followers on the right and online follow his adventures with much excitement. Swamy has, in the past, publicly taken credit for the Supreme Court's strong words when it appeared the Italian marines accused of killing Kerala fishermen appeared to be staying in Italy instead of returning to India to face trial. Perhaps the Court's patience with Swamy - who is not a lawyer, but has tendered petitions to the Court in numerous politically high-profile cases - is finally wearing thin? On Tuesday, Swamy tweeted: "CJI refused to hear my Contempt Petition in which I said GOI and Italy had colluded on letting the Italians to go. So I walked out." He added: "I don't mind being insulted by CJI for defending the honour of Bharat Mata. GOI Italy collusion is disgusting." He certainly must be feeling peeved - far from choosing to walk out, one person present during the proceedings says that the chief justice asked him to leave when he pressed his case. In fact, Chief Justice

Courting trouble

Business Standard

The recent trip of some junior US Congressmen to Gujarat has generated much heat over allegations that the visit was paid for, to build Chief Minister Narendra Modi's positive image - to the extent that the visit of such junior and controversial Republican Congressmen can build an image. The allegations centre around the claim that the Congressmen were given perhaps as much as $16,000 to make an all-expenses-paid trip, supposedly organised by a minor Chicago-based Indian-American libertarian foundation last heard of trying to ensure the re-election of tea party favourite Joe Walsh in a bitter House election that he later lost to Democrat Tammy Duckworth, a disabled veteran whom Walsh had called "no true hero".With allegations and counter-allegations flying thick and fast, the issue has refused to die down. Oddly, a senior member of the Congress Working Committee, Shakeel Ahmed, seemed to have prior knowledge of the matter, for he told his followers on Twitter, a day before the report o

From across the sea

Apropos the report "Novartis loses patent battle in SC" (April 2), the recent judgment against Novartis might result in pharmaceutical companies pulling out of India and cutting down investment in research and development for new drugs. Moreover, patented and new "wonder" drugs that would be available to patients across the world might not be accessed by patients in India. We should understand the reality that lives exist in both the balances. Glivec - which cost Rs 1.2 lakh per month against a generic drug of Rs 10,000 - was being made available by Novartis free of cost through its patient assistance programme, as even generic drugs might not be affordable for most Indian patients. In this light, it is important that the government revises the Indian Drug Pricing Act and fixes uniform prices for all drugs - patented or otherwise. The patient should be the winner, and not the patent.S Narendra BangaloreLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House

Letters: Drugs for all

Apropos Alok Sheel's article "The central banker's Brahmastra" (April 2), it is clear that quantitative easing (QE) and credit easing are not as effective to serve the objective of a country in recession. Capital-infusion through the financial system without the money multiplier has done no good to inflation, output and credit demand. Despite the fact that money has been pushed into the system on a massive scale, asset values have not grown significantly so as to allow economic units to reap the benefit of their wealth. The "helicopter drop" would at least provide direct benefits to the recipient to utilise the money in the manner he wishes to do. However, no mechanism has so far been invented by any banking or financial institution through which each consumer can enjoy the benefit of a QE splurge.R K Arya 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.inA

Letters: Executing 'helicopter drop'

The editorial "Time lost, time to serve" (March 31) is objective advice to Sanjay Dutt about seeking a pardon for his case under the Arms Act, connected to the 1993 Mumbai blasts. Dutt has displayed mature judgement and fair play by deciding not to seek a pardon, and surrender in fulfilment of the Supreme Court's order. Given the gravity of his proven crime and the 20-year freedom he enjoyed pending the final verdict, which enabled him to establish his reputation as a star, it is a correct, though painful, move. He should start serving the jail term and seek reprieve later on the basis of good conduct in prison. He may also consider making financial contributions for the rehabilitation of some of the victims of the blasts.This case also showed how even eminent people can go wrong when they are guided by emotion, instead of reason, in matters involving celebrities. The illuminating instance is Justice Katju's suggestion that Dutt deserved to be forgiven because he propagated the message

Letters: Fair advice for Dutt

Novartis judgment might have many side effects

Patent problems

There will be new faces at the helm of the banking regulator, the country's largest bank and the largest insurance company

Change of guard in financial sector in

"The judgement is indeed a landmark one because it empowers the common man and serves a social and national priority. In such matters there are many factors that are to be considered, like the patient population, therapy segment in question, patents. But no matter how one looks at it, the most important priority at the end of the day is that the man on the street is to be able to have access to affordable life-saving medicines; affordability and accessibility being the main criteria"Ramesh SwaminathanCFO, Lupin Limited"In view of this judgment and various patent challenges that have happened over a period of time in the case of Roche, Bayer and other multinational companies,this is a huge setback to the innovation and research ecosystems of the country.We would be perceived by global firms as a country not recognising, respecting and rewarding research and innovation.I think the government and the industry need to introspect and have to find an amicable solution, both in terms of havin

Pharma prescription

CEOs in India continue to be optimistic about their growth prospects even as they are concerned about political, economic and social threats to such growth

Indian CEOs more bullish on global growth in 2012

The 16th PwC Annual Global CEO survey reveals CEOs in India are worried about policy and regulatory uncertainty, exchange rate volatility, protectionism and corruption. The top three concerns of global CEOs are uncertain and volatile economic growth (81 per cent of global CEOs identified this as their biggest concern), government response to fiscal deficit (71 per cent) and over-regulation (69 per cent). This differed with the top three concerns of the Indian CEOs, who were more worried about protectionism, bribery and corruption, and exchange rate volatility.Protectionist tendencies of national governments concern 71 per cent of CEOs in India compared to 51 per cent around the world. Protectionism is increasing around the world, and screening of FDI and M&As is becoming common. The second big worry for Indian CEOs has been the volatile rupee, which swung between 49 and 58 against the US dollar - 74 per cent of the CEOs in India were concerned about it. Bribery and corruption is al

What worries Indian CEOs  the most?

CEOs continue to worry about the lack of policy and regulatory clarity, as well as exchange rate volatility, but not so much about growth

The price of uncertainty

As the outlook for the stock market turns hazy, investors' focus is expected to shift to companies which pay higher dividends. Analysts say this is because expectations on capital appreciation in stocks wane in uncertain market conditions. Investing in stocks with higher dividends has been a conventional way of stock market investments and is a widely followed practice in developed markets. But, in India, the investment philosophy is heavily biased towards capital appreciation. The absolute dividend yield on stocks can be a compelling metric for spotting opportunities. A rule of thumb is that a dividend yield of five per cent and above are good opportunities. Also, the record of dividend payment and companies' cash flow are closely watched by veteran investors along with dividend yield.

Dividend play

With the elevation of Chitra Ramkrishna as the MD & CEO of the National Stock Exchange, India joins a select group of countries whose premier stock exchange is headed by a woman. Israel and Sri Lanka are already on the list. So are emerging markets South Africa and China. In all, there are just nine women heading exchanges out of 57 bourses across the world registered with the World Federation of Exchanges. In the past, ace broker Deena Mehta had headed BSE as its president

Fairer street

Prevention better than cure

Worldwide, the media has a long history of putting out April Fools' pranks on April 1 - starting with the legendary BBC TV broadcast on April 1, 1957 that purportedly was about the bumper "spaghetti harvest" that year - Italy's pasta bushes, the programme claimed, had done spectacularly well. The Guardian, for example, this year parodied the recent Google Glass launch by pretending they had released Guardian Goggles, an "immersive experience" in the venerable British newspaper's content "because life's too short to think for yourself". The Indian media did less well this year. Sure, Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN-IBN fooled a few on Twitter when he announced Narendra Modi would debate the publicity-shy Rahul Gandhi on his news show. And Anant Rangaswami, on Firstpost.com, won over a few with his spoof report that the all-knowing Justice Katju would be moved from the Press Council to the Research and Analysis Wing. But Firstpost.com's attempt to pretend that Modi had apologised for the 2002 Gu

Fooling themselves

A Parliamentary delegation recently visited Australia. On their first evening, they were invited to a drinks reception, with dinner laid out on tables nearby. Soon after they arrived, Thawar Chand Gehlot, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of Parliament (MP) and member of the BJP's parliamentary board, said he needed to eat something because he had to take some medicines. "Sure, why don't you have a dinner roll," suggested a colleague. So Gehlot sat down at the dinner table, took a knife, sliced the roll and buttered it. As he was eating, the hosts were ushered in for an introduction. As the MPs stood in a row, a colleague saw Gehlot put the butter knife in his mouth. "What are you doing?" he asked in a whisper, horrified. "Oh, there was some butter left on the knife," said Gehlot, oblivious to any breach of etiquette, and wiped the knife clean with his tongue. The hosts watched bemused - and hugely pleased, it turned out. "He likes Australian butter," one of them told an Indian M

Utterly butterly

In the last month, the income-tax department has sent notices to over 100,000 people who have a PAN card but did not file their income-tax return last year. In its zeal, the income-tax department has not even spared finance ministry officials, particularly in the Department of Economic Affairs. Interestingly, the tax due in some of the cases is just few hundred rupees. Officials at the receiving end say this is not unusual for the tax department as they have a history of sending notices to secretary-level officers, too. In fact, once the name of the revenue secretary's wife was randomly thrown up by the system for scrutiny.

Taxable ministry

This refers to the report "BRICS agrees to form development bank" (March 28). The decision of the BRICS grouping of nations to establish a development bank to finance infrastructure and create a $100-billion contingency reserve are steps in the right direction for the economic stability of fast-developing countries. The member-countries have walked the extra mile during the summit by going beyond political diplomacy to imperative economic initiatives. To keep away the onslaught of the economic debacle experienced in different regions repeatedly - and on a recurring basis - progressing countries need to insulate themselves by forming workable economic forums that can contribute to their common benefit.Their economic initiatives can do much for the developing countries, considering the fact that the five member-countries are spread across Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa, giving a perfectly balanced representation, and with Egypt showing its willingness to join the group. The progr

Letters: BRICS benefits

Apropos the reports "Now, US softening stand on Modi" and "Congress ends ambiguity on Rahul" (March 29), it is puzzling to see both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress working hard on their respective courses to self-destruction. The more the BJP pushes for the unquestionably divisive Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate, the worse the party will fare in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Similarly, the more the Congress pushes for the unquestionably incompetent Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate, the worse the Congress will fare. In the interest of the country, one fervently hopes that sanity will prevail in its two largest political parties - for any eventual third front will be an even bigger nightmare.Alok Sarkar KolkataLetters 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: Paths to destruction

Apropos "Modi will pose challenge to his own party: Sibal" (March 31), Kapil Sibal has criticised the induction of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah into the Bharatiya Janata Party's parliamentary board. However, "zero-loss" specialist Sibal had no issues aligning with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, whose ministers were in jail for months; or with Shibu Soren, a sitting coal minister, who was charged with murder; or Salman Khurshid, whom a TV channel accused of mishandling trust funds. He should respect the rule of law and challenge Modi democratically. In the same context, it is vital that the Congress learns governance by the rule of law - respect courts, constitutional bodies and the democratic process. Seeking votes from minorities by following a policy of appeasement may not help the party win in the upcoming general elections.D M Rajan Caranzelem, GoaLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011

Business Standard

Business Standard

Page 750 - Business Standard

Courting trouble

From across the sea

Letters: Drugs for all

Letters: Executing 'helicopter drop'

Letters: Fair advice for Dutt

Patent problems

Change of guard in financial sector in

Pharma prescription

Indian CEOs more bullish on global growth in 2012

What worries Indian CEOs the most?

The price of uncertainty

Dividend play

Fairer street

Prevention better than cure

Fooling themselves

Utterly butterly

Taxable ministry

Letters: BRICS benefits

Letters: Paths to destruction

Letters: Modi better than DMK