If there's one thing that even his rivals have to admire about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, it's the following he's developed online - partly, at least, thanks to his and his public relations (PR) firm's skilful use of social networking. One of his rivals within the Bharatiya Janata Party, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was long a scoffer, even telling Tehelka magazine in an interview that "I do not put up a show of the work I've done... I don't need to be shown affection on Twitter or Facebook because I'm not here to market myself". A pretty hard hit, you'd think, but mark the sequel - barely a few weeks after that interview, in the second week of March, Chouhan began tweeting. His feed is suspiciously similar to Modi's in fact, leading some to speculate he has hired the same PR firm. Indeed, on Friday, he tweeted about the success of Madhya Pradesh's "Power to all at all times" scheme - which sounds very much like a Modi topic, too. Perhaps Chouhan need

In Modi's footsteps

Business Standard

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

Case study

StatsGuru-1-April-2013

Indicus price monitor

What enables the United Progressive Alliance to limp along in its usual way, despite its minority status and dwindling popularity ("Mulayam rules out early elections", March 30)? The non-Congress secular parties, which leave the ruling alliance for one reason or other, don't find themselves in a position to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to bring down the government for fear of inviting the accusation that they have joined forces with a communal party. The ill-preparedness and lack of confidence of some parties to face the electorate, too, go in favour of the government. The tussle for leadership and the internecine feuds in the highest echelons of some of the national and regional parties foreclose the option of mustering enough strength in unison to topple the government. The variance in issues on which both supporting and opposing parties take different lines renders it impossible for them to take a common stand to upset the apple cart.Apart from its reliance on th

Letters: Limping along

The recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission include, inter alia, those bearing on the central bank ("Search for structure", March 25). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act of 1934 has been amended from time to time in a piecemeal manner to implement the recommendations of many committees and commissions necessitated by changes in economic structures and policy stance. In the meantime, many other countries, both developing (such as the Philippines) and developed (such as New Zealand), have enacted new legislation to replace the existing ones. There is a need for a high-powered commission to review the RBI Act in its entirety with a view to formulating a new law that is in consonance with the latest theories and practices of central banking, including its objectives.The preamble of the RBI Act refers to the objective of monetary stability, which was interpreted all along as price stability or the maintenance of the purchasing power of the rupee. But, since t

Letters: Reviewing the RBI Act

After tirelessly propagating the need for improving energy efficiency to contain energy demand in its discussions and documents, the Planning Commission has now managed to bag the coveted Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) rating for energy-efficient buildings for its head office Yojana Bhawan. The building, which houses the commission and all offices associated with it, has been given a star rating by BEE, which makes it one of a handful of fairly old government offices to bag the coveted certification. Clearly, the commission believes that much more energy - certainly more than the 11,000 Mw saved during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-08 to 2011-12) - can be saved by adopting energy-efficient methods.

Planning for energy efficiency

Nor is just Narendra Modi's rivals in the Bharatiya Janata Party who are concerned about his impact online. In a recent discussion on the impact of the internet on politics in India, held during the Google Big Tent event in New Delhi, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor kept referring to Modi, Harry Potter-style, as "One Who Cannot Be Named". Though Tharoor grudgingly acknowledged that Modi and his party were first off the block when it comes to taking to the social media, he was quick to add that Facebook or Twitter cannot help politicians in India win elections. Of course, as soon as his session ended, he was seen rushing out of the hall poker-faced, since the next speaker on the agenda - "the One Who Cannot Be Named" - was scheduled to begin an address to the rapt audience through a video conference.

Modi-fied name

Tipping point

Rare earths undersea will change geopolitical equations

A blow to a monopoly

Beyond India's grasp

Russian President Vladimir Putin likened the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to Africa's "Big Five" game beasts of trophy hunting lore -lion, elephant, buffalo, leopard and rhinoceros. Though these nations present a formidable counterweight to the West, individually, they  could hardly be more different from each other

The rise of emerging world

Gross foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into India have slowed since mid-2012, after a recovery post the crisis. While the overall trend in FDI inflows into India has broadly been in line with global trends, India has underperformed both the global and emerging economies. (Click on graphic)

FDI inflows slowing

The campaign to pardon Sanjay Dutt has done him no good

Time lost, time to serve

What came as a big surprise in the recent controversy around making English a compulsory language for the civil service examination, which was perceived by members of Parliament as an insult to regional languages, thus forcing the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to go back on allowing students to write their papers in any scheduled regional language, was the stance of Dalit leader Udit Raj. The founder of the Indian Justice Party and a former Indian Revenue Service officer, Raj regretted the fact that English would have no value in terms of  marks in the civil service examination. He said: "A minimum English knowledge is a must for civil servants for the unity of the nation... I was born in a village and I did not know English till intermediate level." Raj still made it to the civil service, and for 15 years, held various posts, including that of additional commissioner of income tax.

Better English

While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent statement in which he did not rule himself out of a third term as prime minister has left the Congress fumbling, it has surprised its opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The party's spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad  said, "Manmohan Singh is a very reluctant politician. But what is surprising is that a few days after Holi, the reluctant politician has shown his true political colours. And, that too, being audaciously ambitious." The BJP can surely take credit for recognising Singh's true characteristics. Earlier, the BJP's Yashwant Sinha had described the prime minister as an "overrated economist" and an "underrated politician".

Political colours

Five areas of disagreement within FSLRC, a panel which gave a report on re-writing of financial laws, are expressed in four dissent notes

Dissent on change

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy got a taste of a Dabangg-style police officer in Patna recently. On his way to the state capital, the senior leader from Bihar was stuck in a traffic jam on a bridge over the river Ganga. We found a state government official, in an inebriated state, was collecting money from truck drivers and thus, blocking the way, he said. When Rudy tried to question the officer, the latter took out his service revolver, brandishing it in front of his security guards. This shows the influence of Dabangg-type films on state government officials, said the politician.

Dabangg 3

The whole world may be excited and applauding Indias move to allow compulsory licensing on expensive anti-cancer drugs, bringing down their prices significantly, but those in government considering more such approvals already appear to be bored with the whole issue. Discussing three more drugs under consideration for compulsory licensing, an official in the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion said, I am quite bored of talking about compulsory licensing now. I feel like a priest at a wedding ceremony chanting the same mantras again and again. It is for the companies to feel excited about it, he added, and not the government.

Business Standard

Business Standard

Page 751 - Business Standard

In Modi's footsteps

Case study

StatsGuru-1-April-2013

Indicus price monitor

Letters: Limping along

Letters: Reviewing the RBI Act

Planning for energy efficiency

Modi-fied name

Tipping point

A blow to a monopoly

Beyond India's grasp

The rise of emerging world

FDI inflows slowing

Time lost, time to serve

Better English

Political colours

Dissent on change

'Dabangg 3'

The drug mantra

Between two stools