Apropos the editorial "Breaking foreign policy" (March 21), the current foreign policy imbroglio relating to the Sri Lankan issue has thrown up a serious question: Should our foreign policy be dictated by the narrower interests of a single state? The voices being raised in favour of the affirmative answer seem to be getting stronger. While it sounds prima facie fair, there is a deeper and disturbing question - have the states lost faith in the Centre? Have they come to believe that the Centre cannot take adequate care of their interests? This is of a piece with the view that we need representatives of a particular section of populace, say women or other backward classes, at the Centre to take care of their interest. It is a disturbing portent to paucity of statesmen-like leaders at the Centre with the capacity to carry diverse sections of Indian populace along.Kishor Kulkarni  MumbaiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zaf

Letters: Centre-states trust deficit

Business Standard

Minimum public shareholding norms of 25% for private sector companies and 10% for PSUs were prescribed three years ago. A deadline of June 2013 was fixed for the former and August 2013 for the latter. If these deadlines were complied, the markets should have an avalanche of issues over the next few months. But given the market conditions, it is unlikely that all these would be successful.

An avalanche or a mirage?

Domestic manufacturing will reduce India's dependence on imports of electronics but may deprive access to the latest global products

Is Preferential Market Access justified?

The questions that surround the DMK's exit from the UPA

Breaking foreign policy

The implications of the food security Bill remain worrying

Change without reform

With the resignation of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) ministers yesterday, the finance ministry lost its Minister of State (MoS) for Finance S S Palanimanickam, who was a member of the United Progressive Alliance's regional ally. The news of the DMK pull-out was running on TV channels from the morning and finance ministry officials were closely following the political developments. All the same, they continued to mark some routine files to Palanimanickam who came to North Block for a short while on Wednesday morning. "We don't have any official intimation. As long as there is no written communication, we cannot assume things on our own and stop marking the files," explained one official. The files will now be sent back to these officials, possibly with a suggestion that the second MoS, Namo Narain Meena, will handle his former colleague's responsibilities till a replacement is found.

Work to rule

The finance ministry's expenditure department did its job by controlling spending this year, but the revenue department can't rest, at least till the end of this month. It is working hard to meet the revised estimates of tax collections. Since there are government holidays on March 27 (Holi) and March 29 (Good Friday), tax officers throughout the country have been directed to keep receipt counters open on holidays as well as the weekend (March 29-31). The Department of Financial Services has been requested to have the banks open for longer hours on March 26, 28 and 30 and for at least half day on March 27, 29 and 31. Moreover, a message from the Central Board of Direct Taxes chairperson said, "In view of the department being in complete revenue mobilisation mode, officers are not expected to leave their headquarter(s) in this critical phase of the last month of the current fiscal." She added that the facility of meeting without prior appointment stands suspended until further order.

Taxing times for revenue dept

The food security Bill, which was cleared by the Union Cabinet and will probably be passed in the current session of Parliament, bears the distinct imprint of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who is credited as the brain behind the legislation. Officials said it was her suggestion to expand the maternity benefit to more than two children against the earlier proposal of limiting it to the first two children. That is perhaps why Food Minister K V Thomas, a loyal Congressman if there ever was one, rushed to meet her in Parliament as soon as the Cabinet cleared the Bill and, reportedly, thanked her profusely for her support.

Booster dose

The charges of genocide and human rights violations against the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in Sri Lanka should be taken seriously. The media as well as the international community should strongly condemn such horrific acts, exerting pressure on the Sri Lankan government. In fact, the Sri Lankan Tamil issue has not been properly handled by successive governments in the country. So far, Colombo has been a silent spectator to the real concerns, and the basic rights of Tamil civilians. Sri Lankan history clearly reveals that in 1815, the British brought in Tamil labour from the southern parts of India to work on tea, coffee and coconut plantations in what was then known as Ceylon. So, naturally, these migrants have the right to live in peace and harmony. Then, in 1949, Tamil plantation workers were disenfranchised. An eye for an eye cannot be a solution to any problem. The 25-year-old ethnic issue could be better settled through sovereignty and freedom for the Tamils. A strong political

Letters: Sri Lanka's unsettled issue

The sudden withdrawal of support to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) is more opportunistic than principled. But the party is left with no other option, given the public mood in Tamil Nadu. Had Kalaignar withdrawn support at the time of the genocide, he would have been truly hailed as the "leader of the Tamils". But then, he was more interested in the spoils of power. Still, the pull-out is welcome in that it goes to register a sort of protest against the UPA government's back-door persuasion to dilute the US-sponsored resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Geneva; its refusal to introduce amendments to the resolution to condemn the genocide and take steps for an international commission of enquiry under the auspices of a UN initiative and its "appreciation of Colombo for its attempts at reconciliation". Nevertheless, the withdrawal of support has put the UPA government in a vulnerable position. The descriptions "lame-duck" and

Letters: DMK's pull-out

Should the appointment of directors at education institutions should be done without interference from HRD Ministry?

Student's corner

The central bank expects inflation for 2013-14 to remain at current levels, limiting the scope for further monetary easing. Here are the key parameters which will decide the future trajectory of interest rates. (Click on graphic)

Limited scope for more rate cuts

The BSE Sensex slid 285 points to close at 19,008.10 after staying volatile on a day that began with RBI reducing the repo rate and saw the government on the brink as DMK said it would withdraw support. The summons issued by the CBI special court to key people from top telcos added to the nervousness. The 1.85% decline in the index was the biggest in about a month. A look at how the Sensex moved

RBI, DMK, 2G effect Sensex's biggest fall in a month

As expected, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut the repo rate by 25 basis points (bps), supporting government's reforms and fiscal measures to revive growth. The underlying factors have been improvement in trade deficit, drop in core inflation, achievement of 5.2 per cent fiscal deficit and, most important, slowing growth.There has been a cautious note by the RBI governor, sobering expectations of significant further cuts. With WPI (wholesale price index) and CPI (consumer price index) still stubborn (and added pressure from fuel deregulation), we do not expect more than 50 bps additional repo cuts for the rest of the year. Notwithstanding the notable decline in core inflation, RBI remains worried about the increasing wedge between the wholesale and consumer price inflation.The key culprit, food inflation, is likely to remain elevated and faces upside risks from populist increase in MSP (minimum support price). The central bank expects headline inflation to be around current level

A cautious step: Nirmal Jain

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s action today had been on expected lines. Guidance for near-term policy moves remains mixed, emphasising growth concerns and softer core inflation but at the same time citing retail inflation and inflation expectations as meaningful risks. On balance, RBI seems to be following its usual style of staying cautious and trying to contain expectations, while delivering easing.While the concerns on retail inflation and inflation expectations are well-founded, I would, nevertheless, expect upcoming macro data - inflation and growth, in particular - to eventually lead to further monetary easing in the coming months.RBI turns a lot more explicit in acknowledging growth risks, as GDP growth recently hit a 15-quarter low of 4.5 per cent, with usually resilient segments such as consumption and services exhibiting meaningful weakness. The recent trend of fiscal austerity also remains a key negative for near-term growth recovery. Importantly, on the other hand, March

Expect further 50-bp rate cut: Siddhartha Sanyal

Govt pays the price for cutting out private trade in wheat

Harvest of mistakes

The ball, once again, is in New Delhi's court

RBI runs out of room

Officials in the finance ministry say they are confused. That's because they're getting conflicting signals from industry on the Budget proposals. They're receiving congratulatory letters for some proposals only to be criticised on the same proposals in public meetings. For instance, when somebody said the government should have given one five-year extension for the power sector tax holiday instead of extending it several times by one year, Revenue Secretary Sumit Bose said laconically: "On power, someone called me up to say 'thanks'. We didn't know we got it totally wrong." Finance Minister P Chidambaram also showed an appreciative letter from agricultural economist M S Swaminathan when some members of Parliament criticised his proposals on agriculture.

Good or bad?

Justice V S Sirpurkar, chief of the Competition Appellate Tribunal, started his inaugural speech at a recent conference on competition law addressing the people on the dais as "learned" lawyers. Having second thoughts, he added that he should not have said "learned" because "all lawyers are considered 'learned' unless proved otherwise".

Learned curve

Justice Sirpurkar, it seems, is multilingual too. Having served in Kolkata, he was able to quote Tagore in Bengali and recite Urdu verse with the same ease. Lighting a lamp to inaugurate the conference, Justice Sirpurkar quoted the poet on the significance of the lamp, and how it had "the potential to light others". He added that lawyers should be the lamps that spread awareness about competition law across the country. Then in pure northern tradition, he broke into a sher: "Dhool Chehre pe thi, aur Aaina saaf karta raha," referring to misplaced priorities that arise out of a lack of understanding.

Light and dust

Apropos Priya Nair's article "Job change should not deprive you of PF" (March 18), an employee is allowed to withdraw his/her provident fund (PF) from the previous organisation only if he/she doesn't join any other organisation in India for a period of more than 60 days. So, the term "cooling period" is baseless. If an employee resigns to go abroad for higher studies, or starts his/her business, he/she is allowed to withdraw PF immediately. If an employee wants to withdraw his/her PF and continues to work for another PF-governed organisation, the gap between the two employments should be over 60 days to make him/her eligible for a withdrawal. This time gap shows unemployment and hence, it is prudent that PF access is given to the employee. After all, that is the purpose of it.Adrish Singh  Navi MumbaiLetters 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

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