This refers to Samuel Paul and Kala S Sridhar's article "The demand side of inclusive growth" (March 5). Owing to the data limitation, the writers' analyses of poverty estimates in various states were restricted till 2004-05, for which the National Sample Survey's data are available. Montek Singh Ahluwalia had recently said analyses of poverty and economic growth need to consider this data limitation. In 2013, is the trend in poverty reduction, as pointed out by the writers, continues in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, or has the situation changed? The period after 2004-05 is crucial since during the past six years, while economic growth has slowed down at the national level, some states have seen impressive growth rates.Chandrashekhar G Ranade  VirginiaFrom Samuel Paul and Kala S Sridhar:With reference to R K Arya's letter "Employment and growth" (March 7), the study about Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh is about historical trends in literacy rate, education, reservation in economic opport

Letters: Poverty in real time

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The editorial "Angels in India" (March 5) makes a compelling case for promoting angel investors and venture capitalists. After all, not only do they act as an important source of risk capital for start-ups and expansion-level ventures, but also provide guidance and mentoring based on their vast experience of the industry verticals. Also, it is important to establish a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and culture where fresh engineering and management graduates are encouraged to set up a business that is more remunerative and satisfying than a mere job. In addition to tax incentives to investors, policy-driven impetus to incubators and innovation will also be an important step in that direction.Sunil Jain  GurgaonLetters 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: Guardians of start-ups

Sector-wise allocations in 2013The software & services sector accounted for 31.17% of investments in terms of deal volume with an aggregate of $32.21 mn. Healthcare equipment & services was second, attracting $80.09 million (10.39%) in eight deals. Retailing, real estate and commercial & professional services were the other top sectors

A snapshot of PE activity & deals

The Stanford University Board of Trustees last month agreed to a 3.9 per cent increase in tuition fee for MBA students attending the university's graduate school of business. This would translate to the two-year programme costing $200,000. In the past five years, tuition fee at B-schools has gone up significantly.Â A study by AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, which accredits B-schools worldwide) suggests:

MBA degree gets costlier

Janaki Devi Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JDBIMS), a business school exclusively for women, affiliated to SNDT Women's University, Mumbai, will start its Pune campus in the next two years.JDBIMS has received a Rs 7 crore donation from the Bajaj Group and will use the fund  to expand educational facilities at its Mumbai campus and to establish a campus in Pune.Shekhar Bajaj, chairman and managing director, Bajaj Electricals, said, "Women's  education in India has played a pivotal role in the overall development of the country. Over the past decade, women have continued to set benchmarks in the corporate world, at par with their male counterparts. However, there is still a dearth of quality and affordable management educational access."SNDT Women's University will be utilising some of the fund donated to enhance the facilities at JDBIMS-Mumbai.Four floors will be added to the existing JDIBMS Juhu campus, enabling the university to start new management courses such as MBA in corp

JDBIMS to set up campus at Pune

But it's an extreme weapon, to be used judiciously

Enter compulsory licensing

Rahul Gandhi must alter system his mother and PM worked out

Reforming diarchy

So who's this "very smart boy from the South, Madras" with an "amazing CV" that Tony Fernandes has selected to head his joint venture airline in India? Nobody will know until the name is officially announced, of course, but the joke that's gone viral in the travel business is that it's... Rajinikanth. At any rate, he certainly fits the description of Fernandes' widely-publicised tweet!

Fernandes' 'very smart boy'

Indian Railways  perpetually financially stretched  has achieved a feat this financial year that has no parallel in its 150-year-long history. According to the recent Rail Budget, the national transporter managed to bring down its operating ratio (OR), a key indicator of financial efficiency, from an exceptionally bad 95 per cent in 2011-12 to an impressive 88 per cent in 2012-13. At a post-Rail Budget press meet, Railway Board Chairman Vinay Mittal generously attributed this entirely to women power in general and the financial prudence of Financial Commissioner Vijaya Kanth in particular, making the rather dull business of financial number crunching a memorable experience. "Basically, the financial commissioner acted like a good housewife for Indian Railways," he said, only half-jokingly. Even before the laughter subsided, Kanth added, "As they say, mama knows best!"

Mother of all ORs

When Economic Survey 2011-12 was released last year, the last under Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Kaushik Basu, the advance copy that was sent to the prime minister was found to have 20 pages missing and had to be withdrawn hastily. This year, the Economic Survey, the first produced by Raghuram Rajan, was lighter and had fewer pages, as a deliberate policy. How much less? Well, 20 per cent, leaving some wags in North Block wondering whether the CEA's office had drawn a lesson from last year's gaffe.

20:20 vision?

This refers to Samuel Paul and Kala S Sridhar's article "The demand side of inclusive growth" (March 5). It tended to prove that the demand side buoyed Tamil Nadu's growth, as well as reduced poverty in the state. The percolation theory works till the point there is a scope for improving employment. Beyond that, freebies need to be given to keep livelihoods going. Of late, the government is realising that freebies are harmful to overall growth. Job creation can help reduce the fiscal deficit, improve growth and alleviate poverty. It is incumbent upon the state governments to tackle poverty, for which they should ensure the best ways to employ their people.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.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Employment and growth

This refers to the editorial "A double-edged sword" (February 19). Recent interventions of the Indian judiciary in the spheres of legislature and executive border on bizarre to outright bunkum. The judiciary has intervened to question a "mysterious car" racing down the Tughlaq Road in Delhi, allotment of a particular bungalow to a judge, stray cattle on streets, levying congestion charges at peak hours at airports with heavy traffic, prescribing age and other criteria for nursery admissions, supply of drinking water in schools, use and misuse of ambulances, requirements for establishing a world-class burns ward in hospital, the use of subways, identifying buildings to be demolished, growing frequency of road accidents and enhancing of road fines, and so on. The eccentric lust of the Indian judiciary in its misguided zeal to govern through judicial gavel does not stop here. It ordered linking of rivers  a mammoth and irreversible task  without any scientific opinion and concern for envi

Letters: Judicial overreach

LAST WEEK WE ASKED: With UK Prime Minister David Cameron removing the limit on number of Indian students studying in the UK, do you think the move will impact the Indian higher education sector?

Student's corner

Commodities transaction tax may not achieve its ends

Undermining the market?

Quantitative easing, sequestration and the Indian economy

Ripple effects

The editorial in this month's Congress mouthpiece Sandesh, which can be considered the party's official view, has raised many eyebrows. That's because the editorial, after highlighting the United Progressive Alliance government's achievements in introducing crucial legislations, also draws attention to the recent "tragedy at the Kumbh mela". It lays the blame on the "inadequate arrangements at the site" and goes on identify the (Allahabad) "railway station" as the location. The editorial clearly states that it is "traditionally known that a large number of people assemble there especially on 'Mauni Amavasya' [the day when the stampede took place at the railway station]". While referring to the "anguish" expressed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi at the loss of lives, it obviously shows incumbent Congress minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in poor light. The minister and his ministry had ascribed the tragedy to circumstances beyond their control.

Party games?

In the Indian judiciary, reputed senior lawyers are often regarded as objects of awe by court personnel and junior lawyers. So perhaps it was not considered worthy of note when one of the defence lawyers told Attorney General G E Vahanvati, in Hindi, "I am in awe of your position," before he started cross-examining the latter. But from his tone, it was unclear whether the lawyer concerned was serious or not, and the statement was not recorded by the court in any case.

Positional sense

At the first convocation ceremony of Chanakya National Law University, Patna, which was held recently and attended by Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar among others, Kumar took the opportunity to pitch for better infrastructure, especially the need for an auditorium, in the college. Some said it was no coincidence that the ceremony was held on the college's basketball court, instead of the more spacious library lawns. Or maybe Kumar's intention was to catch the attention of dignitaries from the Centre, which is in line with his consistent complaint of Bihar's neglect by the powers in Delhi.

Logistic logic

Apropos the report "Chidambaram to hard sell India to domestic, foreign investors" (March 5), the rising CAD and weakening rupee have contributed to the inflationary and subsidy pressures, not least through higher costs of imports of energy, capital goods and fertiliser inputs. P Chidambaram has correctly zeroed in on higher export as the medium-term solution to this challenge. The problem is in achieving a sharp growth in net export. India has become uncompetitive in virtually all manufactured products, compared to the east and southeast Asian economies, while its defence and capital goods imports are continuously rising. The way out is rapid expansion of capacity, infrastructure and technological ability, while keeping costs under check on the energy, transportation, labour, land and capital fronts. Each factor has independent variables and pushes. Curbing land and labour costs will run afoul of the political compulsions, including farmer rights, fair employment policies, trade union

Letters: Creating export demand

This refers to Shyamal Majumdar's column "Exit interviews" (Human Factor, February 15). The normal feedback mechanism, if at all, operates between an employee and his immediate superior. Thus, what the top management functionaries ultimately get to hear is more likely to be in accordance with the perception of their next-in-line functionaries as to what their bosses would like to hear. An exit interview, thus, should allow the top management functionaries to get a direct feedback from an employee leaving the company. This feedback, however, may be overplayed or underplayed in individual cases. Therefore, a better way is to foster an open organisational culture with regular feedback across all levels of the organisation, without any hierarchical protocols. A formal mechanism like a monthly "open house" or an informal chat by top managers with junior employees can serve the purpose better.Kishor Kulkarni MumbaiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru

Letters: Informal dealings

This refers to the report "Women-run PSU banks may face HR challenges" (March 3). Without adequate planning, particularly on the HR front, this project could be a non-starter. An all-women bank set up in a Tier-I city may break soon and turn into a profitable undertaking, and in a Tier-II or a Tier-III town, while the objective may be served to a large extent, the profitability may get delayed. The government's hand-holding is, therefore, necessary for a longer period initially.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 must have a postal address and telephone number

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