The country's leading bankers want cash-rich public sector companies to lead the way and kick-start investments

'PSUs must start investing'

Business Standard

A four-member jury chooses a banker who stood out because of his consistency

A close call

That the government is finally moving forward on the goods and services tax, or GST, is important and welcome news. It has been reported that the Centre has chosen to try and meet some of the statesâ€™ crucial demands on their fiscal independence and diluted the GST proposals accordingly. It is possible that the watered down version of the GST will be implemented soon after the 2014 general elections.

Green signal for GST

This refers to the editorial &ldquo;Now, the supply side&rdquo; (January 30). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI&rsquo;s) policy response has been based on the assumption that inflation has moderated. Or, should we say the banking regulator has finally succumbed to the pressures of New Delhi? The cornered RBI has had to acquiesce during one quarter or another. To be fair to the monetary authority, how long can it hold on to the government&rsquo;s pressures? It may appear that the ball is now in the government&rsquo;s court. But does it bother? Given the historical responses of the government, it has merely pushed the issues of inflation and growth to RBI, and to the corporate sector, in that order. Even assuming the transmission of monetary policy is smooth, RBI&rsquo;s policy changes would not do much to revive growth.

Letters: RBI rate cut is a washout

The markets appeared confused by the signals from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) &mdash; cutting rates on the one hand and signalling that the space for more easing was very limited on the other.

A delicate balancing act: Sajjid Chinoy

This refers to M J Antony&rsquo;s column &ldquo;Arbitration in the doldrums&rdquo; (Out of Court, January 23). One of the avowed objectives of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was to minimise the supervisory role of courts in the arbitral process. The reverse seems to have been done by the judiciary. By sitting as regular appellate courts over arbitral awards, the judiciary has converted the arbitration mechanism into a new tier in the already existing multi-tiered judicial system. The judicial intervention became so pervasive in arbitration proceedings that the Supreme Court extended the jurisdiction of the Indian courts to arbitrations with seats outside India. Only recently, the Supreme Court overturned the ruling by holding that no application for interim injunction under the Act would be maintainable in India on the basis of an international commercial arbitration with a seat outside India.

Letters: Arbitrary arbitration

It's been called a game-changer, a nationwide technology-backed initiative that promises to change the way the government delivers entitlement to citizens. But a month after the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme was officially rolled out across 20 districts, a look at the ground realities reveals a yawning gap between intent and implementation. Of the five districts Business Standard visited, there are those, like Northeast Delhi, where not a single transfer has been made.

Direct benefits transfer: How the 'game' has changed

The third quarter monetary policy review came in as a pleasant surprise with a 25 basis points reduction both in the repo rate and the cash reserve ratio (CRR). While the cut in the repo rate, the rate at which the central bank lends money to banks, was largely in line with market expectations, the reduction in CRR, or the portion of funds commercial banks are required to park with the apex bank, is a pre-emptive move to ensure the availability of adequate liquidity in the system.

Move will help revive the capex cycle: Keki Mistry

It seems that the woes afflicting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka can become terminal. The party was plunged into yet another crisis with the resignation of two ministers owing allegiance to former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa. What is more, at least 13 MLAs have sought to resign their Assembly seats. So far the resignations of 12 of them have been received by the Speaker of the Assembly; one has been rejected on technical grounds.

Karnataka's costly politics

It would be simple baloney to consider a council for governing the several IIMs. Although IIMs operate individually yet they are completely unified in their objective.

Student's corner

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh is addicted to springing surprises on his political opponents but for the next one, they can be sure of one thing at least: it will come in the annual state Budget due sometime in February. Singh has said he would make a &ldquo;historic&rdquo; announcement in the Budget for 2013-14, which should surprise no one since the state is due to have Assembly elections later this year. But Congress leaders are now deeply worried about the kind of concessions Singh will announce because they are bound to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. It has, accordingly, put its intelligence wing to work to figure out exactly what Singh is planning.

Raman Singh's surprise

Indian courts are not generally known for their people-friendly environment but lawyers and petitioners thronging Delhi&rsquo;s Patiala House court should bless the high-profile 2G spectrum cases that are being heard there. In response to the high-powered corporate presence in the courthouse as a result of these hearings, Cafe Coffee Day recently opened a kiosk, so that the suits can enjoy their beverages in the setting to which they are accustomed. That&rsquo;s a huge upgrade from the friendly, neighborhood chaiwala on the pavement outside.

A 2G hot spot

Moderators at panel discussions are expected to manage the content of the discussion and the length of time panelists and questioners take to speak. But it is possible that some may moderate not wisely but too well, which is what happened at a plenary session on large emerging economies at Confederation of Indian Industry&rsquo;s Partnership Summit in Agra. Moderator Rajat Nag, managing director general, Asian Development Bank, asked the panelists to speak as briefly as possible to save enough time for questions from the audience at the end of the session. One of the panelists who spoke at length was Lindsay Fox, founder and chairman of the Australian logistics conglomerate Linfox Group, but he had the audience listening with rapt attention. But just as he was beginning to enjoy loud applause, Nag abruptly stopped him for not being brief. Fox was visibly upset, though Nag did apologise subsequently.

Making the cut

It is unfortunate that Kamal Haasan&rsquo;s film Vishwaroopam, which was cleared by the Censor Board, is banned by the Tamil Nadu government on flimsy religious grounds by the so-called self-appointed champions of religion. The Censor Board considers a film from all possible angles of society, religion and the nation before giving the clearance for its screening. Hence, the ban is unjustifiable. Earlier, a few films have come under scrutiny on political grounds. In cases of protest or objection by any person or community, the rule of the law is that the matter is referred to authorities or courts but the screening cannot be banned until proven guilty. Needless to say, it is a huge financial loss to the film-maker.

Letters: An unjustifiable ban

This refers to Kanika Datta&rsquo;s column &ldquo;Just do it&rdquo; (Swot, January 31). A good idea, which has several difficult aspects of execution inherent in it, cannot merit recognition only by the virtue of the basic concept being good. For example, non-cooperation by private vehicle-owners would be inherent in executing a bus rapid transit (BRT) project because their right of the way gets eclipsed. So, unless the original idea of BRT takes adequate cognisance of this aspect, it is bound to run into execution problems.

Letters: BRT's execution issues

This refers to the editorial &ldquo;Now, the supply side&rdquo; (January 30). We should not expect much from the graceful action of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which probably tried to break the stalemate in governance in the financial sector caused by the finance ministry and the central bank, giving an impression that there was more than the permissible levels of &ldquo;give and take&rdquo; between them. RBI has decided to work alongside the finance ministry, since the latter was taking the economy into the wilderness. A 0.25 percentage point reduction each in the repo rate and the cash reserve ratio was in the context of both the finance ministry and RBI governor having reconciled to the fact that the Government of India and RBI could not afford to waste the pre-Budget and post-Budget days arguing about the pros and cons of tinkering with base rates, or the rights and wrongs of easing out former Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn.

Letters: No time to waste

This refers to Subir Gokarn&rsquo;s column &ldquo;Global ifs and buts&rdquo; (Muddy Waters, January 28). Despite the infusion of new-found capital, pragmatic policies and empowering support institutions, we might yet see the spectre of &ldquo;employablility&rdquo; loom over every economy. It is estimated that 600 million jobs need to be created worldwide over the next decade to make up for jobs lost in the recent economic crisis. Most new jobs cover sectors that drive innovation and growth through advances in science, engineering and technology. But, as job growth accelerates in industries requiring high-skilled workers, we are creating a global market for talent that remains largely vacant. It is a paradox that even as new jobs are being created, millions of people are denied of these opportunities, since they lack the matching education and skills. The global youth unemployment rate is 12.7 per cent &mdash; double the overall rate of six per cent.

Letters: Educating the workforce

Press conferences that involve big movie stars seldom start on time. But if it is one by a leading Swiss watchmaker, it won&rsquo;t be impractical to think that the conference will start on time even if Bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan was to be the chief guest. All the same, the conference started more than an hour late. Those present started blaming Roshan for the delay but, as it turned out, the star had made it on the dot. The real delay was owing to the unpreparedness at the watchmaker&rsquo;s end.

Unpunctual timekeeper

Traditions change with changing times and the Indian Railways is no exception. In the past few years, ever since non-Congress leaders took charge of the railway ministry, it had become a convention to invite senior members of the Railway Employees&rsquo; Union to all press conferences and meets addressed by the railway minister. Former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi from the ultra-left Trinamool Congress even went to the extent of seeking approval letters from the union for his proposed (and later, aborted) fare increases. Of late, however, the practice has been discontinued. The current minister, Pawan Bansal of the Congress, did not invite any union member when he announced his much-anticipated across-the-board fare increases earlier this month.

New track

Etihad Airways may be about to buy a controlling stake in domestic airline Jet Airways but the guard at the gates of the Union commerce ministry at least was unimpressed. When Etihad&rsquo;s worldwide President and CEO James Hogan drove up to meet Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma, the guard declined to let him through on grounds that he had no information of his visit.

Etihad's 'no fly' zone

One of the United States&rsquo; largest and best-known think tanks, the Brookings Institution &ndash; which has often been called the world&rsquo;s most influential &ndash; has decided to open an India branch, which will be led by the former India head of the Shell Group of Companies, Vikram S Mehta.

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