On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of India released its third-quarter review of monetary policy, and relieved the markets and many in industry by cutting the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.75 per cent. In addition, the cash reserve ratio, or CRR, applicable to scheduled banks was cut by a similar margin to 4 per cent of their net demand and time liabilities &ndash; a step which will infuse an additional Rs 18,000 crore into the system.

Now, the supply side

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This refers to Shubhashis Gangopadhyay&rsquo;s article &ldquo;Who prefers cash transfers?&rdquo; (January 26). The writer correctly challenges the conventional wisdom of welfarist governments that has dictated a paternalistic approach in evidence so far. It is time that our establishment, which has tended to be left of centre, trusts the wisdom of the common man &mdash; now that he is getting better &ldquo;educated&rdquo; owing to the wider reach and spread of media. It will be a win-win situation with the common man exercising his freedom to use cash as he thinks best, while simultaneously reducing the administrative load on the government machinery in a very significant way.

Letters: Let's jettison paternalism

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 is heartening to note that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut 25 basis points, both in cash reserve ratio (CRR) and the repo rate. The rate cut was anticipated and is a welcome move. It was much needed, given the gross domestic product (GDP) growth is moderating and industrial production is decelerating month after month. The rate cut is an encouraging move at a time when high interest rates were having a negative impact on the country&rsquo;s economic growth.

It is an encouraging move: Seshagiri Rao

The announcement is most welcome, though it is cautious. It is not surprising, given the contraction in development and manufacturing growth.

It is most welcome, though cautious: Rajeev Talwar

The monetary policy announced today has been appropriately calibrated to address the risks to business confidence, growth and liquidity.

A well-calibrated monetary policy: S S Mundra

On January 27, the day after nation-wide celebrations of India&rsquo;s 64th year as a Republic, Justice J S Verma indirectly confirmed on television a shameful fact that the anti-rape protests on Raisina Hill underlined in December: that there aren't too many mainstream politicians interested in representing women&rsquo;s rights as an issue. In an interview to Karan Thapar on the television channel CNN-IBN, Justice Verma revealed how apparently detached the government was from the three-member committee he headed, that had been tasked to suggest ways to strengthen the rape laws. First, he said, his committee had had no dealings &ldquo;at all&rdquo; with Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in the month it took to prepare the report &ndash; nor, for that matter, after it was submitted. Neither Mr Shinde nor Home Secretary R K Singh, he said, were present to accept the report when it was submitted on January 23; it was received by a joint secretary in the ministry.

Voices for women

Explaining the reasons behind today&rsquo;s 25-basis point cuts in the repo rate and CRR (cash reserve ratio), RBI Governor D Subbarao said for future rate cuts, inflation and the current account deficit would have to fall to levels lower than projected by the central bank.

By far, the biggest risk is current account deficit: Subbarao

Mamata Banerjee, the multi-faceted chief minister of West Bengal, is getting more innovative by the day. Her next big project is &ldquo;Mati Divas&rdquo; (earth day), when the chief minister will participate in a live sit-and-draw exercise. For this purpose, district officials of Bardhaman have been instructed to create a picturesque landscape overnight &ndash; with ponds, ducks, mud houses and signs of village industries &ndash; all of which will be depicted in her next painting.

The ground beneath her feet

The government may have mandated that corporations above a certain size spend two per cent of their profits on corporate social responsibility (CSR) to demonstrate their seriousness about doing good, but to some, the concept appears to have become less meaningful. Asked whether Intel&rsquo;s efforts to promote digital literacy in Uttar Pradesh was part of a CSR exercise, Debjani Ghosh, the conglomerate&rsquo;s South Asia managing director, sales and marketing, said the term had come to acquire a rather &ldquo;frivolous&rdquo; character, so she preferred to describe the project as an important partnership with the state government.

'Frivolous' CSR

The concept of trade facilitation is in the Arthashastra. Or so says Pascal Lamy, the World Trade Organisation&rsquo;s colourful director-general. Speaking at a session on global emerging nations at the Confederation of Indian Industry summit on Monday, Lamy was making the point that India and other emerging countries needed to play a greater role in promoting trade facilitation.

Chanakya's message

The rupee, among the worst performing currencies (vs dollar) among emerging markets having a current account deficit in 2012-13 has fared better in the current financial year. According to RBI, the rupee&rsquo;s performance was boosted by various reform measures, including liberalised FDI limits for certain sectors, announcement of a fiscal consolidation path and enhanced global investor confidence in the economy.

Rupee: On a stronger footing

Apropos the report &ldquo;With the BJP&rsquo;s leadership now decided, one man stands tall&rdquo; (January 24), only the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP&rsquo;s) veteran L K Advani could firmly withstand the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pressure for Nitin Gadkari&rsquo;s second term as the party president.

Letters: Rajnath's responsibility

This refers to the report &ldquo;Decks cleared for FY15 GST rollout&rdquo; (January 29). Although the news of the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) sounds promising, in reality, many such announcements in the past have failed to deliver any output. As a result, GST implementation has remained an elusive subject before the economic fraternity at large.

Letters: A foolproof GST

The policy was largely in line with market expectations.

Policy largely in line with market expectations: Vivek Mahajan


	
In its monetary and macroeconomic development report, RBI has raised hopes of a rate cut but also flagged some challenges
		Economic growth in 2012-13 might fall below the projected 5.8%&nbsp;
	
		The inflation rate might moderate to under the projected 7.5% but suppressed inflation risk would persist over 2013-14&nbsp;
	
		The average Wholesale Price Index (WPI) -based inflation might moderate from 7.5% in 2012-13 to 7% in 2013-14.

Hope of a rate cut

It doesn't address people's concerns about corporate activity but could drive companies to align philanthropy with their core objective
&nbsp;

Arun Maira
Member, Planning Commission
&ldquo;This will create another set of accounts that corporations must give and the government must check, at a time when the former is pleading against excessive inspections&rdquo;
We should step back one more time and consider the purpose of mandating that corporations spend two per cent of their profits on

Is the mandate on CSR spending by corporations a good idea?

Unemployment in the 17-nation European Union climbed for a fifth month to 11.9 per cent, according to the median of 34 economists&rsquo; forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey.

EU's unemployment high

The Union Budget for 2012-13 was met with dismay in some quarters because it appeared to allow the tax authorities excessive discretionary power. The general anti-avoidance rules (GAAR) and various retrospective amendments to tax laws together gave the impression that the government was willing to allow its tax inspectors to skirt close to the borders of harassment in order to maximise its revenue &mdash; anything went, the sense was, in order to fix the fiscal deficit problem.

The wrong remedy

The suicide earlier this month of internet activist Aaron Swartz, 26, has, in tragic fashion, highlighted lacunae in the laws governing electronic copyright and computer crime, which he spent his life campaigning against. He was a prodigy. At 14, he helped to develop the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) standard, which distributed blog posts, working with Sir Timothy Berners-Lee&rsquo;s World Wide Web Consortium.

Crimes and victims

Polaris Financial Technology Limited, a Chennai-based financial technology service and products company, has announced that the company's board of directors had decided to authorise its management team to explore options like appropriate restructuring to provide an impetus to the company for the next stage of its growth. The company has reported a drop in its third quarter net profit. The management has also said that it saw a challenging period for its cloud and products business.

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