This is the second time that Orient- Express has spurned the offer from Indian Hotels

Second time unlucky

Business Standard

India Against Corruption led by Arvind Kejriwal has alleged that India&rsquo;s prominent business tycoons, including Mukesh Ambani, Anil Ambani, Naresh Kumar Goyal and members of the Dabur Group, amassed more than Rs 3,100 crore in Swiss banks through money laundering and hawala.

Kejriwal ups the ante against black money

This is the second time that Orient- Express has spurned the offer from Indian Hotels.

If a company is a body, the board would be its brain. The founding fathers of corporate structure have envisaged the directors who populate the board to perform several strategic, leadership and fiduciary duties, both individually and collectively.

A directory of directors

The draft National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy (NPPP) is learnt to have been taken off the Cabinet&rsquo;s agenda at the last minute over the finance ministry&rsquo;s objection to the price-fixing mechanism recommended by a group of ministers (GoM). The Union Cabinet was slated to discuss the pharma policy in its meeting today, but the &lsquo;item&rsquo; was not taken up after finance ministry concerns.

Decision on pharma policy deferred

After the US presidential elections, Christopher Ferrarone, global equity strategist, UBS, shared his thoughts on the implications of the elections on the global economy and markets.

Going over the fiscal cliff could be a disaster

&ldquo;The gas price varies when it is put to different uses. The best way to get efficient allocation across different sectors is to have a competitive, market-determined price.

Has gas pricing policy been mishandled?

After four successive quarters of disappointment, corporate results showed encouraging trends in the quarter ended September 30, 2012. An analysis of 1,071 companies (excluding banks and other financial entities) by the Business Standard Research Bureau, reported in this newspaper on Wednesday, indicated that most key margins have improved. There has, however, been a slowdown in the sales growth rates.

The margin story

Recent analysis by Ingovern Research Services, reported by this newspaper on Wednesday, shows once again the governance rot in India&rsquo;s companies. Nineteen per cent of the directors, both executive and independent, in top companies attend fewer than 75 per cent of the board meetings.

Just too many meetings

Those attending Chhattisgarh&rsquo;s first global investors&rsquo; meet anticipated many presentations and documentaries by potential and current investors. But they were taken aback when a film meant to profile Vedanta actually turned out to be a life sketch of its London-based promoter Anil Agarwal. As images appeared on screen showing Agarwal&rsquo;s childhood in Patna, senior state officials rushed to stop the film but paused when they realised it might send the wrong message to top industrialists attending the meet. Nevertheless, it perturbed Chief Minister Raman Singh enough to ask Industry Minister Rajesh Munat in sign language who had approved the documentary. Not me, the hapless Munat signalled back. Now, officials are looking for the person who helped Vedanta screen a hagiography of its founder. Eventually, they pinned the blame on the event managers. Whoever the culprit, the upshot of this faux pas was that other documentaries that were to follow could not be screened.

Vedanta's show

Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn, who is in charge of monetary policy, usually speaks at academic institutions and RBI puts out a schedule of events at which the governor and deputy governors will participate in the forthcoming week. Of late, the schedule has started carrying a footnote that reads: &ldquo;Dr Subir Gokarn&rsquo;s speaking engagements in academic institutions are generally off-the-record.

For the record

The controversy over National Herald and The Associated Journals rages on in New Delhi&rsquo;s political circles with Opposition parties intent on hauling the Congress over the coals for an &ldquo;interest-free loan of Rs 90.5 crore&rdquo;, while old timers in Lucknow rue the sullying of recent history. They say Kaiser Bagh in Lucknow, the site of the erstwhile National Herald office, brings back memories of Jawaharlal Nehru writing his editorials there, of how the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi would live in Lucknow with a young Rajiv Gandhi, while her husband Feroze Gandhi was the managing director of the newspaper. The paper&rsquo;s edition in New Delhi never had quite that emotional connect.

Herald of another age

The item &ldquo;Bihar on my plate&rdquo; (Chinese Whispers, November 7) said it was Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar&rsquo;s ardent wish to include a food item from Bihar on every Indian&rsquo;s plate. This is a valid and fruitful thought. I wish chief ministers from our other states would express a similar hope. That would certainly lead India to a higher trajectory of economic progress. After all, writers on global trade and the supermarkets&rsquo; role in it have pointed out that a Londoner&rsquo;s Sunday lunch contains half a dozen items that have flown over 25,000 miles to reach his table.

Letters: Progress on the menu

This refers to the debate &ldquo;Has gas pricing policy been mishandled?&rdquo; (November 8). I wish, even within the limited space, the debate had touched on the wider dimensions of the absence of transparent guidance from the government on ensuring the exploitation of natural resources for public good. Awareness of the pulls and pushes of market forces that are under the control of the rich and powerful globally may have silenced it.

Letters: The missing link

Apropos the edit &ldquo;Fifth-generation problems&rdquo; (November 7), I am always confounded by the Chinese political system&rsquo;s ability to contain people&rsquo;s discontent, particularly in rural China. Are there no regional disparities and no conflicting demands from different regions? Of course, reports of corruption in China and how influential family members of the Communist Party of China (CPC) have amassed huge wealth occasionally appear in the press. Maybe they are an indicator of popular discontent but the adverse impact of such reports has not been reported.

Letters: China's transfer of power

The top five deals this year accounted for 26.73% of the total investment in terms of deal value. In the largest deal this year, Bain Capital invested $1 billion in Information Technology Company Genpact Ltd. While Lodha Developers Ltd and Vornado Realty Trust acquired Jawala Real Estate Pvt Ltd for $491.02 million from DLF Ltd.

A snapshot of PE activity & deals

All sessions are at the Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon
PLENARY SESSION
UNLOCKING INDIAN OCEAN DYNAMISM
09.00 - 10.00
Indus/Plenary Hall

    Priyanka Mittal, Director, KRBL, India
    Vineet Nayar, Vice-Chairman and CEO, HCL Technologies, India
    Tulsi Tanti, Chairman, Suzlon Energy, India
    Gita Gopinath, Professor of Economics, Harvard University, USA

WORKSTUDIO
A SAFE ROADMAP FOR INDIA
09.00 - 10.30 
Yamuna

    Neeraj Kanwar, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Apollo Tyres,

Today at the forum

Mahatma Gandhi was the master of mass communication, but he was also something of a Luddite when it came to industrialisation and technology. So, what would he have made of the communication age? His great granddaughter Kirti Menon, registrar of WITS University in Johannesburg, South Africa, robustly insists he would have embraced the social media, including Facebook and Twitter.

Gandhi@satyagraha.com?

Ivan M Menezes, Chief Operating Officer - Diageo, played a key role in the landmark transaction with United Spirits. Expected to lead Diageo, he has been a friend of Vijay Mallya, and the rapport did play a crucial role in finalising the transaction, discussions of which had started six years before. In a call with the Indian media, Menezes explained what it meant for Diageo.

Strong biz to become stronger: Ivan M Menezes 

Bloomberg Markets&rsquo; inaugural list of the world's richest people, in the December 2012 issue, showcases the billionaires who pull the levers on the global economy. Together, the net worth of the top 20 individuals totals $713.4 billion.

Business Standard

Business Standard

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