Demand for gold in India, the world's biggest consumer, stayed subdued on Friday after prices moved higher, tracking a similar trend overseas, as poor monsoon rainfall slashed purchases in key southern markets.

Gold demand stays weak as prices rise

Business Standard

When companies go to trial, as Apple and Samsung have learnt, the public gets to hear corporate secrets.

Secrets learnt in Apple-Samsung trial

Despite several headwinds on the domestic front, India&rsquo;s equity return correlations with the rest of the world is near record highs, according to Morgan Stanley. Our market remains hinged to global outcomes more than ever before.

In sync with other emerging markets

Social media is likely to be a hot topic among the hundreds of chief information officers (CIOs) and senior executives from around the world gathering in Hyderabad next week to honour the most innovative IT organisations at the 25th annual CIO 100 Symposium(Click on graphic)

Low on socialising

The volatility in agri commodities was rampant in the beginning of this monsoon season amid anticipation of deficient rainfall by the India Meteorological Department.

Action up, volatility down

The Information and Broadcasting (I&amp;B) ministry continues to have former President Pratibha Patil's photographs on its home page. Out of 15 frames that rotate on the I&amp;B site, six are of Patil on different occasions. The current President Pranab Mukherjee, too, is in one of the 15 pictures, but when he was the finance minister.

Still around in I&B

A leading English daily in collaboration with the Jharkhand government is running a campaign to award leading individuals and commercial entities in the eastern state. The 11 awards, prominently displayed in an advertisement in the newspaper, include categories such as &ldquo;state PSU&rdquo; and &ldquo;private sector in mining and manufacturing&rdquo;. There is also an award for &ldquo;private sector in service industry&rdquo;, which has been given to Ranchi&rsquo;s Radisson Blu Hotel. Strangely enough, the hotel is among the sponsors for the award.

Winning ways

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai has certainly sharpened the tools of auditing by infusing expertise in his team and training cadres, making it possible to set priorities, ensure perfection and bring professionalism in auditing. If similar initiatives had come from heads of departments in the government and from CEOs in the public sector and statutory organisations, the agony that the current government is now going through would have been lesser.

Letters: Good auditing

Apropos &ldquo;Sunshine sector loses sheen as foreign competition looms&rdquo; (August 16), the glut of solar equipment from China, though likely to spell disaster for some domestic equipment manufacturers, augurs well for the future of solar power in India. With the huge shortage of natural gas and coal, power plants fired by gas and coal are operating far below capacity. The cost of solar power, on the other hand, has dropped to Rs 7.50 per unit from nearly Rs 18 a couple of years ago and compares well with the cost of power from non-renewable sources, which is about Rs 6 per unit. It is well known that Chinese equipment manufacturers are heavily subsidised by their government and if that brings down the cost of solar power per unit in India, so be it.

Letters: Rise and shine

Calls for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh&rsquo;s resignation have become so frequent that they have lost their relevance, according to Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal. Asked by reporters whether the prime minister should resign following the Comptroller and Auditor General&rsquo;s report, he replied rather wearily, &ldquo;The PM has been asked to resign 30 times in the past three years. This is part of cheap politics.&rdquo; Note that he did not provide an unequivocal &ldquo;no&rdquo; as an answer.

Same old?  

The Chhattisgarh government is planning a global investor meet sometime in October and the state&rsquo;s industry department and state-run Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation (CSIDC) have started preparing for it. Given the glacial pace at which the files are moving from one establishment to the other, however, it appears that officials are in no hurry to attract investment in this mineral-rich state. According to CSIDC officials, many files they referred to the industry ministry have been pending for over a month. As for the harried private party that bagged the contract to organise the event, its executives say they have been running from pillar to post to either get an order or direction from the government on how to proceed.

Investment on hold 

At its board meeting last Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) passed a large number of amendments to its regulations for the capital market. It overhauled primary market rules to induce more transparency and attract retail participation. Other key amendments seek to revive the mutual fund (MF) industry. Mutual funds have seen net redemptions of about Rs 22,000 crore in the past 12 months. On the primary market front, the pipeline of initial public offers (IPOs) and follow-on public offers (FPOs) has dried up due to low retail subscription. Apart from the broad desirability of channelling a larger share of household savings into equity, there is a need to revive PSU disinvestment; retail participation is also necessary to meet Sebi&rsquo;s target of a minimum 25 per cent public shareholding.

Looking for retail investors

The Comptroller and Auditor-General&rsquo;s report on the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) as a public-private partnership (PPP) project makes several valid points, but presents a seemingly factual but fundamentally misleading picture of the total financial outcome.

Not such a massive rip-off

The banking sector has been the focus of much concern, given its high-profile debt to troubled sectors like power and aviation. Debt restructuring, too, has grown, worrying analysts. This comes on top of already poor figures for the growth in net non-performing assets (NPAs), as seen in Table 1. NPAs have climbed much faster for banks in the public sector, which have lent more heavily to the agricultural sector.

StatsGuru-20-August-12

It is unfortunate that even after 65 years of Independence the country lacks a civilised society. Violent protests and increasing clashes between different communities are the order of the day. Lack of tolerance and forbearance in a society is indeed a matter of grave concern. Whatever the reason, dissent should always be expressed through non-violent means. The government should handle sensitive issues with utmost care. Only through greater economic freedom and equal opportunities can the people of the country be empowered in all spheres of life.

Letters: Civil society?

The exodus of north easterners from Bangalore is only a symptom of the breakdown of law and order in the country and the loss of credibility in the government&rsquo;s ability to govern. This is, of course, not the first situation of its type. But what is disturbing is that the southern states, which were traditionally free from communal hysteria, seem to be catching up with the north. There are enough laws to round up rowdy elements. Still you find many private armies functioning in various states as parallel governments and laying down the law for citizens. Their leaders are no doubt taken to the court where they can get bail easily. They are affluent and legal expenses do not matter even as they know that the judgement may not be forthcoming in their life time.

Letters: South going the north way

Your edit rightly points out how internal migration is crucial for the country&rsquo;s economic growth. Indeed, it also helps national integration. In most cases, migrants do jobs that locals don&rsquo;t do or hesitate to do. This effectively tackles the problem of unemployment and uneven distribution of wealth. If there is some problem in Mumbai, it is because of politics. In contrast, in Kerala, the interest of workers is taken care of; the state&rsquo;s model should be followed by others.

Letters: ... for the sake of growth

The leader &ldquo;Homes away from home&rdquo; (August 17) was excellent. Internal migration is vital for growth in an economy. Thus, attacks on migrant workers are not justified. In this context, Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar&rsquo;s effort to assure protection to north-eastern workers is praiseworthy. It appears that in addition to natural calamities, men, too, are hard at work to add to destruction by instigating acts of violence.

Letters: Protect migrants

A few Indian TV journalists had a taste of &ldquo;Incredible India,&rdquo; the government&rsquo;s long-running promotion campaign, during the just concluded Olympic Games in London. Basking in the glory of six medals, some tourism officials decided to sell the India story in Britain through TV channels. At the appointed time, a van arrived to take the journalists on a tour of the city. Lunch was part of the package, of course.

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